The Family in Film

This course will explore the family in film from a psychological viewpoint.  It will look at families with dysfunction and difficulty, as well as families that function well, sometimes in spite of themselves. During class we will focus on themes from a variety of movies. Each class will include a teacher presentation, excerpts from the film, with comments, questions, and discussion. This fall we plan to view the following movies: Ordinary People (1980), Scenes from a Marriage (1984), What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? (1996), In Her Shoes (2005), and CODA (2021). The list of the movies is subject to change. Ways to view them will be provided to students before the start of the course so that students may view the entire film prior to class.