FYE 101 - History in American and Russian Film

Human beings are narrative creatures. We have always told stories as a way of understanding ourselves and the world around us. The common themes of these stories provide the broad outlines of a common human experience, while their variety embodies the richness of imagination and lived experience. In this FYE, we’ll look at American and Russian films in parallel periods to see how film storytelling varies by culture, region, and historical context. Over the millennia, these stories have been told around campfires, acted out in ritual and theater, and recorded in texts. In the past 100 years, film has become a powerful new way for human beings to tell and share stories. With the advent of film, people from vastly different cultures could see and hear each other’s stories with a new immediacy. In this course, students will examine the phenomenon of human storytelling by learning to “read” films with special attention to their cultural and historical contexts. By engaging films and other texts, students will be able to draw connections, make interpretive arguments, and share what they have learned in oral and written presentations.

Credits 1

Compass Attributes
First Year Experience