Spec Topic: Curious Art of Autobiography

This is a critical examination of first-person
films drawn from personal experience, literature
and history, as well as a practicum for studentsÈ
own autobiographical work. We will be concerned
with a wide variety of autobiographical sources
including memoir, testimony, diary and historical
record as we consider strategies for using oneÈs
own experience to tell cinematic stories. Works
considered will be fictional, documentary,
personal and hybrids of these, and will offer an
opportunity to trace the shifting qualities of a
story as it travels from one form to another, and
raises questions of reference, location, time,
audience, structure and authenticity. Students
will complete several short video sketches and a
final project consisting of a research paper or
autobiographical work.