Native North Americans in the Media: Representations and Self Representations in Film

Catalog description

How have Native North American peoples been represented and self-represented in film from the early 1900s to today? Filmmaking is employed to explore the construction and stereotyping of Indigenous peoples of North America in American popular culture, as well as the recent (re)construction of Native identities by American Indian peoples. Specific topics including identity, race, gender, violence, religion and spirituality, cultural appropriation, and Native humor frame the analysis and comparison of American popular and Native representations of Native Americans. The course centers on the screening and discussion of selected movies, complemented by academic and non-academic literature in the form of books, articles, reviews, and other media materials. Completion of introductory courses on Native American peoples and cultures is strongly recommended.