Dyson College of Arts and Sciences

D Y S O N Y E A R I N R E V I E W 2 0 2 2 – 2 0 2 3 14 F ilm, as an a form, has the power to transpo the viewer anywhere in the world and beyond. In a one-of-a-kind interdisciplinary course at Dyson College, undergraduate students travel across the globe through cinema, diving deep into complex themes of family, love, a , and politics. Guided by the belief that a well-rounded education doesn't fit into a neat box, Associate Professor of Communication and Media Studies Satish Kolluri, PhD, and Professor of History Joseph Lee, PhD, co-teach INT 297A Hong Kong and Bollywood: Globalization of Asian Cinema, a course that challenges students to explore ideas across cultures and think in ways that transcend the boundaries of academic disciplines. "Lived reality is messy," said Kolluri. "Academic disciplines can be so pristine and pure, but you have to mix them up. It has to be intellectually messy." With that conviction at the forefront of their work, longtime friends Kolluri and Lee continue to adapt their course curriculum to today's complex landscape while also advancing their prolific professional pa nership outside the classroom, co-authoring research a icles on timely and globally significant political issues, each offering their own unique perspective. The First Course of Its Kind More than two decades ago, Kolluri and Lee met when they both began teaching at Pace, and the two became fast friends. Their different cultural backgrounds—Lee is of Chinese descent and Kolluri is of Indian descent—and academic disciplines have not only enriched their friendship and professional pa nership but have resulted in innovative developments in interdisciplinary study at Pace University. In 2005, when Pace introduced "learning communities," six-credit courses that encourage immersive study and deeper bonds among peers, Kolluri and Lee proposed an interdisciplinary course on Hong Kong and Bollywood cinemas, born out of their organic discussions over many years. The course was the first of its kind at an American university. "We're exploring universal themes [in the course]," said Kolluri, "romance, love, trauma, mourning, and how those themes are reflected in cinema. The two of us were having those conversations, looking at cinema through a historical lens and a cultural lens, and the themes emerged from the conversations we had." Lee added that Hong Kong and India, both former British colonies, share similar narratives, which lends itself to a natural connection in a course of this kind. "That larger historical context enables us to find common historical backgrounds," he said. "And then from there, we can relate to how independent filmmakers and commercial filmmakers from both societies construct their a istic works." Marco Del Bene '25, Communication and Media Studies, who took An Innovative Approach to Interdisciplinary and Cross-Cultural Teaching Professors Satish Kolluri, PhD, and Joseph Lee, PhD, challenge students to explore complex themes through film. the course recently, discussed the impact of the course's content: "I realized how much I had been missing culturally and historically by not watching Asian films and that Hollywood is ce ainly not the only source for high-quality cinema. Asian films have opened me up to a broader cultural experience." Expanding Intellectual Horizons The course material has continued to evolve over time—"The syllabus is a breathing document," said Kolluri—with more recent films and ever- changing contemporary discussion topics added. Kolluri and Lee note, however, that some classics have been mainstays in the curriculum, such as films from the Hong Kong New Wave and Indian Parallel Cinema movements, which both addressed political and civil issues in their own societies. Professor of History Joseph Lee, PhD, le , and Associate Professor of Communication and Media Studies Satish Kolluri, PhD.

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