Spanish
311
/
Film
400:

Mexican
Film;
Mexico
in
Film


Fall
2009



Dr.
Linda
Zee

White
Hall
226

223‐2461

lzee@utica.edu

Office
hours:
MWF
9:30‐10:20;
T
1‐2:30
and
by
appointment



Description:



This
course
has
been
designed
to
introduce
you
to
the
history,
culture
and
politics
of

Mexico,
via
film.

We
will
be
viewing
documentaries,
feature
films
and
a
few
that

define
categorization,
produced
both
within
and
outside
of
Mexico.

These
are
NOT

Hollywood
films
and
are
not
geared
towards
Hollywood’s
typical
audience
[15
year

old
boys].

You
should
keep
an
open
mind
while
watching.

Your
film
viewing
will
be
supplemented
by
weekly
readings.

These
readings
are
to

be
done
BEFORE
class
and
are
meant
to
enhance
your
comprehension
of
the
week’s

film

These
readings
are
in
English;
Spanish‐language
versions
of
many
of
the

readings
are
available
on‐line
and
I
will
include
the
links
to
them
when
possible.



Objectives:




To
expose
you
to
a
variety
of

viewpoints
about
Mexico,
Mexicans,
and
US

involvement
in
Mexican
history.

You
should,
by
the
end
of
the
semester,
know
a
lot

more
than
the
average
US
citizen
about
Mexico,
and
be
able
to
correct
commonly

held
misperceptions
about
history,
language
and
geography,
as
well
as
drawing
your

own
well‐informed
conclusions.



Text:



The
Mexico
Reader:
History,
Culture,
Politics.

Eds.
Gilbert
M.
Joseph
&
Timothy
J.

Henderson



http://film311utica.blogspot.com
[en
español]

http://film400utica.blogspot.com

[in
English]
 
 


 This
is
your
lifeline
to
the
class,
will
contain
the
syllabus,
assignments,

outside
links,
along
with
the
discussion
questions.

Access
will
be
limited
by
those

registered
in
this
class,
and
will
be
based
on
your
UC
email
account.

Visit
this
page

early
and
often
throughout
the
weeks!



It
is
HIGHLY
recommended
that
you
subscribe
[or
share
a
subscription
]to
Netflix.


Most
films
viewed
this
semester
are
available
from
Netflix.

The
most
basic

subscription
will
cost
you
$8.99
a
month,
for
one
film
at
a
time,
no
limits
as
to
the

number
of
films
per
month
[the
$4.99
subscription
limits
you
to
2
films
a
month].



Grading:



Participation
[blog]:




















30%
 
 
 
 

Midterm:









































15%

Final
Project:

































25%

Homework
&
Written
work:




30%
 
 



THOSE
TAKING
SPANISH
311
WILL
COMPLETE
THEIR
WORK
IN
SPANISH!



Participation
will
consist
of
on‐line
responses
to
the
questions
posed
on
the
blog

page
[in
English
for
Film
400,
Spanish
for
Spanish
311,
which
is
why
there
are
two

different
pages].

There
will
not
be
time
for
adequate
discussion
after
we
view
the

films,
and
often
there
are
questions
and
comments
that
will
occur
to
you
as
you

head
home
after
class.

Questions
will
be
posted
by
myself
and
by
you,
and
will
be

answered
by
both.

I
will
be
attempting
to
block
outside
users
[and
their
opinions]

so
I
will
be
entering
your
UC
email
addresses,
which
you
should
use
in
order
to
post.



There
may
be
opportunities
for
very
short
presentations
done
by
students
during

class,
which
will
serve
to
elucidate
a
term,
concept,
historical
event
or
person.



The
midterm
will
be
an
essay
of
some
kind,
combining
the
materials
read
and

viewed
up
to
that
point
in
the
semester.



The
final
project
will
consist
of
your
viewing
a
film
not
previously
seen
in
class,

choosing
the
appropriate
background
readings,
and
creating
a
PowerPoint

presentation
such
as
those
I
will
be
doing
in
class.



The
written
work
will
be
questions
on
the
readings,
short
essays
and
summaries
of

films,
etc.,
assigned
the
week
before
and
due
at
the
start
of
class.



GRADING
SCALE:



A







93+















A‐

90‐92

B+

87‐89














B


84‐86












B‐

80‐83

C+

77‐79














C

74‐76














C‐

70‐73

D+

67‐79














D

64‐66













F

0‐63



CLASSROOM
BEHAVIOR
AND
EXPECTATIONS



1.

Be
on
time.

Arriving
late
is
rude
and
disrespectful
to
me
and
to
the
rest
of
the

class.

Class
discussion
starts
at
5:00,
the
films
in
general
will
start
at
6:00.



2.

CELL
PHONES
OFF!!!



3.

Cheating
and
plagiarism
are
serious
offenses
and
will
be
punished
accordingly—
F,
F
for
cheating
on
your
transcript,
public
flogging,
vivisection….
[look
it
up]

4.

Please
come
to
class
prepared,
or
stay
home.

You
will
miss
much
of
what
I
want

you
to
get
out
of
the
film
of
you
have
not
done
the
readings.

It
is
impossible
to

intelligently
discuss
a
film
that
you
have
not
seen.



5.

If
you
go
elsewhere
on
campus
to
buy
food
during
the
break,
kindly
keep
in
mind

your
classmates
when
unwrapping,
crunching,
inundating
us
with
the
odors
of
fried

flesh,
garlic,
etc.



ASSIGNMENTS
WILL
BE
POSTED
ON
THE
BLOG—PAGES
TO
BE
READ,

QUESTIONS
AND
ASSIGNMENTS
TO
BE
COMPLETED.



FILM
LIST:



7
Sept:

Touring
Mexico



14
Sept:

La
última
conquista
/
The
Last
Conquest



21
Sept:

Chac
el
dios
de
la
lluvia

/
Chac
the
Rain
God



28
Sept:

Yo
la
peor
de
todas
/
I
the
Worst
of
All



5
Oct:

Juarez



12
Oct:

No
class



19
Oct:

Allá
en
el
Rancho
Grande
/
There
in
the
Big
Ranch



26
Oct:

MIDTERM
EXAM.

HORROR
FILM



2
Nov:

Como
agua
para
chocolate
/
Like
Water
for
Chocolate



9
Nov:

A
Cantinflas
movie
to
be
named
later



16
Nov:

Lucha
libre
/
Mexican
wrestling



23
Nov:

Canoa



30
Nov:

Los
crímenes
del
Padre
Amaro
/
The
Crimes
of
Padre
Amaro



7
Dec:

Bajo
la
misma
luna
/
Under
the
Same
Moon



14
Dec:

Un
día
sin
mexicanos
/
A
Day
Without
Mexicans