ENGLISH Reel Life Cycles: Identity and the Family in Film and Literature Professor: Mark Osteen How does identity form and change? How do family dynamics shape who we are? This course explores these questions through great works of film and literature. By moving chronologically from stories and films about childhood and proceeding through adolescence, maturity, and old age, students learn basic film vocabulary, encounter real and fictional people from diverse regions and cultures, and use these encounters to enrich their critical skills and reflect on their own lives and families. Writing assignments range from brief personal narratives to screenplays and a research paper. Mark Osteen, professor of English and director of film studies at Loyola, holds a Ph.D. from Emory University. He has written or edited six books and dozens of articles on modern and contemporary literature, and film. His latest book, One of Us: A Family's Life With Autism, a memoir, was published fall of 2010; his current research centers on post-WWII crime films. | |