This course will teach students how to study film. It will introduce the language of film analysis, including fundamental concepts and essential terminology, explore ways of thinking about film history, and examine approaches and methods for studying film. Building on this foundation, students will learn to "read"  films as texts situated in multiple artistic, social, political, and cultural contexts. Through close analyses of films, students will sharpen their critical thinking about one of the most important forms of twentieth and twenty-first century cultural expression.