Ü/PS: Adaptation and Cultural Meaning: Stories Across Media

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This seminar explores how stories change as they move across media, genres, and historical contexts. Drawing on key concepts from adaptation studies, film theory, and cultural analysis, we will investigate what happens when a narrative is transformed from text to screen, game, or digital parody—and how these transformations reflect the cultures that produce them.

Through a sustained case study of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (1925) and its various adaptations, students will examine how the story of Jay Gatsby has been reimagined in major film productions (1949, 1974, 2013) and in unexpected media forms, including video games, online parodies, and animated reinterpretations such as Family Guy. These examples illustrate how cultural, technological, and industrial forces influence the interpretation of a text over time.

By the end of the course, students will be able to view adaptations not just as retellings but as creative cultural commentary, showing how stories continue to live, change, and resonate across evolving media landscapes.

COURSE FORMAT

The seminar combines online and in-person sessions, structured in four main blocks, plus introductory and concluding meetings. Each block is designed to build skills progressively, culminating in a portfolio that documents analysis, reflection, and comparative work.

• 24.10, 12:00–15:00, Zoom – Introduction

• 21.11, 12:00–18:00, In-person – Block I

• 12.12, 12:00–18:00, In-person – Block II

• 09.01, 12:00–18:00, In-person – Block III

• 30.01, 12:00–18:00, In-person – Block IV

• 06.02, 12:00–15:00, Zoom – Reflection & Synthesis

Active participation, therefore attendance, in each block is essential, as exercises feed directly into the portfolio (exam/means to get your credits).