Tutor: Peter Krämer With reference to a wide range of popular movies since the 1960s (ranging from Funny Girl [1968] and Fatal Attraction [1988] to Titanic [1997] and Gravity [2013]), this course looks at the work women do in the American film industry, the way they are represented on screen, and the role they play as a key audience for Hollywood movies. In addition to film clips, a variety of data sets and other sources (e.g. box office charts, employment statistics, audience surveys, posters, trailers, reviews) will be discussed. The emphasis will be on the careers of particularly important women, including Barbra Streisand, Jane Fonda, Sherry Lansing and, last but not least, Sandra Bullock, who – it should be noted – will celebrate her 60th birthday on July 26th, 2024. About the tutor: Peter Krämer is a Senior Research Fellow in Cinema & TV in the Leicester Media School at De Montfort University (Leicester, UK). He is a regular guest lecturer at several other universities in the UK, Germany and the Czech Republic, has written or edited twelve academic books and has also co-authored an illustrated volume about American film for children. He has been involved in adult education for thirty-five years. Peter has published widely on female stars, female producers and female audiences. Some of this work is freely available online: - “Close Up: Audrey Hepburn”, Park Circus (Spotlight), 15 February 2022, https://www.parkcircus.com/latest/P2566-Close-Up%3A-Audrey-Hepburn - “‘The Girl on Fire’: Children’s Fiction, Female Stars and Contemporary Hollywood Blockbusters” (Part 1), Women’s Film and Television History Network (UK/Ireland) blog, 12 February 2016, https://womensfilmandtelevisionhistory.wordpress.com/2016/02/12/the-girl-on-fire-childrens-fiction-female-stars-and-contemporary-hollywood-blockbusters/ - “From the Margins towards the Centre: Women in 1970s and 1980s Hollywood, Part 1 - General Trends”, Women’s Film and Television History Network (UK/Ireland) blog, 27 October 2014, https://womensfilmandtelevisionhistory.wordpress.com/2014/10/27/from-the-margins-towards-the-centre/ - “From Vietnam to Video: Notes on Jane Fonda’s Films and Activism, 1970-1982”, Women’s Film and Television History Network (UK/Ireland) blog, 22 November 2013, http://womensfilmandtelevisionhistory.wordpress.com/2013/11/22/from-vietnam-to-video/ - “The Politics of Independence: The China Syndrome (1979), Hollywood Liberals and Anti-Nuclear Campaigning”, Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media, no. 6 (Winter 2013), http://alphavillejournal.com/Issue6/HTML/ArticleKramer.html