Film and Media Studies 345: The Middle East in Cinema & Media

This course examines visual texts (primarily film and television) in which the Middle East is represented and represents itself. This class is concerned with how the “Middle East” is represented in the West and also with how the region represents itself in film and media. We will look at issues of representation; religion; nationalism; gender; and ethnic identities. In addition to critically, aesthetically, and culturally analyzing films from the Arab, Persian, Turkish, and Hebraic Middle East, we will also look at the role of media in articulating politics and identity. We will focus on Middle Eastern auteurs and the political economies of the culture industries that frame their work. Along the way, we will be guided by cultural studies and post-colonial theorists. Required weekly screening. May be taken for credit toward the South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies major or Indigeneity, Race, and Ethnicity Studies major.