Documenting Black Experiences

Interpretations of the black diaspora in documentary film from slavery to the present. Interdisciplinary study of black religions, cultures, histories, aesthetics, politics, and their representations, both globally and in the U.S. Students will view and study a variety of films and approaches to film and study film's evolution through numerous lenses from early ethnographic film to recent works by indigenous filmmakers, and understand the politics of representation, from D.W. Griffith to Spike Lee; read relevant works in the genres represented; and hear from guest critics, scholars of African and African American history and culture, and filmmakers.