HIST 323 - James Bond and the Twentieth Century

This is a twentieth-century American history course, using the genre of James Bond films as a site to study Anglo-American popular culture, mythologies, and particular historical moments. The 22 films in the official series, along with numerous parodies and imitations, both reflected and reinforced core cultural values, such as masculinity, male leadership, capitalism, white racial superiority, class distinctions, and many more. Nearly every trend of worldwide significance in the political economy of the twentieth century can be seen in the Bond books and movies: world war, globalization, the breakup of colonial empires, drug trade, the Cold War and its aftermath, terrorism, nuclear proliferation, militarization of space, media influence, oil politics, feminism, the British-American alliance, and many other issues. Students read a general introduction to film studies, to develop common vocabulary and concepts; an overview of American history in feature films, to provide training in how historians use film to gain access to historical developments; next, a focused study of “Dr. No,” to provide experience in intensive examination of one film; and finally, cultural and political appraisals of the James Bond series.

Credits: 3
NOTE:
* This course counts toward the 63-credit Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) graduation requirement.