University of Pittsburgh Horror-Based Courses
Spring 2021
UNDERGRADUATE COURSES
Instructor: Dr. Adam Lowenstein
FILM DIRECTORS: WES CRAVEN AND TOBE HOOPER ENGFLM 1470 (CLS 32022) and FMST 1350 (CLS 32020)
Thursday 1:00-4:50pm, CL 244B
Wes Craven and Tobe Hooper have each carved distinctive reputations for themselves by skillfully manipulating the conventions of a popular generic form: the modern horror film. Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream, like Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Poltergeist, have shaped fundamentally what cinematic horror means and how it is crafted. This course juxtaposes their work in order to pose questions concerning the intersection of genre and authorship. How does each director negotiate the transition from marginalized, independent cinema to more mainstream, studio-supported films? How does each draw upon and/or challenge an established genre vocabulary? What do their careers teach us about the art and politics of cinema?
FILM DIRECTORS: WES CRAVEN AND TOBE HOOPER ENGFLM 1470 (CLS 32022) and FMST 1350 (CLS 32020)
Thursday 1:00-4:50pm, CL 244B
Wes Craven and Tobe Hooper have each carved distinctive reputations for themselves by skillfully manipulating the conventions of a popular generic form: the modern horror film. Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream, like Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Poltergeist, have shaped fundamentally what cinematic horror means and how it is crafted. This course juxtaposes their work in order to pose questions concerning the intersection of genre and authorship. How does each director negotiate the transition from marginalized, independent cinema to more mainstream, studio-supported films? How does each draw upon and/or challenge an established genre vocabulary? What do their careers teach us about the art and politics of cinema?
FALL 2020
Graduate Courses
Instructor: David Petterson
Contemporary French Cinema: Horror and the Question of Genre in French Cinema (FR 2648)
This course will offer an alternative trajectory through French film history oriented around one of the most marginalized of film genres, horror. As we will see, genre films in France rarely limit themselves to one genre, and so we will examine other genres that abut and mix with horror, including film noir, the suspense thriller, and science fiction. We will also consider alternative genealogies for thinking about horror in France focusing around the notion of le fantastique. We will begin with some early and isolated instances of genre filmmaking in the silent and early sound period (Méliès, Feuillade, and Dreyer) and then move to post-WWII efforts into film noir, the suspense thriller, and horror (Melville, Dassin, Clouzot, and Becker). We will then consider the French New Wave in the 1960s and investigate auteurist engagements with science fiction and horror (Franju, Marker, Godard, Truffaut, and Resnais) before working our way towards the contemporary period. Here, we will examine how French efforts in genre filmmaking interact with the global marketplace and transnational trends in horror, science fiction, and film policier (Besson, Gans, Gens, Kassovitz, Aja, Chapiron, Laugier, Maury, Fargeat, and Bustillo) and how contemporary French directors in the auteurist and art cinema tradition work in and with European and transnational genres (Denis, Noé, Dumont, de Van, Assayas, and Ducournau). Finally, we will look at how France has been a part of the migration of horror into long-form serial television in the 2010s. The course will offer a theoretical and historical investigation of what genre means in the French context but also an examination of how French filmmakers have used genre codes in distinctive ways to explore other concerns including cinematic spectatorship, embodiment, violence, politics, and questions of national belonging, class, race, gender, and sexuality. The course will be taught in English and most readings will be available in English.
Contemporary French Cinema: Horror and the Question of Genre in French Cinema (FR 2648)
This course will offer an alternative trajectory through French film history oriented around one of the most marginalized of film genres, horror. As we will see, genre films in France rarely limit themselves to one genre, and so we will examine other genres that abut and mix with horror, including film noir, the suspense thriller, and science fiction. We will also consider alternative genealogies for thinking about horror in France focusing around the notion of le fantastique. We will begin with some early and isolated instances of genre filmmaking in the silent and early sound period (Méliès, Feuillade, and Dreyer) and then move to post-WWII efforts into film noir, the suspense thriller, and horror (Melville, Dassin, Clouzot, and Becker). We will then consider the French New Wave in the 1960s and investigate auteurist engagements with science fiction and horror (Franju, Marker, Godard, Truffaut, and Resnais) before working our way towards the contemporary period. Here, we will examine how French efforts in genre filmmaking interact with the global marketplace and transnational trends in horror, science fiction, and film policier (Besson, Gans, Gens, Kassovitz, Aja, Chapiron, Laugier, Maury, Fargeat, and Bustillo) and how contemporary French directors in the auteurist and art cinema tradition work in and with European and transnational genres (Denis, Noé, Dumont, de Van, Assayas, and Ducournau). Finally, we will look at how France has been a part of the migration of horror into long-form serial television in the 2010s. The course will offer a theoretical and historical investigation of what genre means in the French context but also an examination of how French filmmakers have used genre codes in distinctive ways to explore other concerns including cinematic spectatorship, embodiment, violence, politics, and questions of national belonging, class, race, gender, and sexuality. The course will be taught in English and most readings will be available in English.
undergraduate courses
Instructor: Mark Lynn Anderson
Film Directors: Tod Browning & James Whale (ENGFLM 1470/FMST 1350)
Renowned as two of the most important pioneering directors of the horror genre, the films of Browning and Whale span four decades of studio-era productions in genres as diverse as the crime film, the musical, the war picture, comedy, and melodrama. Both filmmakers worked at Universal and both were concerned with the fate of social outcasts and misfits. The class will also examine stardom, performance, and the career of Lon Chaney. This course considers how their astonishing careers and cinematic artistry remain deeply relevant today with respect to disability, racial justice, queer identities, and the legacies of colonization.
Instructor: Alberto Iozza
Italian Cinema Icons (ITAL 0085)
Rotting zombies, evil witches, and merciless cowboys meet superstar directors, iconic acors, and award-winning composers. This course moves through the genres of Italian cinema and focuses on the most influential artists and on the most representative films. We are going to go from the war film masterpieces of the 1940s to the gory exploitation horror of the 1970s, from Sergio Leone's re-invention of western films to Mario Bava's rip-off of The Exorcist: this class really has something for everyone. So come enjoy what you love already and discover what you are going to love next.
Instructor: Bridget Keown
Gender and Science (GSWS 0400)
This course focuses on the interaction of gender and sexuality with science, medicine, and technology. The goal of this course is to assist students in developing an understanding of the ways in which science has constructed our understanding of gender and sexuality since the nineteenth century, as well as the lived experiences of people within the scientific community who shape and navigate these concepts. To accomplish this goal, we will apply feminist theory, including feminist critiques of the history of medicine, psychology, and science, and gender theory, to an investigation of the evolution of scientific knowledge regarding gender and sexuality, as well as race, disability, and health. We will also explore the ways in which people, especially women, people of color, and transpeople have interacted with technology, shaped scientific discourse. In each course lecture and discussion, we will focus on a broad range of scientific fields, discourses, and narratives to construct a comprehensive understanding of the scientific knowledge and identity in the modern world. While the readings focus largely on American and Western examples and experiences, class discussions and presentations will expand the scope of this class considerably, allowing students to understand the global relationship of gender and science.
Instructor: Adam Lowenstein
Horror Film (ENGFLM 1695 and FMST 1525)
This course studies the modern horror film in a global context. The release of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho in 1960 announced a new era in the history of the horror film, an often critically reviled but always culturally significant genre. The reverberations of Psycho, along with other landmark horror films of the 1960s and 1970s such as Night of the Living Dead and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, are still being felt today; these echoes will constitute the theoretical focus of this course. How did (and does) the genre continue to bend and shape the innovations of the 1960s and 1970s in relation to issues of history, aesthetics, narrative, representation, gender, and politics? How have countries beyond the US contributed to the genre in ways that extend and/or challenge American cinema’s horror conventions?
Instructor: Carrie Weaver
Death in the Ancient World (HAA 0018)
The death of a loved one is an emotional and powerful occurrence that provokes a variety of human responses. In addition to writings describing their funerary practices, the civilizations of the ancient Mediterranean region have left artistic representations of death and dying, built tombs, and objects associated with funerary rituals. The study of these texts, images, structures, and objects allows us to better understand ancient attitudes and reactions to death. This undergraduate lecture focuses on the visual and material evidence of funerary practices and beliefs in ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman societies. The subject will be approached thematically. First, we will explore how archaeologists discover death-related artifacts and how scholars approach the study and reconstruction of ancient death rituals. Ancient practices and beliefs regarding the mummification, the funeral, commemorative strategies, visits to the grave, and the afterlife will be explored, and images found on specific media (vases, sculpture, built tombs, paintings) will be discussed in depth. The course will conclude with discussions of the roles that sensational topics, like fear of the undead (zombies, vampires, and ghosts) and spectacles of death (gladiatorial contests and public executions), played in ancient Mediterranean civilizations.
Instructor: Marc Wisnosky
Vampire: Blood and Empire (SLAV 0880)
This course examines the phenomenon of vampirism in verbal and visual texts from different time periods in various cultures (Russia, Poland, France, England, America). We will analyze stories, novels, and films focusing on vampires from a variety of critical perspectives, contextualizing the works in the cultures that produced them.
Instructor: TBA
Sci-Fi: East and West (SLAV 0660)
This course compares Slavic and Anglophone science fiction to assess how a given culture's dominant values are articulated in a popular genre that enjoys different status in East and West. Those values emerge in works that imaginatively posit "fantastic" situations rooted in biological, spatial, and temporal explorations beyond those verified by science. On the basis of films, film clips, TV shows, stories, novellas, and novels we shall discuss such topics as utopia, progress, human perfectibility, the limits of science, and the nature of knowledge.
Film Directors: Tod Browning & James Whale (ENGFLM 1470/FMST 1350)
Renowned as two of the most important pioneering directors of the horror genre, the films of Browning and Whale span four decades of studio-era productions in genres as diverse as the crime film, the musical, the war picture, comedy, and melodrama. Both filmmakers worked at Universal and both were concerned with the fate of social outcasts and misfits. The class will also examine stardom, performance, and the career of Lon Chaney. This course considers how their astonishing careers and cinematic artistry remain deeply relevant today with respect to disability, racial justice, queer identities, and the legacies of colonization.
Instructor: Alberto Iozza
Italian Cinema Icons (ITAL 0085)
Rotting zombies, evil witches, and merciless cowboys meet superstar directors, iconic acors, and award-winning composers. This course moves through the genres of Italian cinema and focuses on the most influential artists and on the most representative films. We are going to go from the war film masterpieces of the 1940s to the gory exploitation horror of the 1970s, from Sergio Leone's re-invention of western films to Mario Bava's rip-off of The Exorcist: this class really has something for everyone. So come enjoy what you love already and discover what you are going to love next.
Instructor: Bridget Keown
Gender and Science (GSWS 0400)
This course focuses on the interaction of gender and sexuality with science, medicine, and technology. The goal of this course is to assist students in developing an understanding of the ways in which science has constructed our understanding of gender and sexuality since the nineteenth century, as well as the lived experiences of people within the scientific community who shape and navigate these concepts. To accomplish this goal, we will apply feminist theory, including feminist critiques of the history of medicine, psychology, and science, and gender theory, to an investigation of the evolution of scientific knowledge regarding gender and sexuality, as well as race, disability, and health. We will also explore the ways in which people, especially women, people of color, and transpeople have interacted with technology, shaped scientific discourse. In each course lecture and discussion, we will focus on a broad range of scientific fields, discourses, and narratives to construct a comprehensive understanding of the scientific knowledge and identity in the modern world. While the readings focus largely on American and Western examples and experiences, class discussions and presentations will expand the scope of this class considerably, allowing students to understand the global relationship of gender and science.
Instructor: Adam Lowenstein
Horror Film (ENGFLM 1695 and FMST 1525)
This course studies the modern horror film in a global context. The release of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho in 1960 announced a new era in the history of the horror film, an often critically reviled but always culturally significant genre. The reverberations of Psycho, along with other landmark horror films of the 1960s and 1970s such as Night of the Living Dead and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, are still being felt today; these echoes will constitute the theoretical focus of this course. How did (and does) the genre continue to bend and shape the innovations of the 1960s and 1970s in relation to issues of history, aesthetics, narrative, representation, gender, and politics? How have countries beyond the US contributed to the genre in ways that extend and/or challenge American cinema’s horror conventions?
Instructor: Carrie Weaver
Death in the Ancient World (HAA 0018)
The death of a loved one is an emotional and powerful occurrence that provokes a variety of human responses. In addition to writings describing their funerary practices, the civilizations of the ancient Mediterranean region have left artistic representations of death and dying, built tombs, and objects associated with funerary rituals. The study of these texts, images, structures, and objects allows us to better understand ancient attitudes and reactions to death. This undergraduate lecture focuses on the visual and material evidence of funerary practices and beliefs in ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman societies. The subject will be approached thematically. First, we will explore how archaeologists discover death-related artifacts and how scholars approach the study and reconstruction of ancient death rituals. Ancient practices and beliefs regarding the mummification, the funeral, commemorative strategies, visits to the grave, and the afterlife will be explored, and images found on specific media (vases, sculpture, built tombs, paintings) will be discussed in depth. The course will conclude with discussions of the roles that sensational topics, like fear of the undead (zombies, vampires, and ghosts) and spectacles of death (gladiatorial contests and public executions), played in ancient Mediterranean civilizations.
Instructor: Marc Wisnosky
Vampire: Blood and Empire (SLAV 0880)
This course examines the phenomenon of vampirism in verbal and visual texts from different time periods in various cultures (Russia, Poland, France, England, America). We will analyze stories, novels, and films focusing on vampires from a variety of critical perspectives, contextualizing the works in the cultures that produced them.
Instructor: TBA
Sci-Fi: East and West (SLAV 0660)
This course compares Slavic and Anglophone science fiction to assess how a given culture's dominant values are articulated in a popular genre that enjoys different status in East and West. Those values emerge in works that imaginatively posit "fantastic" situations rooted in biological, spatial, and temporal explorations beyond those verified by science. On the basis of films, film clips, TV shows, stories, novellas, and novels we shall discuss such topics as utopia, progress, human perfectibility, the limits of science, and the nature of knowledge.
Pittsburgh London Film Programme
Instructor: Sarah Joshi
The City Made Strange (ENGFLM1493)
This course aims to explore the deep funds of strangeness and otherness that permeate London’s places and spaces, through examining films and television series that show the city as a brimming reservoir of past and future shocks. The course will examine science fiction, horror and noir/ neo-gothic cinema and television from all eras, with an emphasis on works that take London itself as a major part of their story. Students will gain insight into the ways that film can reflect and respond to contemporary social and political conditions and events, as well as an understanding of horror and science fiction as key genres in British film, and gain awareness of some key points at which these genres in British media differ from their US counterparts. Students will also create their own interactive map of London using an advanced GPS tool with embedded moving image material. This course fulfills the "Category II: Themes, Genres, and Theory" Film and Media Studies requirement and the "Specific Geographic Region" and "The Arts" General Education requirements for the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. Available only on the Pittsburgh London Film Programme https://abroad.pitt.edu/plfp
The City Made Strange (ENGFLM1493)
This course aims to explore the deep funds of strangeness and otherness that permeate London’s places and spaces, through examining films and television series that show the city as a brimming reservoir of past and future shocks. The course will examine science fiction, horror and noir/ neo-gothic cinema and television from all eras, with an emphasis on works that take London itself as a major part of their story. Students will gain insight into the ways that film can reflect and respond to contemporary social and political conditions and events, as well as an understanding of horror and science fiction as key genres in British film, and gain awareness of some key points at which these genres in British media differ from their US counterparts. Students will also create their own interactive map of London using an advanced GPS tool with embedded moving image material. This course fulfills the "Category II: Themes, Genres, and Theory" Film and Media Studies requirement and the "Specific Geographic Region" and "The Arts" General Education requirements for the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. Available only on the Pittsburgh London Film Programme https://abroad.pitt.edu/plfp