50:169 Doctors in Film

Assignments

In preparation for:

Assignment
Use links to websites; links to the "restricted" area go to the log-in page for registered students

Film notes and discussion questions
Jan. 30

Introduction to viewing films critically: Go to Filmsite, aka The Greatest Films, and read Tips on Film Viewing Part 1 and Part 2. In addition, learn a bit about film genres, especially horror, drama, war and action films, and the sub-genre, romance movies.

(This site, written by Tim Dirkes, is supported by advertising and so is not an academic source. It is, however, widely cited and has a great deal of helpful information and commentary.

Arrowsmith (1931)
Feb. 13

Reading: John Burnham, "American Medicine's Golden Age -- What happened to it?" [restricted]

Be able to apply what you learn from Burnham's article to the films we view throughout the semester. How do our films support or challenge Burnham's survey of medicine's public image and esteem?

Young Dr. Kildare (1938)
Feb. 20

Reading - choose one:

Stephen Vaughn, "Ronald Reagan and the Struggle for Black Dignity in Cinema, 1937-1953," Journal of Negro History 77 (1992), 1-16. [stable URL link to this article in JSTOR]

Marchall Hyatt and Cheryl Sanders, "Film as a Medium to Study the Twentieth Century Afro-American Experience," Journal of Negro Education 53 (1984), 161-172. [stable URL link to this article in JSTOR]

No Way Out (1950)
Feb. 27

Read: James D. Hart, "Platitudes of Piety: Religion and the Popular Modern Novel," American Quarterly, Vol. 6, No. 4. (Winter, 1954), pp. 311-322. [stable URL link to this article in JSTOR]

Magnificent Obsession (1954)
Mar. 6

Read: Brosely Crowther, review in the New York Times. [restricted]

The Interns (1962)
Mar. 20

Look at this website devoted to M.A.S.H. and read the "Behind the Scenes" accounts provided. Also read some of the reviews included on this website. Use these to prepare yourself to see the film from the perspective of the on-going war in Vietnam.

M.A.S.H. (1970)
Mar. 27 Read: Marilyn Chandler McEntyre, "Instutitional Impediments: Medical Bureaucracies in the Movies." [restricted] The Hospital (1971)
Apr. 3 Read: "Epilogue" from Jack Pressman, Last Resort: Psychosurgery and the Limits of Medicine (New York,1998) , 401-442. [restricted] One Flew Over... (1975)
Apr. 10 No assignment other that reading the Film Notes and linked reviews/commentary. Gross Anatomy (1989)
Apr. 17 Read: Fisher, Lucy, "Big Boys Do Cry: Empathy in The Doctor." (2004) [restricted] The Doctor (1991)
Apr. 24

Review the defining features of the "action" movie.

Read: E. Abele, "Assuming a True Identity: Re-/De-Constructing Hollywood Heroes," Journal of American & Comparative Cultures, Vol. 25 Issue 3/4 (2002). Consider how academics write about popular film....

The Patriot (1998)

Instructions for Writing Assignments


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