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I N H A B I T I N G O T H E R L I V E S

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IDH 2004 Spring 2011

Mondays, 2:00-4:45 pm BBC Library 150

Instructor: Scott Kass Email: kasss@fiu.edu Phone: (305) 919-5933 Office: BBC Library Office Hours: Tuesdays-Fridays, 8 am – 3 pm and by appointment Course Description This Honors seminar will expose you to issues of human commonality and diversity and invite you to investigate and understand the interconnectedness of cultures, times, and sets of life experiences. Specifically, you will study Third World cinema. Third World cinema opens up a new world of exotic traditions; amazing settings; fascinating architecture; strange costumes, objects, and people; and customs you’ve never heard of. You will read subtitles and listen to the sounds of languages you don’t speak. You will get to observe people behaving under extremely different circumstances but acting a lot like you. We will screen about a dozen films representative of contemporary Third World cinema. I hope they will help you understand the history, politics, society, economy, and aesthetic conventions of their cultures. This is not a “mere” film appreciation course. Our objectives are to:

• Learn how societies other than our own address human needs and concerns

• Develop an understanding of other cultures’ traditions, beliefs, and values • Interpret patterns of behavior reflecting values and attitudes in different

societies • Develop an understanding of diverse geography and environments • Develop an understanding of the ways in which culture, gender, and class

affect individual and collective identities and experiences • Develop an understanding of political ideas, institutions, struggles, and

conflicts • Learn of beliefs, sentiments, values and issues that unite and divide

people • Stretch our eyes, ears, and intellect by acquiring a taste for foreign films

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You are accustomed to viewing First World films (Hollywood commercial spectacles). Some of you have seen Second World Films (so-called art films of European auteurs). But in this course you will be viewing Third World cinema. Because we have been raised on the artificiality, commercialism, and razor-sharp editing of Hollywood and American TV, it is at first difficult for us to sit through Third World films. We are unaccustomed to the complexity, ambiguity, intellectualism, oddness, and often downright “clunkiness” of Third World filmmaking. These films often make us feel uncomfortable. Sometimes they drag, or they’re too “talky.” But once we have become accustomed to them, there’s no going back to the shopping mall Cineplex. We will be viewing the films on different levels:

• As documentary evidence of the Third World situation • As artistic creations that present stylized depictions of historical or

contemporary situations • As indications of how Third World intellectuals are working through their

own identities and those of their society. Further, we will be examining these films as testament to the existence of evil in the world—evil manifested in the form of nightmarish governments, despots, societal pathology, bureaucratic insanity, etc. And we will analyze how Third World peoples—indeed all people—develop methods for coping with evil. Texts There are no books to buy. I will distribute readings, and you will access the university library and the Internet. We will also make regular use the New York Times and Internet sites in these Third World countries. Course Methods

• Film screenings • Lectures • Discussions • Research • Oral presentations • Formal writing assignments

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Course Requirements You are expected to:

• View all films in class • Actively participate in class discussions • Submit all work on time • Attend Honors Colleges functions • Take two quizzes, one midterm and one final (50%) • Submit one research paper or project (25%) • Engage in one group or individual project terminating in a presentation to

the class (25%) By doing the above you will be fulfilling Honors College Student Learning Outcomes, which are as follows:

(1) Demonstrate the principles and skills of conducting research; and to analyze, evaluate, and contribute to scholarly work. (You will demonstrate this through your research project.)

(2) Demonstrate the application of ideas, methods, an/or knowledge from multiple disciplines within one assignment. (See course description.)

(3) Demonstrate an understanding of international issues and an appreciation of global cultures. (See course description.)

(4) Demonstrate an appreciation of the importance of cultural literacy and fluency with some of its associate issues; and demonstrate an understanding of the creative/artistic process. (See course description.)

(5) Demonstrate leadership in the classroom. (You will participate in class discussions and lead the class in a presentation.)

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Course Policies Attendance Class attendance is mandatory. Exceptions will, of course, be made for illnesses, emergencies, and religious holidays. Excessive absences will result in a lower grade. Tardiness Please come to class on time. Excessive tardiness will result in a lower grade. Late Work Please submit work on time. Exceptions will, of course, be made for illnesses, emergencies, and religious holidays. Excessive late submissions will result in a lower grade. Academic Integrity This course adheres to all Honors College and general University rules and regulations regarding academic integrity, by which I mean plagiarism and cheating. Modification of Syllabus I retain the right to modify the course syllabus for any reason throughout the semester provided that (1) fair and adequate notice is given to enrolled students either by email or in writing, (2) modifications to the syllabus are not arbitrary or capricious, and (3) students are not unfairly disadvantaged by mid-semester changes to grading standards, attendance standards, or performance measure.

HONORS COLLEGE POLICIES Honors Citizenship Requirements All members of the Honors College are expected to be active citizens of the College, the university, and the community at large. To be a committed Honors College student is to take advantage of enhanced learning opportunities and to assume a leadership role in the world. All College members are expected to participate in the community-building activities listed below: 1. Attend one Honors Excellence Lecture per academic year and one Honors Colloquium per semester (fall and spring). (Attendance will be taken). 2. Participate in the Honors College Convocation each fall. (Attendance will be taken). 3. Attend at least three Honors Hour sessions per semester or enrichment events specified by the Honors College as satisfying this requirement. (Attendance will be taken). 4. Perform at least ten hours of Community Service per semester either through the Honors College service partnerships (Sweetwater, Overtown Youth Center, etc.) or through other community service projects and/or events. If you want to apply this service to your graduation portfolio, be sure to document your hours.

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Academic Misconduct Policy “Registration in this course implies an acceptance of and compliance with the Honors College policies for students and the FIU Code of Academic Integrity. Please refer to the following documents for additional information: FIU Code of Academic Integrity - http://www.fiu.edu/~dwyere/academicintegrity.html FIU Honors College Student Handbook – http://honors.fiu.edu/handbook0910.html FIU Honors College Plagiarism Policy - http://honors.fiu.edu/current_policy_plagiarism.html Student Portfolios The Honors College will be using a portfolio method to assess students’ learning outcomes. The portfolio method allows for maximum flexibility in gauging student learning. You will decide (with instructor consultation) what “artifacts” or assignments to include for consideration in their portfolios to demonstrate successful achievement of each of the student learning outcomes. Portfolios provide a rich context for students to show what they have learned and to explain their learning process. Because the Honors curriculum is meant to be thought-provoking and reflective, student self-assessment through portfolios will facilitate learning and provide in-depth assessment. This course should include at least one assignment that could potentially fit portfolio requirements. The Films We will be watching many of the films described on the following pages; however, I reserve the right to substitute and to add new films as they become available. I also welcome your suggestions. Expect some more new-wave Iranian and Korean films.

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RACHIDA (Algeria, 2002) The young teacher Rachida is teaching at an elementary school in Algiers, when she is stopped in the street by a group of youths who demand she take a bomb and place it in the school.

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DAUGHTER OF KELTOUM (Algeria, 2001) Rallia, a 19-year-old Westernized woman, is on a bus in the mountainous desert region of Algeria in northwest Africa, surveying where homes blend in with the landscape. Rallia is returning to her birthplace, hoping to find her mother, Keltoum.

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NADA MAS (Cuba, 2001) Nada Mas take a comical look at Cuban bureaucracy, presenting us with a story of the fictional shenanigans that go on in a Havana post office. Carla is a bored young postal clerk who dreams of leaving the country to join her parents in Miami. In the meantime, she steals and rewrites letters in order to brighten the lives of their addressees, however briefly.

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TSOTSI (South Africa, 2005) Tsotsi, a hooded, toughened gang leader in a Johannesburg shantytown, kills for money and beats his friend for challenging his dignity. When Tsotsi shoots a woman for her car and finds that he has unwittingly absconded with her baby, he is struck with a dilemma: What to do with the baby?

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CHILDREN OF HEAVEN (Iran, 1999) Delightful tale of a brother and sister who share a pair of shoes when the boy (through no fault of his own) loses his sister’s only pair. Since their parents are too poor to afford a new pair, they keep it a secret, trading them off every day in a mad rush. Then the boy hatches a plan: The third-place prize in a student race is a new pair of shoes, and he’s determined to take it.

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MR. & MRS. IYER (India, 2002) A Muslim man and a Hindu woman and her child are thrown together during a bus ride to Calcutta, India, that is halted by local religious riots.

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NO MAN’S LAND (former Yugoslavia, 2001) Fleeing enemy fire, an injured Bosnian soldier named Ciki retreats to a trench, where he finds himself trapped with a wounded comrade and worse—a Serbian! With no way to escape and with his fellow soldier lying on a spring-loaded bomb set to explode if he moves, Ciki realizes he must do the unthinkable (trust the enemy) if he wants to survive.

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4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days (Romania, 2007) Two college roommates have 24 hours to make the ultimate choice as they finalize arrangements to meet a black market doctor for an illegal abortion. What follows is their harrowing descent into a world in where danger, darkness and tragedy lurk around every corner.