The Film Foundation’s Story of Movies presents

The American West and the

Western Film Genre
In association with

The Harrington School of Communication and Media, University of Rhode Island

with additional support from the National Endowment for the Humanities

A FREE professional development

seminar for educators and librarians
 

Saturday, June 14
8 a.m. – 9 p.m.
&
Sunday, June 15
8 – 5 p.m.
 
Swan  Hall  
Agnes  Doody  Auditorium,    
URI  Campus,  Kingston,  RI  
 
Who & What
This  free  weekend  seminar  introduces  educators  to  an  interdisciplinary  curriculum  covering  a  critical  period  of  
American  history  (1860  –  1900)  when  the  United  States  was  expanding  and  forging  an  identity,  and  explores  
how  filmmakers  of  the  20th  century  represented  this  era.  
• Workshops  focus  on  cinema  literacy/film  language,  and  film  as  historical/cultural  document.    
Handout  materials  include  screening  activities  and  primary  source  documents  to  challenge  
students’  critical-­‐thinking  skills.  
• Lunch  provided  for  registered  participants.  
• Afternoon  &  evening  screenings  feature  classic  Western  films,  each  voted  culturally  and  
aesthetically  significant  by  the  Library  of  Congress  National  Film  Registry.      

How & When to Register

Classroom  capacity  is  limited  so  early  registration  is  encouraged.    Continuing  Education  Credits  (CEUs)  may  be  
supported  by  your  school  district  for  this  program.  Workshops  require  pre-­‐registration.    Registration  deadline  
is  Friday,  May  30.  

REGISTER ONLINE:
http://harrington.uri.edu/event/the-story-of-movies/
Why Teach the Western Film
“Westerns have always been
Genre?
roadmaps that tell viewers more
• A  rich  tapestry  of  literature,  art  and  social  history  exist  to  enhance  the  
study  of  the  Western  genre,  making  it  an  ideal  interdisciplinary  subject  for  
about the contemporary U.S. than
classroom  study.  
about the country as it existed in the
• Because  the  Western  is  an  evolving  and  changing  expression  of  different  
stages  of  American  cultural  history,  investigating  the  mythology  of  the   last half of the 19th Century.”
Western  allows  students  to  interpret  how  Americans  –  as  well  as  people  
—R.  Philip  Loy,  Westerns  in  a  Changing  America
in  other  countries  –  have  viewed  American  political,  social  and  economic  
values.    
th st  
• The  decline  of  the  Western  genre  in  the  last  decades  of  the  20  Century  and  early  decades  of  the  21 Century  presents  an  
intriguing  subject  for  argument.  Why  did  the  genre  decline?  And  what  mythology,  if  any,  has  replaced  the  Western  to  explain  
our  present-­‐day  American  demographics  and  value  systems?  

• Movies  are  a  door  to  knowledge—of  society,  of  history,  of  art.  The  Story  of  Movies  curriculum  opens  these  doors  by  teaching  
students  to  think  critically  about  film,  and  providing  them  with  a  deeper  understanding  of  this  uniquely  influential  art  form.  

Seminar Schedule
  Saturday,     Sunday,  
Sessions   June  14    June  15  
Registration      
8:30  
  Introduction  to  the  Interdisciplinary  Curriculum     Watching  vs.  Seeing  Screening  Activity:  The  Inciting  
9:00   &  Common  Core  Connections   Incident,  from  Red  River  
  Block  1:  Conventions  of  the  Western  Film  Genre   Block  4:  How  the  Soundtrack  Communicates  
9:30  –  10:30   • Manifest  Destiny  and  the  American  Frontier   • Selected  Scenes  from  Once  Upon  a  Time  in  the  West  
  • Screening  The  Great  Train  Robbery   • What  Is  Savage?  Sound  analysis  and  depictions  in  
  • What  is  a  Western  Film?  Conventions  of  the  Genre   scenes  from  The  Searchers  
  Block  2:  Decoding  a  Film’s  Ideology   Block  5:  Changing  Ideologies,  Changing  Depictions  
10:45  –  12:15   • Identifying  Ideology  through  Cinematic  Depictions   • Time  &  Interpretation  &  Racial  Relations:  “Don’t  
• Break-­‐out  Session  for  screening  activity:  Selected   Scream”  from  Sergeant  Rutledge  and  Broken  Arrow  
scenes  from  Destry  Rides  Again   • Violence  and  Vengeance:  Scenes  for  analysis:  
• EXPLORING  FILM  MUSIC  with  Professor  Kay   Ulzana’s  Raid  
Kalinak,  Rhode  Island  College  
Lunch          
12:15  –  1:00  
  Block  3:    Film  Language  –  Composition  &   Block  6:  Pulling  It  All  Together—Mise-­‐en-­‐scène  
1:00  –  2:30   Juxtaposition   • Watching:  “The  McBain  Family”  from  Once  Upon  a  
• Four  Elements  of  Film  Language   time  in  the  West  
• Selected  scenes  for  analysis  from  The  Oxbow   • Seeing:  “The  McBain  Family”  revisited  
Incident  and  The  Outlaw  Josey  Wales  
Matinee   Film  Introduction:  Social  Class  &  Prejudice     Film  Introduction:  The  Closing  of  the  American  Frontier  
Screening   Feature  Film:  Stagecoach  (1939,  d.  John  Ford)   Feature  Film:    Shane  (1953,  d.  George  Stevens)  
3:00  –  5:00  
7  p.m.  Evening   The  New  Frontier:  The  Journey  West    
Screening   The  Big  Trail    (1930,  d.  Raoul  Walsh)  

About The Film Foundation The  mission  of  the  Film  Foundation,  a  non-­‐profit  501(c)(3)  organization  founded  by  Martin  Scorsese  
and  other  prominent  filmmakers,  is  to  preserve  America’s  cultural  and  artistic  film  heritage  and  to  ensure  that  classic  films  remain  accessible  to  
future  generations.