Ithaca College

Professor Mirskin is teaching a terrific course starting after spring break looking at how social conflict is represented in film. This course is offered in connection with the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival. Students will meet in class and attend at least two films downtown at Cinemapolis during the Festival. 

Interested students should sign up on Homer for:     FLEFF: Subduction Zones: How underlying conditions lead to social conflict as represented in contemporary film - 43332 - GCOM 10105 - 01. The course meets on Wednesdays, March 21-April 18th from 6-8:30 PM. The course description is below.

Course Description:

A recent New York Times article explains why Mexico is prone to earthquakes.  Mexico is located on a "Subduction zone, a "part of the earth where one slab of the crust is slowly sliding under another...." "Subduction zone" is a useful metaphor for representing how social conflict results from the pressure that builds up when underlying forces compete and collide. The class will read an essay by the social philosopher, Wendell Berry, as a way of creating a "template" of ideal--"stress-free"-- community life. We'll view films in the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival as well as Spike Lee's film, Do the Right Thing, and discuss the extent to which our "template" accounts for the social friction and destruction represented in the films. 

Wednesdays, March 21 – April 18 6-8:30 PM Smiddy Hall 112