Middle Eastern Studies | College of Liberal Arts
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Iranian Cinema Summer Course (PRS 329)

College of Liberal Arts

"The Wind Will Carry Us" (1999)

Course Details: 

  • Term: Summer Session I: June 6 – July 11, 2024
  • Format: Online (synchronous)
  • Dates and Times: Class meets Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 2-4 pm. Students will have asynchronous class work on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 
  • Credit Hours: 3 upper-level Persian credits
  • Instructor: Dr. Babak Tabarraee
  • Online Application Deadline: April 15th, 2024

Who Can Apply? 

Enrollment is open to anyone over the age of 18. Some background in reading, writing, and speaking Persian is required to take PRS 329 (An intermediate or higher level of Persian proficiency is preferred).

Course Description: 

PRS 329: Iranian Cinema is an upper intermediate/advanced content course in Persian (Farsi). Taught entirely in Persian, this course will introduce the decisive movements and moments in the history of Iranian cinema while providing the opportunity for the students to advance their language skills to higher levels. The language instruction will be both direct and indirect, with an equal emphasis on all four macro skills of reading, writing, speaking, and listening as well as the actual content of the course. We will study the modes of film production, aesthetic styles, representation strategies, and critical reception of films in Iran in different historical periods. By closely examining primary sources in their original language as well as reading film history in both Persian and English, our goal at each turn will be to explore the meaning, significance, and relevance of cinema to Iranians’ lives. This is a screening-intensive course, and we will watch many films of a wide range, including popular, arthouse, auteur-made, generic, and independent works. The films may or may not be subtitled in English. All of the course materials will be freely available to students via Canvas.

 

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Application: 

In order to be admitted to PRS 329, students must complete a short online application and a Persian placement exam. The online application can be found above, and it includes a short statement of interest (no more than 150 words). 

The at-home placement exam will be sent to applicants on May 8th. Students must complete the online application in order to receive access to the placement exam. The exam will evaluate applicants' reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills in Persian. Applicants will be asked to cover the $25 cost of the exam, and if accepted to the course, the fee will be discounted from each admittee's tuition. Applicants will have two hours to complete the placement exam. Both parts of the application will be used to determine the winners of our tuition fellowships. 

The deadline for the ONLINE section of the PRS 329 application is April 15th, 2024

 

Cost/Financial Aid

Tuition for PRS 329 is $1,000. There are several competitive fellowships available that may cover up to $500. These fellowships will be awarded based on the strength of a student’s application. 

 

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