100 Years of Romantic Comedy

3.0 credits · Undergraduate

American society has changed dramatically over the last century, arguably most profoundly in terms of gender and gender roles. This course examines changing interpretations of gender through film and sociology. Each week we watch a film that centers gender – typically a romantic comedy, family drama, or coming of age film – along with sociological discussions of gender from or about that period. The course progresses a decade a week. Films vary from semester to semester but may include Stella Dallas (1937), Now Voyager (1942), Gidget (1957), Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Carnal Knowledge (1971), She’s Gotta Have It (1986), Good Will Hunting (1997), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Frances Ha (2012), Her (2013).