Seminar description
Films create story worlds, imaginary environments in which characters live and act, and where events, large and small, transpire. Some story worlds are elaborate, fanciful constructs (think of Disney’s animated films). Others stay close to reality (think of “docudramas”). But across the spectrum, all of them are framed by and provided with rules of time and space, of believable or impossible. This course offers an examination of selected story worlds from several periods of film history. Emphasis falls on the expansive story worlds of contemporary corporately-run media-franchise “universes,” like the cross-media “DC Universe.”
Get to know your professor
Lauren Cramer
You can call me…
Professor Satsuka
I just can't live without…
Manga!
I just can't live without…
Manga!
My hometown is…
Tokyo, Japan
For my undergraduate degree…
I studied History at Keiko University, Japan.
I am surprisingly good at…
Remembering a route
Fun fact:
I’m learning woodworking with hand tools only!
If I wasn't teaching, I would be a…
An organic farmer.
NAME: Bart Testa
INNIS FYF SEMINAR I WILL BE TEACHING IN 2020-2021: Story Worlds & The Cinema, Action Cinema, Chinese Cinemas
HOMETOWN: Toronto
THE LAST GREAT MOVIE I SAW WAS: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
MY ACTUAL FAVOURITE MOVIE: Touch of Evil
THE SONG I HAVE ON REPEAT RIGHT NOW: “Opening” by Phillip Glass
FAVOURITE FOOD: Pizza
GUILTY PLEASURE: Zombie & vampire movies
I AM SURPRISINGLY VERY GOOD AT: Dish washing
A FUN FACT ABOUT MYSELF: I have a new puppy.
MY FAVOURITE THING ABOUT TEACHING: The actual teaching part.
WHY YOU SHOULD TAKE MY CLASS: Many opportunities to work on your writing.
WHAT I WANT MY STUDENTS TO KNOW: All writing is rewriting.
A COOL FACT ABOUT MY FIELD OF STUDY: I get paid to talk about films.
SOME FINAL WORDS: Roll credits.
What I'm working on now is…
Writing a book about mushroom and humans.
Lately, something that has been exciting me about my research/scholarship is…
How fungi helps us see the world from a new perspective.
A fun fact about my field of study is…
A small surprise in everyday life can lead to a big theoretical discovery.
I was inspired to get into this field because…
It challenges taken-for-granted perspectives.
A fun fact about my field of study is…
- Exploring more-than-human relations
- manga
- anime
In a sentence, what you’ll learn in my course:
You will develop skills to analyze human-nonhuman relations expressed in Japanese manga and anime from socio-cultural anthropological perspectives.
One of my favourite things about teaching first-year students is…
Enthusiasm
My best advice for those starting their first year…
Follow your curiosity. Explore new perspectives.
NAME: Chelsea Rochman.