Scenes of Instruction: The Beginnings of the U.S. Study of Film

Dana Polan

Published by University of California Press 2007

Scenes of Instruction

The Beginnings of the U.S. Study of Film

Dana Polan

https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520940208

Overview
Contents

About this book

This engaging book chronicles the first classes on the art and industry of cinema and the colorful pioneers who taught, wrote, and advocated on behalf of the new art form. Using extensive archival research, Dana Polan looks at, for example, Columbia University’s early classes on Photoplay Composition; lectures at the New School for Social Research by famed movie historian Terry Ramsaye; the film industry’s sponsorship of a business course on film at Harvard; and attempts by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to create programs of professionalized education at the University of Southern California, Stanford, and elsewhere. Polan examines a wide range of thinkers who engaged with the new art of film, from Marxist Harry Alan Potamkin to sociologist Frederic Thrasher to Great Books advocates Mortimer Adler and Mark Van Doren.

Author / Editor information

Polan Dana :

Dana Polan is Professor of Cinema Studies at the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. Among his books are Jane Campion, Pulp Fiction, In a Lonely Place, and the forthcoming titles The Sopranos and The French Chef.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Introduction: Toward A Disciplinary History Of Film Studies Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. First Forays In Film Education: The Pedagogy Of Photoplay Composition At Columbia University Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	33
2. A Brief Interlude As The Movies March On: Terry Ramsaye And The New School For Social Research Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	90
3. “Younger Art, Old College, Happy Union”: Harvard Goes Into The Business And Art Of The Movies Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	113
4. Between Academia And The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences: The University Of Southern California Ventures Into The Cinema Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	175
5. Politics As Pedagogy, Pedagogy As Politics: The Rather Brief Moment In Time Of Harry Alan Potamkin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	236
6. Appreciations Of Cinema: Syracuse Discovers Film Art Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	263
7. Cinematic Diversions In Sociology: Frederic Thrasher In The World Of Film Appreciation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	299
8. Middlebrow Translations Of Highbrow Philosophy: The Film Fandom Of The 1930S Great Books Intellectuals Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	344
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	377
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	401

Language: English
Publisher: University of California Press
Pages
- Main content: 416

eBook

Published: April 24, 2007
ISBN: 9780520940208