Topic outline

  • General

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    • From sci-fi to computer simulated graphics to mind-expanding documentaries, science and film have always gravitated toward one another. For much of the twentieth century, the cinema has provided mass audiences with a powerful and accessible source of images and ideas about many aspects of science, medicine and healthcare, including the notion of scientific evidence and objectivity, laboratory experimentation, science and human rights, the relationship between doctor and patient, the public image of scientists, the encounter between human and non-human animals. This course seeks to understand the complex relations between cinema and science by critically examining a diverse body of works coming from different filmic traditions, genres and periods, challenging the cliché of the mad scientist often represented in mainstream Hollywood cinema. Students will acquire the critical tools to navigate and counteract the widely spread misconceptions arising from both pseudo-science and biased media (mis)representations of scientific achievements. Readings will be at the crossroad of film theory and history, medical humanities, visual culture, science and technology studies (STS).

      Course Aims

      • Explore the relationship between cinema and science as it extends from the birth of cinema to the twenty-first century.
      • Critically engage with questions related to what constitutes scientific evidence and practice in cinema.
      • Explore how cinema can engage the wider public with topics, debates and controversies related to science and medicine
      • Introduce students to a variety of film genres and styles: underground, mainstream narrative, educational, and documentary.

      This course is capped at 10 students

      Course Coordinator: Dr Silvia Casini silvia.casini@abdn.ac.uk

  • What skills does the course develop?

      1. engage in critical thinking
      2. identify key claims and summarize arguments
      3. use appropriate research methodologies and synthesise ideas drawn from a variety of sources
      4. read images closely, identifying patterns (repetitions, developments, sites of difference and disunity)
      5. engage with the process of learning in a constructive and self-motivated fashion
      6. participate in reflective discussion, responding with evidence in measured fashion to other points of view
      7. write clearly and construct coherent arguments
      8. producing a small-scale creative practice project in a visual medium
      9. give a presentation and lead seminar discussion

  • What will the timetable be like?


    • One two-hour seminar and one lecture with FS3010. Additional 1hr student focused seminar with just medical students.

  • How will I be assessed?

      • Research essay 3000-3500 words (60%)
      • Seminar Presentation (20%) (creative practice exercise)
      • Seminar Participation (20%)

  • Where can I get more information?

    • Contact course coordinator

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