We take it for granted that film should move us—to tears, to laughter, to arousal, to fear— and other states, as well. In this course, we will look broadly at some of the connections between the “moving” image and feeling, from phenomenological approaches to cinema to more recent work on cinema and the body, the haptic, and affect. After looking at some foundational texts of phenomenology (Hegel, Merleau-Ponty), we will move to work on phenomenology and the moving image, particularly Deleuze’s Cinema 1 & 2 (Movement-Image, Time-Image). In the last two decades, numerous scholars, often inspired by Deleuze, have turned to the question of feeling and film; we’ll look at Sobchack, Casebier, Marks, and Barker, and the “haptic turn” in film studies. At the end of the course we’ll examine some recent scholarship (Väliaho, Trigg, Shaviro and Chen) that looks at feeling and the moving image that moves beyond traditional narrative cinema, from the earliest days of the moving image (Mélies) to television (Stranger Things), art films (Von Trier), music videos (“Corporate Cannibal”) and genre cinema (Gravity, Arrival)—all with an eye to the body and its feelings.

Tuesdays 3:00-5:00