This course explores the ways in which popular film, TV, and video cultures construct the historical past, the battles that arise among historians and the public over film versions of history, and how such films can be utilized as historical documents themselves. We consider films, TV, and video as products of the culture industry; as visions of popular history and national mythology; as evidence for how social conflicts have been depicted; and as evidence for how interpretations of the past have been revised from earlier eras to the present.