Instructor: Catherine Masud
Fridays 10:10 AM – 3:20 PM (with lunch break). Email catherine.masud@uconn.edu or stacy.webb@uconn.edu for permission number.
Seeking talented students who are: Film Editors, Motion Graphics Animators, Graphic Designers, Historians, Writers.
In this course, students will develop a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the ways in which audio-visual media can be used to recreate memory of lost communities. Students will produce a collaborative documentary film project that integrates primary archival materials with their own student-generated graphics, animations, and sound treatments. The film and supporting presentation materials will premiere at a conference near the end of the term. In addition, students will develop individual creative projects that enable them to reflect on the intersection of history and personal memory.
The collaborative film project will tell the multi-dimensional story of Armenian history and culture that was lost due to ethnic cleansing and genocide. The Armenian Holocaust (1915-19) resulted in the systematic extermination of the majority of the Armenian Christian population within the Ottoman Empire and the subsequent expulsion of survivors from Turkey. The historical circumstances surrounding this period are still controversial today. For more information, visit houshamadyan.org.
This course will be taught by award-winning filmmaker, Catherine Masud, who has a passion for national memory and oral history narratives. This unique course offers students the chance to develop their professional skills under the guidance of a master filmmaker and expert historians. This course is also an opportunity for students with an interest in history and human rights to engage in a compelling, historical narrative which is still relevant and deserving of understanding today.