HIST 5335 - History at the Movies

Three credit hours.

This course is designed to introduce students of the past to the potentials and pitfalls of film as a medium of historical exposition. Over the course of the twentieth century, the movies became a primary medium of artistic and commercial expression. The advent of commercial film-making in America also marked the first appearance of a particular “genre” of cinematic form-a “historical drama” was one of the first full-length feature films made in the United States, in 1915. Entitled Birth of a Nation, the movie purported to be a historical “facsimile” that chronicled the aftermath of the Civil War in the United States. Its commercial success guaranteed that movies with historical themes would continue to be made. Ever since, the makers of motion pictures have found the past to be a creative playground and a lucrative idiom. How do these movies relate to History? Dual-listed in the UALR Graduate Catalog as HIST 5335. Three credit hours.