A wide shot of a ceramics studio, featuring students working with pottery wheels and other tools.
SAIC faculty member Patricia Erens.

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Patricia Erens

Professor, Adjunct

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Bio

Adjunct Professor, Art History, Theory, and Criticism; Visual and Critical Studies (2001). MA, 1963, University of Chicago; PhD, 1981, Northwestern University. Publications: Issues in Feminist Film Criticism; The Jew in American Cinema; Sexual Stratagems: The World of Women and Film. Award: Senior Fulbright Fellowship.

Experience at SAIC

Adjunct Faculty, Department of Art History, Theory and Criticism 2001–2004; Adjunct Full Professor 2005–present

Personal Statement

Ph.D., 1981, Northwestern University in Film Studies; M.A. University of Chicago, in English. Teaching: University of Hong Kong, 1994-2000, Department of Comparative Literature, Senior Lecturer; Dominican University 1977–1994, Professor of Film Studies; Director of Foreign Studies, Rosary College in London, 1989–1990; San Francisco State University, 1986, Visiting Professor; Hebrew University in Jerusalem 1979, Visiting Lecturer. Books: Issues in Feminist Film Criticism (1990, Indiana UP, 4th printing); The Jew in American Cinema (1984, Indiana UP); Sexual Stratagems: The World of Women in Film (1979, Horizon Press); Akira Kurosawa: A Guide to References and Resources (1979, G. K. Hall). Awards: Senior Fulbright Scholar, 2009, Brazil; Senior Fulbright Scholar, 1993, Hong Kong; National Endowment for the Humanities, Film Fellowship, 1986; ICA travel grant to Israel, 1979; ICA travel grant to Japan, 1978.

Editorial Work: Advisory Board, Wayne State UP, Contemporary Film and Television Studies 1999–present, General Editor 1987–1999; advisory editor, Jewish Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia, 1994-1998; editorial board, Cinema Journal, 1993-1997; editor in chief, Journal of Film and Video, 1982–1987. Community Service: advisory board Gene Siskel Film Center, 1972–present; board member Asian Art Council/Art Institute of Chicago, 2001–2013; visiting committee on the visual arts University of Chicago, 2002- 2008; trustee Chicago Theological Seminary, 2002–2005.

Courses

Title Department Catalog Term

Description

This is a discussion-based seminar aimed at upper-level students. The goal is to introduce students to the cinema of Alfred Hitchcock, one of the great masters of 20th century cinema, whose themes and filmic techniques influenced modern artists, as well as other film directors. The course will offer students an opportunity to do in-depth critical analysis using various methodologies, such as the auteur theory, feminism and psychoanalysis. Class time will be devoted to exploring themes such as crime, guilt, marriage, the double, voyeurism, the male gaze and meta cinema.

The course will cover many of Hitchcock¿s most important works, including Strangers on a Train, Rear Window, Vertigo and Psycho. Students are expected to see these works on their own and write a weekly response paper based on their viewing and the assigned readings. In place of exams, students will produce a final research paper and a class presentation.

Class Number

2257

Credits

3

Description

Feminist Film Theory will cover four areas of study: the historic contributions of women to the development of the film industry; the rise of several generations of female auteurs (including Agnes Varda, Jane Campion, Chantal Akerman and Julie Dash); the emergence of new voices in the 21st century (many from previously marginalized groups); and the development of theoretical texts which informed film production and spectatorship, as well as influencing other art forms.
Beginning with Laura Mulvey¿s seminal essay on the ¿male gaze,¿ the class will critique the ways in which feminist film theory continues to be reassessed and reformulated. In addition, the class will focus on newer issues and agendas relating to race, class, ethnicity and sexuality deriving from the contribution of women of color and the LGBTQ community.
The class will run as a seminar in which students meet in small discussion groups to share and debate ideas from their readings, screenings and response papers. Students will also present original research drawn from their own fields of interest.

Class Number

1089

Credits

3