Spring 2026 Film AF6940 section 001

DOCUMENTARY ACTIVISM:THEORY

Call Number 16220
Day & Time
Location
T 2:10pm-4:40pm
To be announced
Points 3
Grading Mode Standard
Approvals Required None
Instructor James L Hoberman
Type SEMINAR
Method of Instruction In-Person
Course Description This is a course in how to think about documentary but not about “how to” make documentary work. Its premise is that documentary as an approach is still undergoing revision as a definitional problem. Relevant to our times, cameras and sound recorders are called upon to “witness” events. Basic readings on the history and theory of documentary are the heart of the course and practical exercises test theoretical questions. Students conduct low end exercises with their own smart phone cameras. Topics and issues center on the history of the radical documentary—from the Workers Film and Photo League of the 1930s to the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, comparing then new 16 and 35mm film camera capabilities with contemporary internet distribution. Other topics include climate change and documentary work; motion picture film and photography in labor struggles; uses of anti-war and nuclear bomb footage; sexualities and video camera activism.
Web Site Vergil
Department Film
Enrollment 0 students (14 max) as of 11:06AM Friday, November 28, 2025
Subject Film
Number AF6940
Section 001
Division School of the Arts
Open To Schools of the Arts, GSAS
Section key 20261FILM6940G001