Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Spring 2026 - IS 105 D100

Around the World through Film (3)

Class Number: 3301

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 5 – Apr 10, 2026: Wed, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Explores social, economic, and political change around the globe, through documentaries and feature films. Examines pressing issues that shape and reflect people’s lives in diverse countries and regions, from Asia and Latin America, to Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. Breadth-Humanities/Social Sciences.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course takes students on a cinematic journey across continents to explore how global power relations are imagined, contested, and lived. Using film as both a narrative and analytical lens, we examine how political violence, economic inequality, and struggles for representation shape the experiences of individuals and communities around the world. From colonialism and revolution to migration and survival, the course foregrounds how class, gender, race, and other axes of difference intersect in shaping access to rights, recognition, and justice. Through close engagement with a diverse selection of fiction and documentary films, students will encounter the ethical and political questions that animate the study of international relations: What does global responsibility look like in the face of genocide and displacement? How do states, markets, and media produce hierarchies of visibility and worth? And how do ordinary people resist, endure, and reimagine the boundaries of power? By moving between local stories and global structures, Around the World Through Films invites students to see the world—and the study of International Studies—through a critical, creative, and empathetic lens.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

  • Identify and explain major concepts central to the field, including colonialism, race and racialization, gender discrimination, poverty and empowerment, nation and nationalism, among others.
  • Analyze how power operates through political, economic, and cultural systems to shape global inequalities and local experiences.
  • Interpret films as critical texts that reveal the intersections of class, gender, race, and nation in shaping global orders and everyday life.
  • Evaluate different forms of resistance, solidarity, and transformation across varied historical and geographical contexts.

Grading

NOTES:

  • Class attendance and participation
  • Response papers
  • Film critiques
  • Final exam
Percentages TBD

Materials

REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

At SFU, you are expected to act honestly and responsibly in all your academic work. Cheating, plagiarism, or any other form of academic dishonesty harms your own learning, undermines the efforts of your classmates who pursue their studies honestly, and goes against the core values of the university.

To learn more about the academic disciplinary process and relevant academic supports, visit: 


RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.