UNDERSTANDING POLITICS
THROUGH FILM, III
Instructor: Dr. Burton Atkins

Course Description: This will be the third course in a series that uses the medium of film to examine important and persistent themes about politics.  We will focus on several key themes and issues that have found expression through the medium of film, including presidents and presidential power, political campaigns, violence in the United States and foreign policy.  Each week we will view portions of films that illustrate these and other themes in order to better understand and evaluate some of the broader issues and ideas embedded in politics.  Please note that these films are subject to change.

Six Lectures:

Set One:
          1.  Is War a Continuation of Politics by Other Means?
               (Paths of Glory, Patton, Lawrence of Arabia)
          2.  Law and Justice (A Civil Action, Twelve Angry Men, Inherit the Wind, Serpico) 
          3.  Political Themes in Musicals (Cabaret, Fiddler on the Roof, Evita)

Set Two:
          4.  “Reel” Presidents (The American President, Absolute Power, Nixon)
          5.  Nazis Portrayed in Film (The Boys From Brazil, Marathon Man, Shindler’s List)
          6.  Dystopia in Film (V for Vendetta, Planet of the Apes)

Biographical Information: Dr. Burton Atkins is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at FSU and is currently teaching political science at FAU.  In his 35-year career at FSU, Dr. Atkins taught a variety of courses on, and wrote extensively about constitutional law and American politics, served as chair of the political science department, received grants from the National Science Foundation to support his research and writing on the English judicial system, lived in London from 1992 to 1997 when serving as the Director of FSU’s  London Study Center and, from 1997 until his retirement in 2006, served as Director of the FSU International Affairs program.
Dr. Atkins LLS courses have received excellent evaluations.