Student Voices

Columbus Plays Itself

In this Student Voices essay, Vassar student Charlie Tynan analyzes architecture and emotionality in the 2017 film Columbus.

Teaching Film Urbanism

Erica Stein discusses the syllabus for her course "Cinemas and Urbanisms" and introduces the essays in the Student Voices section.

Different Places! Real and Hyperreal Las Vegas in Showgirls

William Smith analyzes how the film Showgirls engages with themes of the hyperreal in its portrayal of Las Vegas. The film makes a jarring break from typical representations of the city, peeling back the layers of Las Vegas to reveal its promises to be inaccessible, profit-driven myths.

Cinetourism and Urban Development: Student Voices Dossier

Noelle Griffis introduces this issue of Student Voices with a discussion of her Fall 2020 course, Cinema and the City, providing context and an overview of her students' work, as well as links to her course syllabus and assignment. Griffis's course emphasizes the role that urban development has played in racial and economic inequality in the city and the ways these issues have been depicted—or neglected—on screen.