I thought that the talks from both Dr. Seaman and Dr. Bruns really provided me with a better understanding of what actually goes on in the realm of English Studies. I found it very interesting that someone with a doctorate, specifically Dr. Seaman, still has to persuade her colleagues that a more avant-garde area of study is actually worth studying. In regards to Dr. Bruns, I find it interesting that his field of study is new and still evolving, which is indicative of his essay and how CGI is becoming more prevalent in film.
Dr. Seaman’s talk was truly enlightening, as I had a very, very vague idea as to what “post humanism” was. However, after this talk, I can now provide my own quasi-definition, which is the following: post humanism deals primarily with things other than the human experience. For example, instead of looking at the knight, a post humanist must analyze what supports the notion of knight hood, or what is required (things like metal, intangible agents, and living animals). I found Dr. Seaman’s paper a bit more confusing than Dr. Bruns’ because of format of her paper, which is understandable because she is addressing like-minded professionals in her field.
Personally, Dr. Bruns’ article and talk spoke to me more, as I am familiar and involved in the film community, writing screenplays and acting. I thought that the historical framework of both his article and talk were much easier to grasp than Dr. Seaman’s more theoretical backdrop. Even though Film Studies is an established area of study, I still have encountered people who scoff at this fact. However, if they had heard Dr. Bruns speak about this very intriguing, and quite young area of study they’d definitely have a change of heart. For instance, if they were to hear him talk about Hitchcock’s trope of the newspaper in his films, it is essentially the same concept as a symbol in literature, the only difference is that it is portrayed via visuals, not words.
From these talks, I have learned that perhaps Film Studies is something that I would be interested in pursuing later down the line. I love analyzing films and to publish an essay that analyzes them under a historical or theoretical scope would be a challenging, yet rewarding task. Being that this field of study is relatively new, it would be surreal to be apart of it and see it progress.
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