Courses - Spring 2026
CINE
Cinema and Media Studies
CINE245
Film Form and Culture
Cross-listed with: ENGL245.
Credit only granted for: ENGL245, CINE245 or FILM245.
Formerly: FILM245.
Introduction to film as art form and how films create meaning. Basic film terminology; fundamental principles of film form, film narrative, and film history. Examination of film technique and style over past one hundred years. Social and economic functions of film within broader institutional, economic, and cultural contexts.
CINE280
Cross-listed with: CMLT280.
Credit only granted for: CINE280, FILM298D or CMLT280.
Formerly: FILM298D.
Comparative study of a variety of film traditions from around the world, including cinema from Hollywood, Europe, Asia and developing countries, with a stress on different cultural contexts for film-making and viewing.
CINE282
Cross-listed with: AMST213.
Credit only granted for: AMST213, HONR219F, CINE282 or FILM298V.
Formerly: HONR219F, FILM298V.
We will examine the complex, changing, and ever-present representations of heroes and villains in American film. Beginning with a foundational understanding of how heroes and, conversely, villains have been defined through classic Hollywood film, we will explore how these definitions have shifted throughout the 20th and 21st century in various narrative genres, including westerns, war films, film noir, fantasy, science fiction, and, of course, superhero movies. In particular, we will be focusing on how the hero and villain maintain or disrupt specific cultural ideologies concerning race/ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and ability. This course will examine how these various ideologies have evolved throughout the 20th and 21st century, impacting the ways in which heroes and villains are both represented in American film and perceived by diverse audiences. Finally, we will examine our own complicated and sometimes troubling identification with these heroes, even when they might stand in stark contrast to our cultural values and identities.
CINE302
Cinema History II: The Sound Era
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: ENGL245, FILM245, or CINE245.
Restriction: Must have permission of the Film Studies program.
Credit only granted for: CINE302 or FILM302.
Formerly: FILM302.
Introduction to the international history of cinema from sound around 1930 to the present.
Priority given to majors in Cinema and Media Studies.
CINE310
Introduction to Filmmaking 1
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Restriction: Permission of the Cinema and Media Studies program. Repeatable to 6 credits.
Credit only granted for: CINE319M or CINE310.
Formerly: CINE319M.
This practice-based course offers an introduction to the foundational skills, techniques, and principles of filmmaking. Prior film or video production experience is not necessary.
Priority given to Cinema and Media Studies majors.
CINE319I
Special Topics in Documentary, Animation, Experimental Cinema, and Other Visual Media; Digital Storyboarding
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Students will learn how to break down a scene into actions, build a beatboard, learn basic principles of frame composition, and formulate animage-system to support the film's theme and motifs. They will create storyboards and turn them into video boards. Part of the work will be done on existing written material, and part on materials written by the students. At the end of the course, the participants will be able to storyboard their scenes. Knowledge of drawing and sketching is not a requirement.
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor. Cross-listed with IMDM498J. Credit will be only granted for CINE319I or IMDM498J.
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor. Cross-listed with IMDM498J. Credit will be only granted for CINE319I or IMDM498J.
CINE319Q
Special Topics in Documentary, Animation, Experimental Cinema, and Other Visual Media; The Films of Studio Ghibli
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: ENGL245, FILM245, CINE245, CINE283, FILM283, or SLLC283; or permission of instructor. Credit only granted for CINE319Q or ENGL329G.
CINE329N
Special Topics in National/International Cinemas; Latin American Cinema
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Explores the contemporary history of Latin American cinema and the connections between politics and memory from the 1960s to the present and considers the significance of the Cuban Revolution in shaping political filmmaking across Latin America as well as common themes in different national contexts such as revolutions, dictatorship, human rights movements, democratization, neoliberalism, gender roles, and urban and racial inequalities.
CINE329Z
Special Topics in National/International Cinemas; Migration Cinema
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Focuses on how cinematic explorations about lived experiences of migrants have illuminated human experiences shaped by domestic and international crossings and the complexities of labor, family migration, and diasporic worlds. At the same time, cinema about migrancy and migration has offered critical perspectives about colonialism, war, and exile, post-Cold War political constellations and post-9/11 borders, hyphenated identities, and neoliberalism.
CINE359O
Special Topics in Genres/Auteurs/Cinema Movements; New Waves of the Soviet Bloc
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with RUSS398D. Credit granted only for CINE359O or RUSS398D.
Considers the possibilities and challenges of cinema in a particular historical moment: the "new waves" of the "Soviet bloc" in the 1960s, from Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Yugoslavia, to the Soviet Union itself, including the non-Russian republics. Taught in English.
Considers the possibilities and challenges of cinema in a particular historical moment: the "new waves" of the "Soviet bloc" in the 1960s, from Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Yugoslavia, to the Soviet Union itself, including the non-Russian republics. Taught in English.
CINE359Q
Special Topics in Genres/Auteurs/Cinema Movements; The Cinema of Steven Spielberg
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: ENGL245, FILM245, CINE245, CINE283, FILM283, or SLLC283; or permission of instructor. Credit only granted for CINE359Q, FILM359Q or ENGL329R.
CINE359R
Special Topics in Genres/Auteurs/Cinema Movements; Cinema and Religion
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with RELS319G. Credit only granted for CINE359R or RELS319G.
How does religion make itself felt within cinema, the most modern of expressive media? And how does a critical perspective informed by religion affect an understanding of cinema? In this course, we will ask questions about how cinema renders religious stories and spirituality across a wide range of films about various religious traditions. What is the relation between cinematic aesthetics and religious experience?
How does religion make itself felt within cinema, the most modern of expressive media? And how does a critical perspective informed by religion affect an understanding of cinema? In this course, we will ask questions about how cinema renders religious stories and spirituality across a wide range of films about various religious traditions. What is the relation between cinematic aesthetics and religious experience?
CINE369G
Special Topics in Film Theories; Cinema and Story Telling
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
How do films tell stories? And how does cinema tell stories differently from other media, especially literature? In this course, we will analyze the ways moving-image media construct the stories they tell. How do stories reflect the media that convey them, and is meaning in stories affected by various expressive forms? We will cover much of the history of narrative story-telling in cinema, from montage and continuity, to post-continuity. We will also address cinema in comparison to the forms that it borrows and adapts, especially comic books, literature, theater,and opera.
CINE376
Writing the Feature Film
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F
Prerequisite: ENGL275, ARHU275, ARHU375 or THET340; or permission of instructor.
Cross-listed with: ARHU376.
Credit only granted for: ARHU376 or CINE376.
Examines the creative process of developing and writing a feature-length screenplay. Students will experience a collaborative workshop environment, researching stories, pitching feature film ideas, creating a logline, developing a detailed beat sheet and, ultimately, writing a complete first draft of the screenplay.
CINE388
Experiential Learning: Cinema and Media Studies
Credits:
1 - 3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F
CINE419M
Special Topics in Documentary, Animation, Experimental Cinema, and Other Media; Babylon Berlin and Global Media Culture
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F
Cross-listed with GERS449M. Credit granted only for CINE419M or GERS449M.
Examines the blockbuster German streaming series Babylon Berlin in the context of global media culture, with attention to the show's citational style; the role of digital media in its international distribution, reception, and fandom; and its transhistorical mode of representation. A key focus will be the show's intermedial engagement with the film theory, culture, and politics of Weimar Germany. Taught in English.
Examines the blockbuster German streaming series Babylon Berlin in the context of global media culture, with attention to the show's citational style; the role of digital media in its international distribution, reception, and fandom; and its transhistorical mode of representation. A key focus will be the show's intermedial engagement with the film theory, culture, and politics of Weimar Germany. Taught in English.
CINE420
French Cinema: A Cultural Approach (in Translation)
Cross-listed with: FREN480.
Credit only granted for: FREN480, CINE420 or FILM420.
Formerly: FILM420.
A study of French culture, civilization, and literature through the medium of film. Taught in English.
CINE429Q
Ideology of Stereotyping: American and Middle Eastern Film and Television
Cross-listed with: ARAB410.
Credit only granted for: ARAB410 or CINE429Q.
Exploration of cultural stereotyping, using examples from American and Middle Eastern cinema and television. Students will examine ideological constructs of Otherness and its history, including Orientalism; propaganda techniques; and audiovisual aspects of stereotyping. While the focus is on American and Middle Eastern cultural production, the course will engage broader issues of stereotyping in contemporary society and media. Readings include theories of propaganda and cultural ideology.
Cross-listed with ARAB410. Credit only granted for ARAB410 or CINE429Q.
Exploration of cultural stereotyping, using examples from American and Middle Eastern cinema and television. Students will examine ideological constructs of Otherness and its history, including Orientalism; propaganda techniques; and audiovisual aspects of stereotyping. While the focus is on American and Middle Eastern cultural production, the course will engage broader issues of stereotyping in contemporary society and media. Readings include theories of propaganda and cultural ideology.
Exploration of cultural stereotyping, using examples from American and Middle Eastern cinema and television. Students will examine ideological constructs of Otherness and its history, including Orientalism; propaganda techniques; and audiovisual aspects of stereotyping. While the focus is on American and Middle Eastern cultural production, the course will engage broader issues of stereotyping in contemporary society and media. Readings include theories of propaganda and cultural ideology.
CINE429W
Special Topics in National/International Cinemas; Paradise Lost: Cuban Cinematic Culture
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with SPAN451. Credit granted only for CINE429W or SPAN451.
Explores the cinematic journey of the Cuban revolution from socialist utopia to bitter disillusionment. Taking as a point of departure the national postulates of an "Imperfect Cinema" and the different theorizations of "New Latin American cinema," the course will concentrate on the emergence and development of Cuban cinematic culture that has taken place during the revolution. Our objective is to explore how art and politics collide to reveal contested visions of a social process. Visual materials will include films and documentaries. Readings will include selections from historiographic and literary works, as well as contemporary critical studies. Taught in Spanish.
Explores the cinematic journey of the Cuban revolution from socialist utopia to bitter disillusionment. Taking as a point of departure the national postulates of an "Imperfect Cinema" and the different theorizations of "New Latin American cinema," the course will concentrate on the emergence and development of Cuban cinematic culture that has taken place during the revolution. Our objective is to explore how art and politics collide to reveal contested visions of a social process. Visual materials will include films and documentaries. Readings will include selections from historiographic and literary works, as well as contemporary critical studies. Taught in Spanish.
CINE431
Italian Cinema II (In Translation)
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with: ITAL473.
Credit only granted for: ITAL473, CINE431 or FILM431.
Formerly: FILM431.
A study of Italian society and culture through the medium of film from the mid 1970's to the present. Taught in English.
CINE459A
Special Topics in Genres/Auteurs/Cinema Movements; The Heist Film
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
A survey of the heist film genre from its emergence around 1950 to the present. Focused primarily on Hollywood production, the course also includes discussion of the development of the heist film as a popular international genre.
CINE499
Directed Study in Cinema and Media Studies
Credits:
1 - 3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Flagship Institution of the University System of Maryland
University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
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301.405.1000
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