Unit Guide

General Information

Unit convenor and teaching staff	Unit convenor and teaching staff Convenor Jane Johnson jane.johnson@mq.edu.au Tutor Andres Vaccari andres.vaccari@mq.edu.au
Prerequisites	Prerequisites
Corequisites	Corequisites
Co-badged status	Co-badged status
Unit description	Unit description What can philosophy teach us about cinema? What can film show us about philosophy? Can films do philosophy? This unit explores these questions across a range of writings dealing with philosophical, aesthetic and ethical aspects of our engagement with film. We examine the ways in which film itself can explore philosophical problems in visual and narrative terms. We begin with the problems of cinematic representation, visual perception and the ontology of the moving image. We consider how film represents our subjective experience by exploring the phenomenology of perception, movement, emotional engagement and time-consciousness. We analyse how films can explore philosophical ideas, focusing on the provocative claim that films can do philosophy by cinematic means. Finally, we examine some of the ethical, moral and ideological implications of film in modern culture. Throughout the unit we analyse the work of philosophers who investigate the philosophical dimensions of film, or who construct new ways of thinking about film philosophically. We also study various films and filmmakers from a philosophical perspective with the aim of demonstrating the creative intersection between film and philosophy. All enrolment queries should be directed to Open Universities Australia (OUA): see www.open.edu.au

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.open.edu.au/student-admin-and-support/key-dates/

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

To understand and examine developments in philosophy of film that deal with theoretical problems as well as broader philosophical, ethical and cultural issues.
To analyse and explore the relationship between film and philosophy in contemporary culture.
To find, analyse and evaluate primary and secondary sources and present a well-argued philosophical discussion in an essay format.
To apply philosophical theories to specific film/TV examples.
To locate and evaluate contemporary media discussions of film and television from a philosophical point of view.
To create or design a means of communicating your own reflections on philosophy of film.
To participate actively in group discussion and learning activities during tutorials.

General Assessment Information

Late Submission Penalty

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, (a) a penalty for lateness will apply – two (2) marks out of 100 will be deducted per day for assignments submitted after the due date – and (b) no assignment will be accepted more than seven (7) days (incl. weekends) after the original submission deadline. No late submissions will be accepted for timed assessments – e.g. quizzes, online tests.

Assessment Tasks

Name	Weighting	Hurdle	Due
Participation	15%	No	Ongoing throughout semester
Film and Philosophy Journal	25%	No	Friday Week 10
Online Quizzes	20%	No	Ongoing
Film and Philosophy Essay	40%	No	Draft Monday Week 13, Final Friday Week 13

Participation

Due: Ongoing throughout semester
Weighting: 15%

Class discussions are your opportunity to engage actively with what we are studying together. Students are expected to engage in weekly discussions of the unit material in a thoughtful manner that is informed by a careful engagement with the assigned films and readings. Both lectures and discussion forums are important sites of individual and group learning. After working through the assigned material, students should spend approximately one hour each week responding to the weekly tutorial questions and contributing to the online discussion forums.

Participation will be assessed based on both the quality and quantity of students' contributions online, including engagement with their peers' responses.

On successful completion you will be able to:

To understand and examine developments in philosophy of film that deal with theoretical problems as well as broader philosophical, ethical and cultural issues.
To analyse and explore the relationship between film and philosophy in contemporary culture.
To apply philosophical theories to specific film/TV examples.
To locate and evaluate contemporary media discussions of film and television from a philosophical point of view.
To create or design a means of communicating your own reflections on philosophy of film.
To participate actively in group discussion and learning activities during tutorials.

Film and Philosophy Journal

Due: Friday Week 10
Weighting: 25%

Students are required to submit a Film-Philosophy Journal covering weeks 1-10 of the course, with a brief entry for at least six weeks of the course (the written content of the journal should amount to approximately 1800-2000 words overall). The journal can be a workbook, scrapbook, diary, or other format of your own choosing (e.g. blog, webpage, photographs, artwork, video clip, etc). Students are asked to write their responses to the week's lecture material, readings, and tutorial discussion, and where appropriate to discuss examples of films/TV works/documentaries that they have seen or discussed in class.

In the journal you may write your thoughts and impressions of the material studied from week to week, provide summaries of readings, or reflections on the topics explored that week; you can include images, photographs, film reviews, and other creative works of your own relevant to film and philosophy. Students are also encouraged to use the journal to work through ideas that will be relevant in preparing their essays.

The journal is designed to promote ongoing reading and reflection on the weekly topics explored in the lectures, in set readings, and in tutorial discussion; it also aims to encourage students to apply ideas explored in the course to contemporary cinema as well as to broader aesthetic, ethical and cultural debates.

Over the course of the semester, the journal should show evidence of:

a) reflection on weekly readings and topics raised in tutorial discussion (study notes, questions, written comments, etc.);

b) research into essay and tutorial topics (e.g. secondary readings, essay preparation, revision of lectures, reading, and tutorial material); and

c) application of the theories discussed in the course to contemporary films and wider social and cultural debates (personal reflection, critical analysis of particular films, theoretically informed use of images, and so on).

The journal is supposed to be a useful aid for ongoing study and research as well as providing an opportunity to exercise more independent, creative, and critical thinking.

On successful completion you will be able to:

To understand and examine developments in philosophy of film that deal with theoretical problems as well as broader philosophical, ethical and cultural issues.
To analyse and explore the relationship between film and philosophy in contemporary culture.
To find, analyse and evaluate primary and secondary sources and present a well-argued philosophical discussion in an essay format.
To apply philosophical theories to specific film/TV examples.
To locate and evaluate contemporary media discussions of film and television from a philosophical point of view.

Online Quizzes

Due: Ongoing
Weighting: 20%

In Weeks 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 students will complete short online quizzes based on the unit readings (5 quizzes in total). Quizzes start in week 3 and continue until week 12. Each quiz opens on the Monday of the relevant week and remains open until Friday of the following week. Quizzes involve true/false or multiple choice options.

Criteria: These assessments will be evaluated on the accuracy of quiz responses to questions based on topics and texts. These quizzes are designed to encourage ongoing study and revision of the unit materials and to foster preparation for other assessment tasks (e.g. the essay).

On successful completion you will be able to:

To analyse and explore the relationship between film and philosophy in contemporary culture.

Film and Philosophy Essay

Due: Draft Monday Week 13, Final Friday Week 13
Weighting: 40%

In the Film and Philosophy Essay, students will use the critical methods and aesthetic insights discussed over the course to respond to set questions based on the topics covered during the semester. Here you show us the critical questioning and philosophical knowledge you have learned over the unit. This essay, which should be approximately 2000 words, will be workshopped in peer review exercises in Week 13. A draft will be due at the start of Week 13; the final version of the Essay is due at the end of Week 13.

Length: 2000-2500 words.

Criteria: An excellent essay will demonstrate knowledge of the relevant content; a clear structure and argument; creativity, proper expression, spelling, punctuation and grammar; an easy to read presentation; proper integration and referencing of research and other sources.

This assessment will be evaluated based on the criteria explained on the rubric that will posted on iLearn.

On successful completion you will be able to:

To understand and examine developments in philosophy of film that deal with theoretical problems as well as broader philosophical, ethical and cultural issues.
To analyse and explore the relationship between film and philosophy in contemporary culture.
To find, analyse and evaluate primary and secondary sources and present a well-argued philosophical discussion in an essay format.
To apply philosophical theories to specific film/TV examples.
To locate and evaluate contemporary media discussions of film and television from a philosophical point of view.
To create or design a means of communicating your own reflections on philosophy of film.

Delivery and Resources

Required and Recommended Texts and/or Materials

PHIX365 Film and Philosophy will be using electronically available readings accessed via Leganto on the iLearn website.

A recommended background reading is Robert Sinnerbrink, New Philosophies of Film: Thinking Images (Continuum/Bloomsbury, 2011). Copies can be bought or ordered from the Co-Op Bookshop. There are a number of other good film and philosophy volumes available via the Library.

Technology Used and Required

This unit uses an iLearn website, Leganto online resouces, Kanopy (a video streaming service available through the library) and Echo360 lecture recordings.

Unit Schedule

Week 1: What is Philosophy of Film/Film-Philosophy?

Required Readings:

Thomas E. Wartenberg, ‘Philosophy of Film’, Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/film/
Thomas E. Wartenberg, ‘Can Philosophy be Screened?’, in T.E. Wartenberg, Thinking on Screen: Film as Philosophy (Routledge, 2007)1-14.
Robert Sinnerbrink, ‘Film-Philosophy’, in Edward Branigan and Warren Buckland (eds), The Routledge Encyclopedia of Film Theory (London/New York: Routledge, 2014), 207-213.

Background reading: Robert Sinnerbrink, ‘Introduction: Why Did Philosophy Go To the Movies?’ New Philosophies of Film: Thinking Images (London/New York: Continuum, 2011), pp. 1-10.

Week 2: Ontologies of the Moving Image

Required Readings:

Andre Bazin, ‘The Ontology of the Photographic Image’ What is Cinema? Volume 1, trans. Hugh Gray (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1967/2005), pp. 9-16.
Noël Carroll, “Defining the Moving Image” in Theorizing the Moving Image (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), pp. 49-74: http://voyager.mq.edu.au/vwebv/holdingsInfo?&bibId=1467524&searchId=488&recPointer=0&recCount=50
Rafe McGregor, ‘A New/Old Ontology of Film’, Film-Philosophy, vol. 17, no. 1 (2013), 265-280
Trevor Ponech, ‘The Substance of Cinema’, The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, vol. 64, no. 1 (2006), 187-198.

Background reading: R. Sinnerbrink, ‘The Rules of the Game: New Ontologies of Film’ New Philosophies of Film: Thinking Images (London/New York: Continuum, 2011), pp. 28-44.

Week 3: Understanding Film Narrative

Required Readings:

Noël Carroll, ‘The Power of Movies’, Daedalus, Vol. 114, No. 4, The Moving Image (Fall, 1985), pp. 79-103.
Katherine Thompson-Jones, ‘The Thinking Viewer’, in K. Thompson-Jones, Aesthetics and Film (London/New York: Continuum, 2008), pp. 87 ff.
Angela Curran, ‘Fictional Indeterminacy, Imagined Seeing, and Cinematic Narration’, in Katherine Thompson-Jones (ed.), Current Controversies in Philosophy of Film (Routledge, 2016), Chapter 5.
Warren Buckland, ‘Narratology in Motion: Causality, Puzzles and Narrative Twists’, in Hunter Vaughan and Tom Conley (eds), The Anthem Handbook of Screen Theory (London/New York: Anthem Press, 2018), 262-276.

Recommended; R. Sinnerbrink, New Philosophies of Film: Thinking Images, Chapter 3, ‘Adaptation: Philosophical Approaches to Narrative’, pp. 45-64.

Week 4: Cognitivism Goes to the Movies

Required Readings:

Carl Plantinga, ‘Cognitive Film Theory: An Insider’s Appraisal’, Cinémas: revue d'études cinématographiques / Cinémas: Journal of Film Studies, vol. 12, no. 2 (2002): 15-37. [Available in e-reserve]
David Bordwell, "A Case for Cognitivism", Iris, no. 9 (Spring 1989): 11-40. Available online via David Bordwell’s website:http://www.davidbordwell.net/articles/Bordwell_Iris_no9_spring1989_11.pdf
Ted Nannicelli and Paul Taberham, ‘Introduction: Contemporary Cognitive Media Theory’, in T. Nannicelli and P. Taberham (eds), Cognitive Media Theory (Routledge, 2014).
Torben Grodal: ‘Frozen Style and Strong Emotions of Panic and Separation: Trier’s Prologues to Antichrist and Melancholia’, Journal of Scandinavian Cinema, vol. 2, no. 1 (2012): 47-53: [http://mq.library.ingentaconnect.com.simsrad.net.ocs.mq.edu.au/content/intellect/jsca/2012/00000002/00000001/art00006]

Background Reading: R. Sinnerbrink, New Philosophies of Film: Thinking Images, Chapter 4, ‘Cognitivism Goes to the Movies’, pp. 67-89.

Week 5: Affect and Emotion in Cinema

Required Readings:

Jane Stadler, ‘Empathy and Film’, Routledge Handbook of the Philosophy of Empathy (Routledge, 2016).
Noël Carroll, “The Ties that Bind: Characters, the Emotions, and Popular Fictions,” in Minerva’s Night Out (Wiley Blackwell, 2013), 40-63.
Amy Coplan, ‘Catching Characters’ Emotions: Emotional Contagion Responses to Narrative Fiction Film’, Film Studies, Issue 8, 2006, pp. 26-38.
Carl Plantinga, ‘Facing Others: Close-ups of faces in narrative film and in The Silence of the Lambs’, in Lisa Zunshine (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Literary Studies (Oxford, 2015), Chapter 14.

Background Reading: R. Sinnerbrink, New Philosophies of Film: Thinking Images, Chapter 4, ‘Cognitivism Goes to the Movies’, pp. 67-89.

Week 6: Cinematic Ethics

Required Readings:

R. Sinnerbrink, ‘Cinematic Ethics: Film as a Medium of Ethical Experience’, in R. Sinnerbrink Cinematic Ethics: Exploring Ethical Experience through Film (London and New York: Routledge, 2016), 3-24.
Noël Carroll, ‘Movies, the Moral Emotions, and Sympathy’, Midwest Studies in Philosophy XXXIV (2010): 1-34.
Carl Plantinga, ‘Moralities and Characters as Moral Agents’, in C. Plantinga, Screen Stories: Emotion and the Ethics of Engagement (Oxford, 2018), Chapter 7, 135-156.
Jane Stadler, ‘Cinema’s Compassionate Gaze: Empathy, Affect, and Aesthetics in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly‘, in Jinhee Choi and Mattias Frey (eds), Cine-Ethics: Ethical Dimensions of Film Theory, Practice and Spectatorship (London and New York: Routledge, 2014), 27-42.

Recommended: Jinhee Choi and Mattias Frey, ‘Introduction’, in Jinhee Choi and Mattias Frey (eds), Cine-Ethics: Ethical Dimensions of Film Theory, Practice and Spectatorship (London and New York: Routledge, 2014), 1-14.

Week 7: Gilles Deleuze’s Cine-philosophy

Required Readings:

Richard Rushton, ‘What Questions does Deleuze’s Philosophy of Cinema Answer? In R. Rushton, Cinema After Deleuze (London: Continuum, 2012), pp. 1-11.
Jakob Nilsson, ‘Deleuze, Concepts, and Ideas about Film as Philosophy’, Journal of French and Francophone Philosophy - Revue de la philosophie française et de langue française, Vol XXVI, No 2 (2018) pp. 127-149. http://www.jffp.org/ojs/index.php/jffp/article/view/834/798
Gilles Deleuze, "Frame and shot, framing and cutting" in Deleuze, Cinema 1: The Movement-image (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1986), pp. 12-28.
Gilles Deleuze, "Recapitulation of images and signs (extract)" in Deleuze, Cinema 2: The Time-image (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1989), pp. 34-43.
Paola Marrati, "Images in movement and movement-images", Gilles Deleuze: Cinema and Philosophy (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), pp. 6-26, pp. 113-114.

Background Reading: R. Sinnerbrink, New Philosophies of Film, Chapter Five ‘Bande a part: Deleuze and Cavell as Film-Philosophers’, pp. 90-116.

2 Week Mid Semester Break

Week 8: Stanley Cavell’s Film Philosophy

Required Readings:

Stanley Cavell, "The world viewed (extract)", in S. Cavell, The World Viewed: Reflections on the Ontology of Film (Harvard UP, 1978), 16-41.
Stanley Cavell, ‘What Becomes of Things on Film?’ William Rothman (ed) Cavell on Film (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2005), pp. 1-9.
Daniel Shaw, ‘Stanley Cavell on the Magic of the Movies’, Film-Philosophy 21.1 (2017): 114–132
Temenuga Trifonova, ‘Film and Skepticism: Stanley Cavell on the Ontology of Film’, Rivista di estetica, 46 | 2011, 197-219.

Background Reading: R. Sinnerbrink, New Philosophies of Film: Thinking Images, Chapter Five ‘Bande a part: Deleuze and Cavell as Film-Philosophers’, pp. 90-116.

Week 9: Film as Philosophy: Pro and Contra

Required Readings:

Paisley Livingston, ‘Recent Work on Cinema as Philosophy’, Philosophy Compass 3/4 (2008): 590–603, Available online: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747-9991.2008.00158.x/pdf
Paisley Livingston, ‘Theses on Cinema as Philosophy’, Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, vol. 64, isuue 1 (Winter 2006): 11-18: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0021-8529.2006.00225.x/pdf
Aaron Smuts, ‘In Defence of a Bold Thesis’, Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, vol. 67, no. 4 (Fall 2009): 409-420.
Stephen Mulhall, ‘Film as Philosophy: The Very Idea’, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society (hardback), vol. 107, issue 1pt3 (October 2007): 279-294: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9264.2007.00222.x/abstract
Noël Carroll, “Movie-Made Philosophy,” in Film as Philosophy, ed. Bernd Herzogenrath (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2017), 265-285.

Background Reading: Christopher Falzon, ‘Philosophy through Film’, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://www.iep.utm.edu/phi-film/

R. Sinnerbrink, New Philosophies of Film, Chapter 6, ‘Scenes from a Marriage: On the Idea of Film as Philosophy’, pp. 117-135.

Week 10: Film as Philosophy Case Study 1: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Kaufman/Gondry, 2004)

Required Readings:

Christopher Grau, ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and the Morality of Memory’, Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Special Issue, ‘Thinking Through Film: Film as Philosophy’, Vol. 64, Issue 1 (Winter 2006): 19-32.
Troy Jollimore, 'Miserably Ever After: Forgetting, Repeating and Affirming Love', in Christopher Grau (ed), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Philosophers on Film (London: Routledge, 2009), pp. 31-61.
Julia Driver, ‘Memory, Desire, and Value in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, in Christopher Grau (ed), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Philosophers on Film (London: Routledge, 2009),

Recommended: George Toles, ‘Trying to Remember Clementine’, Christopher Grau (ed),Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Philosophers on Film (London: Routledge, 2009), pp. 111-157.

Week 11: Film as Philosophy Case Study 2: Melancholia (Lars von Trier, 2011)

Required Readings:

Steven Shaviro, ‘MELANCHOLIA or, the Romantic Anti-Sublime’, Sequence 1.1 (2012): http://reframe.sussex.ac.uk/sequence1/1-1-melancholia-or-the-romantic-anti-sublime/
Rupert Read, ‘Allegory of a “Therapeutic” Reading of a Film: Of MELANCHOLIA’, Sequence 2.1 (2014): http://reframe.sussex.ac.uk/sequence1/1-2-an-allegory-of-a-therapeutic-reading/

Recommended: R. Sinnerbrink, ‘Planet Melancholia: Romanticism, Mood, and Cinematic Ethics’, Filozofski Vestnik, Vol, XXXVII, No. 2 (2016): 95-113.

Week 12: Film as Philosophy Case Study 3: The Act of Killing /The Look of Silence (Joshua Oppenheimer and Anonymous, 2012/2014)

Required Readings:

Thomas Wartenberg, ‘Providing Evidence for a Philosophical Claim: The Act of Killing and the Banality of Evil’, Necsus: European Journal of Media Studies (Autumn 2017): https://necsus-ejms.org/providing-evidence-philosophical-claim-act-killing-banality-evil/
R. Sinnerbrink, ‘Gangster Film: Cinematic Ethics in The Act of Killing’, in R. Sinnerbrink, Cinematic Ethics: Exploring Ethical Experience through Film (London and New York: Routledge, 2016), 165-184.
Leshu Torchin, ‘Chronicle of a Quest: Silence after Killing’, Film-Quarterly 69.2 (2015): 25-35.
R. Sinnerbrink 2017. ‘The Act of Witnessing: Cinematic Ethics in The Look of Silence’. Post-Script: Essays in Film and the Humanities. Special Issue on Documentary Ethics. ed. Dan Geva and Yvonne Kozlovsky-Golan, Volume 36, Nos. 2&3 (Winter/Spring & Summer 2017): 30-44.

Recommended: Interview extracts from Southeast Asia Globe, Malay Mail, and Inside Indonesia: ‘The Act of Killing and the Ethics of Filming’, International Boulevard (August 2013): https://www.internationalboulevard.com/the-act-of-killing-and-the-ethics-of-filming

Mehlis Behlil, The Look of Silence: An Interview with Joshua Oppenheimer and Adi Rukun’, Cineaste (Summer 2015): 26-31.

Week 13 Essay Draft Workshop

Policies and Procedures

Late Submission - applies unless otherwise stated elsewhere in the unit guide

Extension Request

Special Consideration Policy and Procedure (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policies/special-consideration)

The University recognises that students may experience events or conditions that adversely affect their academic performance. If you experience serious and unavoidable difficulties at exam time or when assessment tasks are due, you can consider applying for Special Consideration.

You need to show that the circumstances:

were serious, unexpected and unavoidable
were beyond your control
caused substantial disruption to your academic work
substantially interfered with your otherwise satisfactory fulfilment of the unit requirements
lasted at least three consecutive days or a total of 5 days within the teaching period and prevented completion of an assessment task scheduled for a specific date.

If you feel that your studies have been impacted submit an application as follows:

Visit Ask MQ and use your OneID to log in
Fill in your relevant details
Attach supporting documents by clicking 'Add a reply', click 'Browse' and navigating to the files you want to attach, then click 'Submit Form' to send your notification and supporting documents
Please keep copies of your original documents, as they may be requested in the future as part of the assessment process

Outcome

Once your submission is assessed, an appropriate outcome will be organised.

OUA Specific Policies and Procedures

Withdrawal from a unit after the census date

You can withdraw from your subjects prior to the census date (last day to withdraw). If you successfully withdraw before the census date, you won’t need to apply for Special Circumstances. If you find yourself unable to withdraw from your subjects before the census date - you might be able to apply for Special Circumstances. If you’re eligible, we can refund your fees and overturn your fail grade.

If you’re studying Single Subjects using FEE-HELP or paying up front, you can apply online.

If you’re studying a degree using HECS-HELP, you’ll need to apply directly to Macquarie University.

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Academic Appeals Policy
Academic Integrity Policy
Academic Progression Policy
Assessment Policy
Fitness to Practice Procedure
Grade Appeal Policy
Complaint Management Procedure for Students and Members of the Public
Special Consideration Policy (Note: The Special Consideration Policy is effective from 4 December 2017 and replaces the Disruption to Studies Policy.)

Undergraduate students seeking more policy resources can visit the Student Policy Gateway (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/student-policy-gateway). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

If you would like to see all the policies relevant to Learning and Teaching visit Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central).

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/study/getting-started/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Learning Skills

Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.

Student Services and Support

Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.

Student Enquiries

For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au

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IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/.

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Graduate Capabilities

Creative and Innovative

Our graduates will also be capable of creative thinking and of creating knowledge. They will be imaginative and open to experience and capable of innovation at work and in the community. We want them to be engaged in applying their critical, creative thinking.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

To understand and examine developments in philosophy of film that deal with theoretical problems as well as broader philosophical, ethical and cultural issues.
To analyse and explore the relationship between film and philosophy in contemporary culture.
To find, analyse and evaluate primary and secondary sources and present a well-argued philosophical discussion in an essay format.
To apply philosophical theories to specific film/TV examples.
To locate and evaluate contemporary media discussions of film and television from a philosophical point of view.
To create or design a means of communicating your own reflections on philosophy of film.
To participate actively in group discussion and learning activities during tutorials.

Assessment tasks

Participation
Film and Philosophy Journal
Online Quizzes
Film and Philosophy Essay

Capable of Professional and Personal Judgement and Initiative

We want our graduates to have emotional intelligence and sound interpersonal skills and to demonstrate discernment and common sense in their professional and personal judgement. They will exercise initiative as needed. They will be capable of risk assessment, and be able to handle ambiguity and complexity, enabling them to be adaptable in diverse and changing environments.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

To understand and examine developments in philosophy of film that deal with theoretical problems as well as broader philosophical, ethical and cultural issues.
To analyse and explore the relationship between film and philosophy in contemporary culture.
To find, analyse and evaluate primary and secondary sources and present a well-argued philosophical discussion in an essay format.
To apply philosophical theories to specific film/TV examples.
To locate and evaluate contemporary media discussions of film and television from a philosophical point of view.
To create or design a means of communicating your own reflections on philosophy of film.
To participate actively in group discussion and learning activities during tutorials.

Assessment tasks

Participation
Film and Philosophy Journal
Online Quizzes
Film and Philosophy Essay

Commitment to Continuous Learning

Our graduates will have enquiring minds and a literate curiosity which will lead them to pursue knowledge for its own sake. They will continue to pursue learning in their careers and as they participate in the world. They will be capable of reflecting on their experiences and relationships with others and the environment, learning from them, and growing - personally, professionally and socially.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

To understand and examine developments in philosophy of film that deal with theoretical problems as well as broader philosophical, ethical and cultural issues.
To analyse and explore the relationship between film and philosophy in contemporary culture.
To find, analyse and evaluate primary and secondary sources and present a well-argued philosophical discussion in an essay format.
To apply philosophical theories to specific film/TV examples.
To locate and evaluate contemporary media discussions of film and television from a philosophical point of view.
To create or design a means of communicating your own reflections on philosophy of film.
To participate actively in group discussion and learning activities during tutorials.

Assessment tasks

Participation
Film and Philosophy Journal
Online Quizzes
Film and Philosophy Essay

Discipline Specific Knowledge and Skills

Our graduates will take with them the intellectual development, depth and breadth of knowledge, scholarly understanding, and specific subject content in their chosen fields to make them competent and confident in their subject or profession. They will be able to demonstrate, where relevant, professional technical competence and meet professional standards. They will be able to articulate the structure of knowledge of their discipline, be able to adapt discipline-specific knowledge to novel situations, and be able to contribute from their discipline to inter-disciplinary solutions to problems.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

To understand and examine developments in philosophy of film that deal with theoretical problems as well as broader philosophical, ethical and cultural issues.
To analyse and explore the relationship between film and philosophy in contemporary culture.
To find, analyse and evaluate primary and secondary sources and present a well-argued philosophical discussion in an essay format.
To apply philosophical theories to specific film/TV examples.
To locate and evaluate contemporary media discussions of film and television from a philosophical point of view.
To create or design a means of communicating your own reflections on philosophy of film.
To participate actively in group discussion and learning activities during tutorials.

Assessment tasks

Participation
Film and Philosophy Journal
Online Quizzes
Film and Philosophy Essay

Critical, Analytical and Integrative Thinking

We want our graduates to be capable of reasoning, questioning and analysing, and to integrate and synthesise learning and knowledge from a range of sources and environments; to be able to critique constraints, assumptions and limitations; to be able to think independently and systemically in relation to scholarly activity, in the workplace, and in the world. We want them to have a level of scientific and information technology literacy.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

To understand and examine developments in philosophy of film that deal with theoretical problems as well as broader philosophical, ethical and cultural issues.
To analyse and explore the relationship between film and philosophy in contemporary culture.
To find, analyse and evaluate primary and secondary sources and present a well-argued philosophical discussion in an essay format.
To apply philosophical theories to specific film/TV examples.
To locate and evaluate contemporary media discussions of film and television from a philosophical point of view.
To create or design a means of communicating your own reflections on philosophy of film.
To participate actively in group discussion and learning activities during tutorials.

Assessment tasks

Participation
Film and Philosophy Journal
Online Quizzes
Film and Philosophy Essay

Problem Solving and Research Capability

Our graduates should be capable of researching; of analysing, and interpreting and assessing data and information in various forms; of drawing connections across fields of knowledge; and they should be able to relate their knowledge to complex situations at work or in the world, in order to diagnose and solve problems. We want them to have the confidence to take the initiative in doing so, within an awareness of their own limitations.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

To understand and examine developments in philosophy of film that deal with theoretical problems as well as broader philosophical, ethical and cultural issues.
To analyse and explore the relationship between film and philosophy in contemporary culture.
To find, analyse and evaluate primary and secondary sources and present a well-argued philosophical discussion in an essay format.
To apply philosophical theories to specific film/TV examples.
To locate and evaluate contemporary media discussions of film and television from a philosophical point of view.
To create or design a means of communicating your own reflections on philosophy of film.
To participate actively in group discussion and learning activities during tutorials.

Assessment tasks

Participation
Film and Philosophy Journal
Online Quizzes
Film and Philosophy Essay

Effective Communication

We want to develop in our students the ability to communicate and convey their views in forms effective with different audiences. We want our graduates to take with them the capability to read, listen, question, gather and evaluate information resources in a variety of formats, assess, write clearly, speak effectively, and to use visual communication and communication technologies as appropriate.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

To understand and examine developments in philosophy of film that deal with theoretical problems as well as broader philosophical, ethical and cultural issues.
To analyse and explore the relationship between film and philosophy in contemporary culture.
To find, analyse and evaluate primary and secondary sources and present a well-argued philosophical discussion in an essay format.
To apply philosophical theories to specific film/TV examples.
To locate and evaluate contemporary media discussions of film and television from a philosophical point of view.
To create or design a means of communicating your own reflections on philosophy of film.
To participate actively in group discussion and learning activities during tutorials.

Assessment tasks

Participation
Film and Philosophy Journal
Online Quizzes
Film and Philosophy Essay

Engaged and Ethical Local and Global citizens

As local citizens our graduates will be aware of indigenous perspectives and of the nation's historical context. They will be engaged with the challenges of contemporary society and with knowledge and ideas. We want our graduates to have respect for diversity, to be open-minded, sensitive to others and inclusive, and to be open to other cultures and perspectives: they should have a level of cultural literacy. Our graduates should be aware of disadvantage and social justice, and be willing to participate to help create a wiser and better society.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

To understand and examine developments in philosophy of film that deal with theoretical problems as well as broader philosophical, ethical and cultural issues.
To locate and evaluate contemporary media discussions of film and television from a philosophical point of view.
To create or design a means of communicating your own reflections on philosophy of film.
To participate actively in group discussion and learning activities during tutorials.

Assessment task

Participation

Socially and Environmentally Active and Responsible

We want our graduates to be aware of and have respect for self and others; to be able to work with others as a leader and a team player; to have a sense of connectedness with others and country; and to have a sense of mutual obligation. Our graduates should be informed and active participants in moving society towards sustainability.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcome

To participate actively in group discussion and learning activities during tutorials.

Assessment task

Participation

Changes from Previous Offering

A number of more recent readings have been included for various weekly topics.
New case study films have been added .
Leganto readings available online.