Indigenous Film and Literature
I took this course my Spring semester of my Freshman year and my Professor was Susan McHugh. This course explored 3 different Indigenous groups of people through literature and film. I was able to learn about Native American storytelling, the Maori people of New Zealand, and the Aboriginals of Australia. For each group we first read a novel depicting their cultures and then we also watched either the film adaptation or a film connecting back to the culture. These books were very interesting for me to read as I was able to see and understand a culture that I had never known much about. I also with this class was able to do a semester long research project which allowed for me to use the Donna M. Loring research archives that we have access to on campus to find a topic that we wanted to learn more about. Overall this class was a very interesting one and allowed for me to understand other cultures and their use of story telling.
Indigenous Film and Literature Official Course Description:
“What happens when Indigenous people’s stories become a book? And when the book becomes a film? One of the wonders of the internet age is that Native peoples all over the world are able to tell their own stories as never before, changing understandings of indigenous pre/histories, post/colonial conditions, and struggles for political autonomy. This course explores examples of literary and film narratives by and about First Peoples in order to introduce students to the basics of film studies, literary criticism, and publishing/distribution industries. By focusing on the dynamic of “owning” stories – both honoring and possessing them – across media, the course also helps to elaborate the conditions of historic changes in Indigenous people’s lives that are taking place within our lifetimes, such as the Standing Rock protests.”
Class Work:
This paper was written for my as my final exam in the class. It discusses how in the cultures that we learned about the idea of being a good ancestor and leaving a legacy behind when you move onto the move world is very important. Also the idea of being a good ancestor through the education of the next group of tribe members. Through these many native people felt as though they could leave the world with their stories and culture in good hands.
Here is an excerpt:
Link to my full work here:
