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Home 2012-2013 Undergraduate College Catalog Course Offerings International Studies Courses INS 2052: Contemporary Wars in Literature & Film (4 cr.)

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INS 2052: Contemporary Wars in Literature & Film (4 cr.)

This course will plumb the insights of writers and filmmakers to better understand the issues of armed conflicts that have plagued the world community from the second half of the 20th century to the present, from full scale, government sponsored wars to rebel insurgencies. The selected texts and films will contribute to a view of these conflicts that goes beyond media presentations, one that is powerful, intimate and thought-provoking, espousing deeper understanding by exposing previous distortions through lack of information or media manipulation. They also depict the universality of the harrowing experience of war, its psychological impact on civilians and combatants alike, and often suggest means for overcoming conflict and achieving peace. Special attention will be given to unusual and experimental ways of treating the subject matter, including postmodernist treatments (Heiner M|ller's The Task), film animation (Folman's Waltz with Bashir) and cartoon novels (Sacco's Palestine and Safe Area Gora de). After examining the various reasons for armed struggles (ideological, imperialist, class, religious and ethnic struggles, as well as civil war, wars against oppression, wars over disputed land and wars of independence) and enlisting the aid of various theoretical texts on the origins and reasons for war (such as Franz Fanon's Wretched of the Earth and Crane Brinton's Anatomy of Revolution), we will turn to the depiction of specific conflicts as addressed by native filmmakers and writers.

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