Black Horror Ecology: Horror, Blackness and the Environment

Course Description

An exciting shift is happening as we see more Black Horror films appear in popular culture! In this course, we will learn about this growing genre and its representations of the [super] natural, as well as its depiction of the relationship between identity, media technology, and the environment. The course will include screenings of selected scenes from Nope (2022), Get Out (2017), Candyman (1992; 2021), and more, as well as introduce ideas from Black and media studies thinkers, writers, and other creatives.
Using in-class discussions, activities and movie screenings, students in this course will learn to critically analyze Black Horror films and apply what they learn in a collaborative film review project, creatively demonstrating their knowledge while broadly introducing students to the growing field of Black and environmental media studies.
Selected film screenings include but are not restricted to:
Ganja and Hess (1973), Candyman (1992), Get Out (2017), Candyman (2021), Nope (2022), Nanny (2022), Wendell & Wild (2022)
Important note: due to the nature of this selected genre, films may contain some scenes of violence, mature content, and frightening imagery. The course will also include discussions of racism, slavery, and colonial violence, but will be done so with grace and sensitivity towards whom these subject matters might trigger, including myself as a Black woman.