ENG 1990 - RACE, HORROR, PHILOSOPHY

credits: 6.0
Crosslisted/Same As: PHR 1990
ENG 1990-PHR 1990. A number of horror films have dealt with questions of racial and ethnic identity in recent years. Prominent examples include films by Jordan Peele (“Get Out,” “Us”), but race has long been a subtext of horror films. This course examines some of the philosophical, literary, and historical underpinnings of horror and race. Films by directors such as Peele, David Robert Mitchell (“It Follows”), George A. Romero (“Night of the Living Dead”) alongside philosophical texts by Charles Mills, Frantz Fanon, Angela Davis, Noël Carroll, and Charles Mills. Objectives: A) Identify various ways that racial tropes have been deployed in horror films; B) Evaluate the relationship between philosophical texts and film as forms of critique through written papers and in-class discussions; C) Analyze how representations of race in horror film inform us about racial dynamics in contemporary society. Method of Instruction: Lecture and discussion. Method of Evaluation: Three short papers (800 words) that interpret and explicate the various course texts, short reflection papers, final presentation, and reading quizzes. Meets *WEP Distribution Requirement.