HIST 314 Hollywood Musicals
This course explores one of the most polarizing genres to emerge out of the Hollywood dream factory - the film musical. Drawing on the work of historians and film theorists, the course will focus on the movie musical in the period between the early 1930s and the early 1960s. This course will provide students with an opportunity to reflect and conduct research on the aesthetic, cultural, political, and technological aspects of this formerly popular genre. Key themes will include the nexus of music, dance, and storytelling; the utopian dimension of the film musical; key personnel; the studio system; and representations of race, gender, class, and sexuality.