Module manager: Sarah Feinstein
Email: S.Feinstein@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: 1 Jul to 31 Aug View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
GPA of 2.5 (US) or equivalent and enrolled at a university
This module is not approved as a discovery module
This module develops a critical and practical understanding of film, television, and art through an engagement with the work of David Lynch, the influential US-American filmmaker and director known for his experimental approach and unique style. Through a series of workshops, the module considers cinema and TV as art, asking how Lynch constructs narratives. Students will consider this question by engaging with set films (for example, a selection of David Lynch’s short films, as well as features such as Eraserhead and Blue Velvet) and television texts (for example, Twin Peaks), as well as visual art, and selections of relevant academic texts. They will also draw on various frameworks such as politics, architecture, gender, race, class, narratology, language, and psychoanalysis using David Lynch’s work to situate these practices within its cultural and historical context. They will then put these principles into practice by producing a reflective response to a selection of the set texts. This module requires engaging with a selection of Lynch’s work, which is known for disturbing and surreal elements, including violence and gore, that some people may find upsetting. Content warnings will be provided in advance and can also be found on the BBFC website.
This module aims to:
1. To introduce students to contemporary practical and critical debates about David Lynch’s art, film, and television.
2. To familiarise students with the organising structures of film and television narratives, and with visual art.
3. To introduce academic methods of analysing experimental narrative and art.
On completion of this module, students should be able to:
1. Reflect critically on David Lynch’s art, films, and his televisual work.
2. Understand the generic building blocks of experimental narratives and art cinema.
3. Utilise academic methods in their own analysis of experimental narrative and art.
On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
1. Apply critical and theoretical models in their reflective responses to a selection of set texts
2. Demonstrate the ability to present work to an academic standard.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fieldwork | 1 | 8 | 8 |
| Fieldwork | 1 | 10 | 10 |
| Seminar | 8 | 3 | 24 |
| Independent online learning hours | 15 | ||
| Private study hours | 43 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 42 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 100 | ||
Students are encouraged to produce short, creative reflective pieces of work in response to daily lectures and screenings during sessions, which will provide opportunities for formative feedback. This will allow students to have drafts of their responses that they can then polish and collate to form their portfolio.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Portfolio | A collection of five responses (approx. 400 words each) to a selection of set texts to show engagement with different genres and themes | 100 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
Check the module area in Minerva for your reading list
Last updated: 09/04/2026
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