Undergraduate 

Film & Television Studies MA

Critical Practice: Film and Cosmopolitanism FTV4076

  • Academic Session: 2023-24
  • School: School of Culture and Creative Arts
  • Credits: 20
  • Level: Level 4 (SCQF level 10)
  • Typically Offered: Either Semester 1 or Semester 2
  • Available to Visiting Students: Yes

Short Description

The course focuses on cosmopolitanism as a conceptual framework for the study of cinema. It considers aspects of film theory and criticism such as authorship, genre, transnational cinemas and exhibition and distribution from the lens of cosmopolitanism. It is built around detailed studies of specific films and film directors.

Timetable

10 x 5-hour sessions, comprising 1hr lecture, 2hr seminar and preceded by 2hr film screening, as scheduled in MyCampus. This is one of the Honours options in (put FTV) and may not run every year. The options that are running this session are available on MyCampus.

Excluded Courses

None.

Co-requisites

None.

Assessment

2,500 word essay - 50%

90 minutes exam - 50%

Main Assessment In: April/May

Are reassessment opportunities available for all summative assessments? Not applicable

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

Course Aims

This course aims to:

■ offer perspectives on the principal schools/movements which have defined 'Film and Television Studies' as a critical, political and academic practice since 1945;

■ interrogate specific theoretical and historical initiatives introduced at Level Two, and establish political relations between them, stressing their co-dependent status;

■ examine critical projects traditionally marginalised within the establishment of Film and Television Studies in the United Kingdom since 1945;

■ establish the specific problems created by the 'convergence' of the study of cinema and television in this period, and suggest the influence such convergence may have on the future development of work around the screened, moving image.

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Understand the contingent character of critical practice, recognising the specific academic, political and market contexts in which critical initiatives are elaborated.

■ Apply established critical approaches to the study of cinema and television, evaluating their relative strengths and weaknesses.

■ Deploy traditionally marginalised critical practices in relation to their own immediate scholarly interests, and a confidence in operating with such approaches drawn from neighbouring disciplines and subject areas.

■ Recognise the political character of critical practice, and the material bases upon which the maintenance of such practice is reliant in the United Kingdom.

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.