CHOICES CHOICES CHOICES!

OH NO! the time of year has come when one has to choose one's module options for the next academic year and this year i am in a pickle! i have 2 options but i've already submitted my dissertation proposal so if it gets approved, i am left with only 1 choice.

Dyer handed out the options forms today and it has led to a flurry of excitement - considering that each 3rd year film module has a capacity of 20 people and those who dont have to wait to find out if their dissertations were approved (ie they chose not to hand in a proposal at all) can already hand in their forms (as opposed to people like me who have to wait till tuesday). in fact, one girl already handed hers in after the lecture this afternoon. how swift a decision-maker she is.

IF my dissertation gets approved, i will have to pick between one of the following that have already caught my eye (and more might come if i spend more time browsing the module guide for the Arts Faculty):

1) National Cinema 2 : Swedish Cinema and the Role of London in British Cinema
- a continuation of this year's National Cinema where we studied Italian and Spanish Cinema. Term 1 will be on Swedish Cinema [Ingmar Bergman's films and their function as images of Swedish Culture, Greta Garbo and Ingrid Bergman as Swedish exports, Importance of Strindberg and the role of theatrical tradition, Concept of Nordic cinemas and Swedish film culture as part of and different from them, Swedish Cinema in the 21st Century). Term 2 will be on the 2 cinematics Londons - the East End and the London Blitz and the iconography of London in British films.

Why i would want to do the module - it looks really interesting and i did pretty ok for my National Cinema this year thus far. in addition, i heard the tutors are VERY good in their speciality fields, albeit one of the tutors might be a bit difficult to get along with if you dont do your work dilligently (she also happens to be my personal tutor). being a film module, i wont have problems adjusting to the style of writing. the only problem is that i dont know if i can take so much film because doign film modules means a heck of a lot more hours of class a week and i'll be doing 3 film modules (including my dissertation) and it also means that i wont be doing any non-film stuff (which i might wish i was doing so as not to get too overloaded with film info)

2) Special Topic: 2 Major Filmmakers, Jean Renoir and Max Ophuls
-each year, Victor Perkins takes a module devoted to 2 major filmmakers and he has chose Renoir and Ophuls. Great artists who have had loads of film scholars write abt them, much biographical work has been done on them and they left significant writings of their own. Good module for developing skills in textual analysis and extending one's knowledge on European cinema

Why i would do this module - because Victor Perkins is teaching it and he is very good (even my tutors say this is a fabulous module). but then i dont know who Ophuls is (which wont be good for first impressions and first day on the course...) and not entirely sure if i want to do so much textual analysis.

3) Poetry in English Since 1945
- a module with the English Dept, headed by one of the Creative Writing staff.
The module covers a broad range of formal and linguistic approaches, a variety of poetics, and very different understandings of the relation of poetry in the period to belief, to society, to cultural dynamics, to the sense of self, and to thought. Plus it isnt just American and British poetry - they look at Irish, Indian, Carribean and Australian works as well.

Why i would do this - because a brief look at this year's syllabus and it looks fantastically interesting! i love studying poetry and chose not to do it this year so i'm kind of eager to get back to reading some poetry! the only problem is that i have no idea whether the tutors for this module are going to be good because most people i know havent done any Creative Writing modules or been tutored by any of them so need to do more snooping around.

4) Blake and Wordsworth
- a module that looks at these 2 Romantic poets and draws links with contemporary poetry. the module explores how emotion works, alienation, mourning, capitalism, the struggle between religion and secularism, and what it means to be ‘human’ - themes that are also those which have most urgently been considered in the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Why i would do this module - because Emma Mason is brilliant (i've had a few of her lectures and i've been told on many occasions she is an amazing tutor). and because i love Romantic poetry and love how they tie it in with contemporary situations. Problem would be having to choose between this module and the After 1945 one.

5) Cultural History of Food in Latin America
- a History Department module that explores food such as Sugar, Chocolate, Coffee, Meat, Alcohol and Maize in Latin American culture, as well as the issue of Cannibalism. it looks as cuisine as part of nationalism, social class divisions represented by food, religion and its relation with food, the histories of food production and its export, and the eroticisation of food.

Why i would do this module - the module outline looks so interesting and it will be really refreshing to do something quite different for a change. i've heard the tutor who teaches this is really passionate about teaching and really funny (key to a good module experience). downside is that i would have to do 3 unassessed essays AND have to adapt to new styles of essay-writing since i havent done a history essay at university level yet.

So many choices to make! and i'm wondering now if getting my dissertation proposal approved will necessarily be a good thing... :(

i forgot to mention that my dissertation topic will be on dance in musicals as a reflection of the socio-historical conditions of the periods the films were set in and when they were filmed. i listed Easter Parade, Grease (1 and 2), Flashdance, Saturday Night Fever, Chicago, Sweet Charity, Singing In The Rain, Top Hat and Funny Face as the films i was considering examining.