Undergraduate Course: Film, Religion and Ethics 3/4 (THET10028)
Course Outline
| School | School of Divinity |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | A critical study of religious and theological approaches to film, through an examination of cinematic narratives, directorial intentions and audience responses to selected films. |
| Course description |
Academic Description:
'Film, Religion and Ethics' aims to enrich students' experience of watching films by helping them to analyse a range of specific films and the extensive evolving scholarship in the area of 'religious and theological film-analysis'. In essence, this course aims to identify the areas of conflict and conversation between film and religion, alongside the ethical issues raised through a wide range of films. In this context students will develop understanding of topics such as: Adaptation, The Gaze, Redemptive Violence, Peacebuilding through film, as well as the significance of the historical, cultural and cinematic contexts in which a film is produced.
Syllabus/Outline Content:
The course will cover critical, interpretative issues in the field of film, religion and ethics as well as offering analysis of selected films and their interpretations. Themes including fantasy and reality, voyeurism and entertainment, violence and peace, revenge and forgiveness, truth and reconciliation, sex and love, life and death, faith and doubt, good and evil will be covered, as will related literature.
Student Learning Experience Information:
The course has a programme of one two hour interactive seminar (which includes an illustrated lecture) plus a one-hour tutorial per week. There will be interactive elements to the lectures, and there is a schedule of reading and viewing to be carried out before each lecture and each tutorial. Each student will be encouraged to contribute to the seminars and required to give a short presentation at one tutorial during the semester on the film and text(s) for the day. Through participation in lecture, seminar and tutorial discussions, as well as through the written work and the examination included in the assessment schedule, students will demonstrate their achievement of the intended learning outcomes.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | "The Religion and Film Reader" (Routledge, 2007) is the course book and is available from bookshops / online. It is approximately £20-24. There is no photocopied readings book, but there are readings placed on Web CT at no cost to students. All primary set films will be screened on Tuesdays and are available to borrow from New College library (no cost). |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have at least 3 Divinity/Religious Studies courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- View films in a more critical, discerning and imaginative fashion.
- Summarise, compare and critically discuss specific approaches to 'religious and theological film-analysis'.
- Use appropriate key concepts employed in film criticism when interpreting the religious or moral world of specific films.
- Engage critically and explicitly with significant literature relevant to set films & filmmakers, and where commentaries disagree students should be able to rehearse debates and to adjudicate between differing accounts.
- Develop transferable skills in presentation, discussion and communication in a group context.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
- Empathy and imaginative insight, with a tolerance of diverse positions
- Self- discipline
- Ability to attend to others and respect others' views
- Ability to gather, evaluate and synthesise different types of information
- Writing skills, including clear expression and citing relevant evidence
- Technological and media literacy, including the generation of documents and other resources
- Awareness of the importance of contemporary media as both a study resource and a discussion medium
- Ability to engage critically with the meaning of documents and recognise that meanings may be multiple
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| Additional Class Delivery Information |
Viewings Tuesdays 4-6 (optional)- Films available in New College Library |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Jolyon Mitchell
Tel: (0131 6)50 8922
Email: Jolyon.Mitchell@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Rachel Dutton
Tel: (0131 6)50 7227
Email: rdutton@ed.ac.uk |
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