PMA 1135

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  • Schedule of Classes - October 16, 2017 11:09AM EDT
  • Course Catalog - June 14, 2017 7:15PM EDT

PMA 1135
FWS: Screen Queens of Comedy

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2016-2017.

Joan Rivers has lamented, "Nobody looks at female comedians as groundbreakers or as commentators on what's going on in the world, because we do it with comedy." In this writing seminar, we will take a closer look at various media—including movies, television episodes, and stand-up specials—featuring American comediennes from the 20th and 21st century, and consider how their comedy addresses crucial social issues of their times. From the "fast-talking dames" of thirties' and fourties' cinema, such as Barbara Stanwyck or Rosalind Russell, or the trailblazer stand-up comedian Jackie "Moms" Mabley, to the recent boom in television and web comedy series, we will closely analyze audiovisual materials with a keen eye to their historical, social, and industrial contexts.

When Offered Spring.

Satisfies Requirement First-Year Writing Seminar.

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Syllabi: none

  •   FWS Session. 

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 17643 PMA 1135   SEM 101

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  • For more information about First-Year Writing Seminars, see the Knight Institute website at http://www.arts.cornell.edu/knight_institute.