Author: Eleni Palis
Peer-Reviewers: Kathryn McClain and James Fleury
Website Developer: Kristen Figgins

Overview of Syllabus

This upper-division research seminar accomplishes a “mash-up methodology” between theories of adaptation, archival re-use, and videographic criticism. The course begins with the most classical adaptation issues, questions of fidelity, and looking at literary-to-film adaptations. Then, we expand to debates about remix practices, digital mixes, and mash-ups, and the ethics of appropriation. Finally, we enter our “archival” portion of the class, paired with a very cursory introduction to videographic criticism and adapting “archives.” For these archival questions, we visited the Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound (TAMIS), applying the questions of archival ethics to our own practice as videographic essayists. This class culminates in a research-informed final project: either a final research paper or a final video essay.

Author Bio

Eleni Palis is an assistant professor of English and Cinema Studies at the University of Tennessee. At UTK, Dr. Palis teaches courses on American film history and culture, adaptation, remix, archives, and race, ethnicity, and gender in American cinema. She is also the author of the book Classical Projections: The Practice and Politics of Film Quotation (Oxford University Press, 2022), and her work has appeared in Film Quarterly, Camera Obscura: Feminism, Culture, and Media Studies, Screen, The Journal of Cinema and Media Studies (Cinema Journal), and [in]Transition: Journal of Videographic Film and Moving Image Studies.

About the Adaptation Today Pedagogy Series

Adaptation Today is a free, accessible resource for all academics and students who are interested in adaptation, especially graduate students, contingent scholars, and early career researchers. The pedagogy series creates a space of community and resource-sharing, with rolling deadlines for submission. See our CFP page to see how you can submit your own syllabi, lesson plans, assessments, and blog posts for publication.