Knowledge Through Moving Images

Undergraduate / Graduate

Consciously or unconsciously, we learn a great deal about the world through moving image media. Programs such as Blue Planet (2001) teach viewers about ocean ecologies; YouTube videos offer knowledge on any number of skills, from changing a tire to cooking; but films like Conclave (2024) or Coco (2017) also seem to offer insight into real world practices, despite their fictional status. In this course, we will interrogate the various ways in which film, television, and video inform our beliefs and when those beliefs may be called knowledge. Key questions we will encounter in this course include: What kinds of knowledge do we gain from moving images? When do we recognize that we're learning or learned something from moving images? When do we learn "on accident" and how may we come to recognize it?