Syllabus
GC2Y 2000 Global Horror, Fall 2021
Section 17: 2:00-3:40 p.m., Arts & Sciences 263 (Auditorium)
Section 16 Honors: 4:00-5:40 p.m., Ennis Hall 342
Professor
Dr. Alex E. Blazer
478.445.0964
Office Hours: MW 12:30-1:50 p.m. and T 4:00-4:50 p.m. by appointment
The course catalog states, "This course focuses on the development of global perspectives within various disciplinary, multidisciplinary, or interdisciplinary contexts. Course materials will emphasize multiple intellectual approaches to issues, topics and/or themes; provide appropriate opportunities to engage in learning beyond the classroom; and fulfill the Georgia College writing-intensive course curriculum overlay requirements." This GC2Y section will interpret horror films from around the globe using psychoanalytic, ecocritical, gender studies, cultural studies approaches. We will not only analyze film as an artistic medium but also but also compare diverse film traditions in general and cultural understandings of horror in particular. What horrifies people in general? What do specific cultures find terrifying? How are cultural anxieties and fears expressed through and on its horror films? How do cultures' different gender roles affect the portrayal of men and women in horror films? Why do we desire to be scared or repulsed? We will view variety of horror films in a variety of horror subgenres (found footage, giallo, kaiju, occult, psychological, science fiction, supernatural, and vampire) from a variety of countries (Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States). We will lean how to analyze the technical elements of film with the help of Ed Sikov's Film Studies: An Introduction; and we will learn critical approaches to film, genre, and international film histories using Harry M. Benshoff's A Companion to the Horror Film. Students will respond to an article and a film in two informal discussion board responses and presentations. In the first formal paper, students will compare and contrast either cultural expressions of horror from two nations or an international horror film and its American remake (or vice versa). The research essay will require outside research of a film or film issue. Students will complete a group learning beyond the classroom project in which they either create a short film or record a podcast episode discussing a feature film. The essay exam will test students' understanding of film technique and the horror genre.
Here is the GC2Y course outcome:
- Students will be able to explain multiple intellectual approaches that clarify or respond to problems, topics, themes, and/or issues.
Here are our Global Horror Films section outcomes:
- Students will be introduced to the study of film as an artistic medium and be able to identify the technical elements of film and the aesthetic language of film.
- Students will be able to discuss the traits of the horror film genre and its various subgenres (such as gothic horror, found footage horror, giallo, zombie film, and so forth).
- Students will learn the cultural expressions and histories of a number international film traditions (such as Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom) and be able to comparatively discuss how different cultures experience and express horror in film.
- Students will apply critical theories such as cultural studies, ecocriticism, feminism and gender studies, and psychoanalysis to the interpretation of a range of international horror films.
required textbooks (Amazon or GCSU Bookstore)
Benshoff, ed., A Companion to the Horror Film
Sikov, Film Studies: An Introduction
required articles (GeorgiaVIEW)
required films (availability)
Alien
The Babadook
Don't Torture a Duckling
Freaks
Godzilla (1954)
The Golem
The Haunted Castle
Häxan
The Horror of Dracula
The Host
The Infernal Cauldron
Kwaidan
Nang Nak
The Phantom Carriage
Pulse (2001)
[REC]
Repulsion
Shivers
recommended films (availability)
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
Blood and Black Lace
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
The Curse of Frankenstein
The Devil's Backbone
Halloween
Island of Lost Souls
Kuntilanak (2018)
Nosferatu
Planet of the Vampires
Pulse (2006)
Quarantine
Revenge of the Pontianak
The Ring
Ringu
Rosemary's Baby
The Shout
Tarantula
The Tenant
The Thing from Another World
White Zombie
Assignments and Grade Distribution
article summary, 5%
You will sign up to summarize an article in an informal 2-3 page summary.
film response, 5%
You will sign up to respond to a film in an informal 2-3 page response.
learning beyond the classroom project, 15%
You will divide into small groups and either create a 5 minute film that combines the style and/or themes of two films studied in class or record a 30 minute podcast episode that discusses one or two films not studied in class.
comparison/contrast essay, 20%
You will either 1) compare and contrast how two specific films from two national cultures either express a trait of the horror film genre or culturally conceive of horror or 2) compare and contrast an international horror film and its American remake (or vice versa) in a formal, peer reviewed, and revised 4-6 page essay (5-7 page essay for Honors students).
research essay, 30%
You will research, analyze, and interpret a film or film issue in a formal, peer reviewed, and revised 7-9 page essay with 8 scholarly source annotated bibliography (8-10 page essay with 10 scholarly source annotated bibliography for Honors students).
essay exam, 25%
You will take a three question in-class essay exam that demonstrates your understanding of film technique, film theory, and global horror films. Here's how to calculate your course grade.
Technology
We will use the course site for the syllabus schedule and assignment prompts; supporting documents include an attendance record, a course grade calculation spreadsheet, FAQ, a GeorgiaVIEW walkthrough, a guide to literary analysis, a research methods guide, and paper templates. We will use GeorgiaVIEW for assignment submission and the course packet; if you experience technical issues with GeorgiaVIEW, contact the Center for Teaching and Learning at ctl@gcsu.edu or 478.445.2520. We will use Zoom for large class discussions and small group activities during the scheduled class time. Check your university email for course-related messages. Use an online backup or cloud storage service to not only save but also archive versions of your work in case of personal computer calamities.
Attendance
Refer to the COVID-19 statement for the attendance policy. You can check your attendance record here.
MLA Style and Length Requirements
Part of writing in a discipline is adhering to the field's style guide. While other disciplines use APA or Chicago style, literature and composition follows MLA style. Assignments such as in-class exams, discussion board responses, informal/journal writing, and peer review may be informally formatted; however, formal assignments and take-home exams must employ MLA style. One-third of a letter grade will be deducted from a formal paper or take-home exam for problems in each of the following three categories, for a possible one letter grade deduction total: 1) margins, header, and heading, 2) font, font size, and line-spacing, and 3) quotation and citation format. A formal paper or take-home exam will be penalized one-third of a letter grade if it does not end at least halfway down on the minimum page length (not including Works Cited page) while implementing 12 pt Times New Roman font, double-spacing, and 1" margins. Each additional page short of the minimum requirement will result in an a additional one-third letter grade penalty. Before you turn in a formal paper, make sure your work follows MLA style by referring to the MLA style checklist. Feel free to use these templates that are preformatted to MLA style.
Late Assignments
We're all busy with multiple classes and commitments, and adhering to deadlines is critical for the smooth running of the course. There will be a one letter assignment grade deduction per day (not class period) for any assignment that is turned in late. I give short extensions if you request one for a valid need at least one day before the assignment is due. I will inform you via email if I cannot open an electronically submitted assignment; however, your assignment will be considered late until you submit it in a file I can open. Because your completion of this course's major learning outcomes depends on the completion of pertinent assignments, failing to submit an assignment that is worth 15% or more of the course grade within five days of its due date may result in failure of the course. Failing to submit a final exam or final paper within two days of its due date may result in failure of the course.
Academic Honesty
The integrity of students and their written and oral work is a critical component of the academic process. The Honor Code defines plagiarism as "presenting as one's own work the words or ideas of an author or fellow student. Students should document quotes through quotation marks and footnotes or other accepted citation methods. Ignorance of these rules concerning plagiarism is not an excuse. When in doubt, students should seek clarification from the professor who made the assignment." The Undergraduate Catalog and Graduate Catalog define academic dishonesty as "Plagiarizing, including the submission of others’ ideas or papers (whether purchased, borrowed, or otherwise obtained) as one’s own. When direct quotations are used in themes, essays, term papers, tests, book reviews, and other similar work, they must be indicated; and when the ideas of another are incorporated in any paper, they must be acknowledged, according to a style of documentation appropriate to the discipline" and "Submitting, if contrary to the rules of a course, work previously presented in another course," among other false representations. As plagiarism is not tolerated at GCSU, "since the primary goal of education is to increase one's own knowledge," any student found guilty of substantial, willful plagiarism or dishonesty may fail the assignment and the course. This course uses plagiarism prevention technology from TurnItIn. The papers may be retained by the service for the sole purpose of checking for plagiarized content in future student submissions.
Writing Center
Writing consultants will work with any student writer working on any project in any discipline. To learn more about Writing Center locations, hours, scheduling, and services, please go to https://www.gcsu.edu/writingcenter. If you have questions about the Writing
Center, send an email to writing.center@gcsu.edu.
Required Syllabus Statements
Additional statements regarding COVID-19, Religious Observance Policy, Assistance for Student Needs Related to Disability, Student Rating of Instruction Survey, Academic Honesty, Student Use of Copyrighted Materials, Electronic Recording Policy, Academic Grievance or Appeals, and Fire Drills can be found here.
COVID-19 Statement
This COVID-19 statement includes GCSU, USG, and class pandemic policies including risk prevention (vaccinations, masks, physical distancing), and class policies (course delivery, attendance, quarantine, class seating arrangments, small group activities, and office hours).
- Course readings are in Benshoff's A Companion to the Horror Film, Sikov's Film Studies, and the GeorgiaVIEW course packet. Films availibity is here.
- Recommended articles and films are encouraged but not required. Read and view them if interested for additional context.
- This schedule is subject to change, so check back in class and online for possible revisions.
Week 1 |
M, 8-16 |
The Haunted Castle (silent short, France, 1896, 3 min) The Infernal Cauldron (silent short, France, 1903, 2 min) |
W, 8-18 |
Sikov, Introduction "Representation and Reality" and Two "Mise-En-Scene: Within the Image" (Sikov 1-23) (GeorgiaVIEW) Smuts, "Cognitive and Philosophical Approaches to Horror" (Benshoff 3-20) (GeorgiaVIEW) The Phantom Carriage (horror, Sweden, 1921, 104 min) |
|
Week 2 |
M, 8-23 |
Sikov, Two "Mis-En-Scene: Camera Movement" (Sikov 24-37) Picart, "The Documentary Impulse and Reel/Real Horror" (Benshoff 536-53) Häxan (silent documentary, Sweden-Denmark, 1922, 105 min) Recommended: Norris, "Viewing Skills" (GeorgiaVIEW) Recommended: Film Analysis |
W, 8-25 |
Telotte, "German Expressionism: A Cinematic/Cultural Problem" (GeorgiaVIEW) The Golem (1920, German Expressionist horror, Germany, 76 min) Recommended: Buckley and Shaw, "How to Watch Foreign Language Films" (GeorgiaVIEW) Recommended: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (German Expressionist horror, Germany, 1920, 74 min) Recommended: Nosferatu (German Expressionist horror, Germany, 1922, 81 min) |
|
Week 3 |
M, 8-30 |
Sikov, Three "Mis-En-Scene: Cinematography" (Sikov 38-54) Benshoff, "Horror Before 'The Horror Film'" (Benshoff 207-24) Petley, "Horror and the Censors" (Benshoff 130-48) Freaks (Pre-Code horror, United States, 1932, 64 min) Recommended: Island of Lost Souls (Pre-Code horror, United States, 1932, 70 min) |
W, 9-1 |
Worland, "The Gothic Revival" (Benshoff 273-91) Hudson, "Vampires and Transnational Horror" (Benshoff 463-82) The Horror of Dracula (gothic horror, United Kingdom, 1958, 82 min) Recommended: The Curse of Frankenstein (gothic horror, United Kingdom, 1957, 83 min) Recommended: The Devil's Backbone (gothic horror, Spain-Mexico, 2001, 106 min) |
|
Week 4 |
M, 9-6 |
No Class: Labor Day Holiday |
W, 9-8 |
Balmain, "Ghosts of Desire: Kaidan pinku eiga" (GeorgiaVIEW) Kwaidan (ghost stories, Japan, 1964, 162 min or 183 min) Comparison/Contrast Thesis Statement and Outline Due Optional Screening: Pulse, 6:30-8:30 p.m., A&S 342 |
|
Week 5 |
M 9-13 |
Sikov, Four "Editing: From Shot to Shot" (Sikov 55-73) McRoy, "Recent Trends in Japanese Horror Cinema" (Benshoff 406-22) Pulse (techno-horror, Japan, 2001, 119 min) Recommended: Pulse (remake, United States, 2006, 86 min) Recommended: Ringu (supernatural psychological horror, Japan, 1998, 96 min) Recommended: The Ring (remake, United States, 2002, 115 min) |
W, 9-15 |
Sikov, Five "Sound" (Sikov 74-88) Whittington, "Horror Sound Design" (Benshoff 168-85) Tompkins, "Mellifluous Terror: The Discourse of Music and Horror Films" (Benshoff 186-205) |
|
Week 6 |
M, 9-20 |
Writing Day: Bring Your Laptops Comparison/Contrast Essay Draft 1 Due Optional Screening: [REC], 6:30-8:00 p.m., A&S 342 |
W, 9-22 |
Olney, "Spanish Horror Cinema" (Benshoff 365-89) Kee, "'They are not men . . . they are dead bodies!': From Cannibal to Zombie and Back Again" (GeorgiaVIEW) [REC] (zombie found footage horror, Spain, 2007, 78 min) Recommended: Quarantine (zombie found footage horror, United States, 2008, 89 min) Recommended: White Zombie (Pre-Code zombie horror, United States, 1932, 67 min) Optional Screening: Godzilla (1954), 6:30-8:30 p.m., A&S 342 |
|
Week 7 |
M, 9-27 |
Sikov, Six "Narrative: From Scene to Scene" (Sikov 89-102) Hantke, "Science Fiction and Horror in the 1950s" (Benshoff 255-72) Godzilla (kaiju, Japan, 1954, 96 min) Recommended: Tarantula (science fiction giant monster, United States, 1955, 80 min) Recommended: The Thing from Another World (science fiction horror, United States, 1951, 87 min) |
W, 9-29 |
||
Week 8 |
M, 10-4 |
Sikov, Seven "From Screenplay to Film" (Sikov 103-15) Hart, "Millennial Fears: Abject Horror in a Transnational Context" (Benshoff 329-44) Dumas, "Horror and Psychoanalysis: An Introductory Primer" (Benshoff 21-37) |
W, 10-6 |
Sikov, Eight "Filmmakers" (Sikov 116-28) Creed, "Horror and the Monstrous-Feminine: An Imaginary Abjection" (GeorgiaVIEW) Alien (science fiction horror, United States, 1979, 117 minutes) Recommended: Planet of the Vampires (science fiction horror, Italy, 1965, 88 minutes) |
|
Week 9 |
M, 10-11 |
No Class: Fall Break |
W, 10-13 |
Sikov, Nine "Performance" (Sikov 129-42) Sharrett, "The Horror Film as Social Allegory (And How It Comes Undone" (Benshoff 56-72) Spadoni, "Carl Dreyer's Corpse: Horror Film Atmosphere and Narrative" (Benshoff 151-67) |
|
Week 10 |
M, 10-18 |
Sikov, Ten "Genre" (Sikov 143-57) Humphrey, "Gender and Sexuality Haunt the Horror Film" (Benshoff 38-55) Freeland, "Feminist Frameworks for Horror Films" (GeorgiaVIEW) |
W, 10-20 |
Repulsion (psychological horror, France, 1965, 105 min) Recommended: Rosemary's Baby (psychological horror, United States, 1968, 137 min) Recommended: The Tenant (psychological horror, France, 1976, 126 min) |
|
Week 11 |
M, 10-25 |
Sikov, Eleven "Special Effects" (Sikov 158-68) Hills, "Horror Reception/Audiences" (Benshoff 90-108) Reyes, "Body Horror" (GeorgiaVIEW) |
W, 10-27 |
Sikov, Twelve "Film and Ideology" (Sikov 169-83) Hutchings, "International Horror in the 1970s" (Benshoff 292-309) Shivers (science fiction body horror, Canada, 1975, 87 min) |
|
Week 12 |
M, 11-1 |
Sutton, "Avenging the Body: Disability in the Horror Film" (Benshoff 73-89) King, "'If It's in a Word': Intersectional Feminism, Precarity, and The Babadook" (GeorgiaVIEW)
The Babadook (psychological horror, Australia-Canada, 2014, 94 min) |
W,11-3 |
Sikov, Thirteen "Film Studies in the Era of Digital Cinema" (Sikov 184-96) Heffernan, "A's, B's, Quickies, Orphans, and Nasties: Horror Films in the Context of Distribution" (Benshoff 109-29) Hunter, "Trash Horror and the Cult of the Bad Film" (Benshoff 483-500) |
|
Week 13 |
M, 11-8 |
Sikov, Fourteen "Putting It All Together: A Model 8- to 10-Page Paper" (Sikov 197-214) Kendrick, "Slasher Films and Gore in the 1980s" (Benshoff 310-28) Clover, "Her Body, Himself: Gender in the Slasher" (GeorgiaVIEW) Recommended: Halloween (slasher, United States, 1978, 91 min) |
W, 11-10 |
Mendik, "The Return of the Rural Repressed: Italian Horror and the Mezzogiorno Giallo" (Benshoff 390-405) Don't Torture a Duckling (giallo, Italy, 1972, 102 min) Recommended: Blood and Black Lace (giallo, Italy, 1964, 88 min) Recommended: The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (giallo, Italy, 1970, 96 min) |
|
Week 14 |
M, 11-15 |
Writing Day: Extended Office Hours |
W, 11-17 |
Martin, "South Korean Horror Cinema" (Benshoff 423-41) Alaimo, "Discomforting Creatures: Monstrous Natures in Recent Films" (GeorgiaVIEW)
The Host (monster, South Korea, 2006, 120 min) |
|
Week 15 |
M, 11-22 |
|
W, 11-24 |
No Class: Thanksgiving Holidays |
|
Week 16 |
M, 11-29 |
Coleman, "Introduction: Studying Blacks and Horror Films" (GeorgiaVIEW) Lowenstein, "Horror's Otherness and Ethnographic Surrealism: The Case of The Shout" (Benshoff 519-35) Recommended: The Shout (horror, United Kingdom, 1978, 86 min) |
W, 12-1 |
Ng, "Sisterhood of Terror: The Monstrous Feminine of Southeast Asian Horror Cinema" (Benshoff 442-61) Nang Nak (supernatural horror, Thailand, 1999, 100 min) Recommended: Kuntilanak (horror, Indonesia, 2018, 105 min) Recommended: Revenge of the Pontianak (romantic horror, Singapore-Malaysia, 2019, 92 min) |
|
Finals |
T, 12-7 |
|
W, 12-8 |