Ann Douglas

Great roster of films for viewing and all deepened by Ann Douglas's unique perspective on noir and its influences. Colonialism, WWII, capitalism, and the immigrant experience are all key topics through which the films are viewed and discussed. Professor Douglas has an encyclopedic knowledge of the film industry, particularly during this era, and listening to her extemporaneously talk is a joy. That being said, that was essentially the entirety of the course. She talks for almost the entirety of the class each week, leaving very little time for actual in-class discussion or viewing. Her talks are not terribly focused either, which some of my classmates found frustrating. I do think better organization of each class to elicit in-class discussion would be an improvement. Still, I was happy I took the course, all things considered, as it invited me to watch many films I likely never would have otherwise, and I genuinely enjoyed Professor Douglas.

Ann Douglas is a powerhouse. Brilliant, quirky, and endlessly passionate about film noir, this class often felt like her attempt to somehow cram her lifetime love for the genre into concise two-hour sessions, complete with her original analysis as well as innumerable tangents about, say, the 5th camera crew's freedom in Fritz Lang's this-and-that. She begins the course by treating noir as a sort of historical entry in the arc of post-colonial scholarship, and this subversive bent shapes the rest of the class. It turns out film noirs are among the most powerful social critiques of American society in their time. Douglas is a radical in the truest sense of the word - she was one of the first women to bust into the academy and it's easy to see why. She is whip-smart, creative, and truly loves the material she is teaching. Getting the chance to tap into that energy in a tiny overpacked room in Philosophy (probably chosen because it has the only VHS player left at Columbia) each week was an honor, a pleasure, and a privilege. The class itself is run somewhat haphazardly - Douglas brightly solicits student feedback, but also cut students off mid-comment over half the time. This was kind of annoying, but also forgivable because it was always out of her exuberance about the topic. We never covered all the stuff she seemed to want to, perhaps because she ran class by occasionally looki…

Douglass is awesome; students really like her courses. She teaches this class in a very political way and has a very good perspective on race issues. She goes into a lot of post-colonial theory. The class only has student participation in discusson sections but the lectures are not boring.

Just two essays, completely open prompt. Film viewings and readings every week, readings can be skimmed (but are often very interesting!).

Professor Douglas is that rare professor who invites you to think about what it really means to be a scholar. I'm sad that the class is over. But, perhaps most importantly, I'm humbled to have gotten the opportunity to work alongside her for an entire semester. The class, itself, was wonderful. It's obvious that every film and reading is chosen for a very specific reason, and Professor Douglas's ability to synthesize all of the course material into one coherently structured and intellectually engaging whole was what made the class even more impressive. Aside from that, though, Professor Douglas is just somebody you want around you. She's so passionate about these films, and it really does create a stimulating learning environment for everybody. Although technically retired, I hope that Professor Douglas continues teaching in some capacity. She's outstanding, and has really reaffirmed my love both for the academy and for Columbia.

If Ann Douglas wasn't three times my age, I would propose to her. Actually, I still might. She is the best professor I had at Columbia. Period. Film noir with Ann was great because she's not really a film professor but someone who really, REALLY loves the movies she talks about (she has claimed to have seen exactly 250 films of the genre). Her lectures and discussions with the rest of the seminar were predicated on her deep love of these movies, and she taught them in a very non-film way. She also started the class with two novels from the 19th century—Heart of Darkness and Dr. Jeckyll/Mr. Hyde—which helped present her own theory on the origins of film noir that actually made quite a lot of sense. I had seen most of the movies we talked about, but not in the same way she described them. Best class I took at Columbia? You betcha

Simply said, she's great. Very laid back, yet intellectually rigorous class. This isn't a typical film or English class- we get into discussions of feminism, Marxism, and imperialism to look at the themes of the films. Ann can talk for long periods of time without every meandering or missing a beat; she is a captivating professor. Yet she often prefers to hear our interpretations of the films. One of the few professors who is intellectually intimidating while nobody every felt uninvited to contradict her or offer their own analysis.

Phenomenal. I loved every minute of this class, mostly because Ann Douglas has made it into a perfect mixture of her personal and academic interests. The honesty of Beat writing, the issues of post-WWII America, theoretical questions of language and meaning - they all come together in a class that's unlike anything else in the English Department, if not Columbia as a university. Not for everyone, of course - don't expect to have "traditional" seminar discussions, but you will learn quite a lot about the stylistics of Beat writing (if not the thematics), and for that group of writers it seems to be the most provocative way to break into the texts. Ann is an amazing professor and an amazing person (go to office hours if you can), completely willing to share her own life story and listen to yours, and kind and understanding to a fault. Anyone interested in 20th-century American literature and culture must take this class.

Where to even start with this class and with this woman? First, if you haven't read her book "Terrible Honesty," stop reading this review right now and go out and read. Seriously. If you're interested in 20th century American culture, this book is absolutely essential. That being said, I could hardly fathom that "Terrible Honesty" was written by the same woman that taught The Beat Generation. I don't mean that in a bad way, it's just that in her book, Douglas doesn't really give off the impression that she's any more OUT THERE than any other academic. During class though, she freely (and without student prompting) told extremely personal anecdotes. I'm not a prude, and I don't mean to say that I was offended by these personal anecdotes. Most of them were pretty funny, and some of them were incredibly touching, like Douglas talking about the death of a young child in the context of reading "Visions of Gerard" (which is about Kerouac's older brother who died when Kerouac was only 4). It was like having a class taught by your really cool aunt, not a pompous self-important Ivy League professor. If you're interested in Beat Literature, you should take this class. You'll learn that "On the Road" isn't Kerouac's best book. You'll learn that the Beats weren't just a bunch of guys who stayed up all night talking, abusing various substances, listening to bebop and saying, "Yeah, man." Y…

Professor Douglas is fantastically knowledgeable about her subject, and the most interesting parts of class are those during which she travels on her frequent tangents concerning either the author's life or her personal (and quite quirky) background. Unfortunately, she is not very good at directing a discussion and the class does tend to drag. She very charming and obviously passionate, but often is not quite on the ball. It would probably be easy to get away without reading a single book, but why would you want to dissapoint someone who adores those texts so?