A Touch of Tinseltown Comes to C.W. Post
Summer Course on Hollywood Open to General Public
Ever wonder why we hold Hollywood legends of the past and present so
close to our hearts? Here's your chance to find out through a unique course
that the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University in Brookville is offering
this summer.
Designed for film students as well as members of the Long Island community
wishing to explore the workings of Tinseltown, the course Hollywood
Stardom: Brando, Nicholson and Monroe will focus on the creative contributions
of these major stars as well as their impact on society. The course will
also take a look at how performances by today's stars, such as Rosie Perez
and Wesley Snipes, have served to absorb minorities into mainstream cultural
folds.
Star vehicles such as The Wild One, Five Easy Pieces and The
Misfits will be screened in their entirety and followed by class discussions.
In addition, students will be encouraged to present excerpts from their
favorite films.
"This course aims to relocate film study as an interactive community
enterprise that values individual experiences," says the course's
instructor, Vivek Adarkar, Ph.D. whose articles, film reviews and interviews
have appeared in Columbia Film View, Magill's Cinema Annual, and
The Economic Times. "We hope the student will realize how stars
have impacted our thinking in ways we may be wholly unaware of."
Issues to be explored include: Is Mel Gibson justifying brutish violence
at the end of Lethal Weapon? Is John Travolta selling heroin to
us as a form of transcendent release in Pulp Fiction? How do today's
stars use this hidden power to manipulate? Has the availability of films
on home video increased their ability to do so?
Dr. Adarkar was recently awarded a doctorate by Columbia University
for his dissertation "Towards a Radical Conception of Film Acting."
His social comedy, Identity Blues, was optioned last year for production
as an international film venture. For the past decade he has been teaching
film history, film theory and screenwriting at C.W. Post.
The course, Hollywood Stardom: Brando, Nicholson and Monroe will
meet July 26 to August 20 from 10:35 a.m. to 1 p.m. Registration
is open to the public and there are no prerequisites. There is a fee for
the course. To register or for more information, contact the Department
of Theatre, Film and Dance at C.W. Post at (516) 299-2353.
For more information call the C.W. Post Public
Relations Office at (516) 299-2333 or e-mail pr@cwpost.liu.edu
or send mail to: Long Island University, C.W. Post Campus, 720 Northern
Blvd., Brookville, New York 11548-1300.
