Vernon Shetley
Professor of English
Studies and teaches American poetry and film, focusing particularly on contemporary poetry and classic Hollywood cinema.
I'm at work on a book on film noir from the 1970s to the present, which focuses on the representation of economics within these films. I'm particularly interested in the way that trust, and the lack of trust, shape the economy of crime in neo-noir filmmaking; and in the way that the cinematic private detective embodies a transformation in the role of the professions within the larger economy.
I teach a wide range of courses, from first-year writing to advanced courses on literature and film. In recent years, I've taught Critical Interpretation, Shakespeare, and Literary Theory on the literature side, and courses on film noir, literary theory, and westerns and women's pictures on the film side. I'm looking forward to developing new courses on American film comedy and stardom in Hollywood cinema.
I'm interested in the application of cognitive science to literature and film, and hope to develop new courses and research projects in this area, perhaps in collaboration with colleagues in psychology and economics.
Education
- B.A., Princeton University
- M.A., Columbia University in the City of New York
- M.Phil, Columbia University in the City of New York
- Ph.D., Columbia University in the City of New York
Current and upcoming courses
Film Genre, Genre Films
CAMS324
We constantly describe films with labels like action, horror, rom-com, sci-fi, musical, western, but where do those categories come from, and how do we decide what belongs within them? This course will explore the concept of film genre in terms both theoretical and practical. We’ll examine the antecedents of cinema’s genre system in literary criticism, read key works of film genre theory, and watch films in a wide range of genres. Among the questions we’ll address are: How do ideas about genre help us understand the cinematic experience? How do genre categories influence the production and marketing of films, and the discourse around them? How do ideas about genre connect to social identities, such as race and gender, to create categories like “chick flick” or “Blaxploitation”? What criteria differentiate the genres we value from those we don’t?
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We’ll read a selection of the best and most influential American short stories, and trace their influence on subsequent generations of storytellers, in both literature and film. We’ll consider what makes the stories we read effective, how later writers and filmmakers have revised and transformed these narratives, and how those revisions and transformations illuminate the workings of literary influence. We’ll read classic American short fiction like Edgar Allan Poe’s “Murders in the Rue Morgue,” Jack London’s “To Build a Fire,” and Willa Cather’s “Paul’s Case” alongside later works that recall, subvert, and reimagine those narratives, from Alfonson Cuarón’s Gravity to Jennifer Egan’s “Safari” and beyond.