If you “are looking for an interesting class about Israeli cinema taught by an energetic and lively instructor, there are seats available in the new course CJST 249: From Black and White to Colors: Israeli Cinema a Melting Pot Fragmented. The course is taught by the Center for Jewish Studies Scholar in Residence, Amir Bogen who is a long time journalist and film critic.
Here is the link on Wes map:
https://iasext.wesleyan.edu/regprod/!wesmaps_page.html?crse=015404&term=1191
In addition, I am also enclosing a course description and the instructor’s short bio (written by the instructor).
From Black Panther to Wind River, from Dear White People to Crazy Rich Asians, and from How To Be A Latin Lover to Menashe – in the last couple of years Hollywood hails diversity as a prominent value of contemporary American society. In the fantastic realm of fictional narratives, the USA is seen as a nation for all where there is a space for every culture to express itself freely, and being genuinely represented at least on screen.
In the course From Black & White to Colors, we will take a critical look at Israeli Cinema and delve into it as a case study of a “melting pot” that was dissolved into fragments. Through a variety of films in different genres – dramas, comedies, musicals, and thrillers – we would follow the issues of representation on the screen and real life, then and now, and we will ask how does an immigrant-based society evolved from the national towards multi-ethnicity and diversity. Is it still the case of a culture that is bigger than the sum of its parts, or maybe it was always a story of particles trying to be particular while being edited in history books, scripts, and movies. Israeli, and American.
Amir Bogen is an Israeli film journalist and a scholar. He covered American, International and Israeli cinema for over a decade. He also hold an MA in film theory from Tel Aviv University. His thesis deals with fascist models in Star Wars and Superhero movies, a topic he expends in his current dissertation as a PhD candidate.”
Many thanks, Dalit
Dalit Katz
Adj. Associate Professor of Religion