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Verso University: A Fresh Look at Classic American Films with Professor Sidney Gottlieb
Course Details
Tuesdays, February 3, 10, 17, & 24, 1:30-3:30 pm (Komansky Room)
Some films endure not just because we love them, but because they continue to reveal something essential about who we are. In this discussion-based course, we’ll revisit four American film classics to explore what lies beneath their familiar surfaces — how they reflect enduring cultural values, moral tensions, and personal desires, and how their meanings evolve over time.
Films include Bringing Up Baby, Citizen Kane, Double Indemnity, and It’s a Wonderful Life. Guided conversations will examine themes such as romance and independence, power and ambition, moral darkness, and the uneasy optimism at the heart of American life.
Participants will screen films independently and meet weekly for in-depth discussion. Film access details will be provided upon registration. All movies are available in the Library's collection, as well as on Hoopla and Kanopy streaming services — available for free with your Westport Library card!
About the Instructor
Sidney Gottlieb is an esteemed Professor of Communication and Media Arts at Sacred Heart university, and is a longtime lover of, teacher of, and writer on film. A multiple recipient of Sacred Heart’s scholarship award, he has published numerous essays and reviews on both literary and film topics. He has previously taught a Verso University course on the films of Alfred Hitchcock. He is also an active musician, currently playing and recording with various songwriters in Connecticut and in the duo Sonia and Sid in the Boston area.
He is the longtime editor of two scholarly journals, the Hitchcock Annual (Columbia University Press) and the George Herbert Journal. His edited books include Hitchcock on Hitchcock, Volume 1 and Volume 2 (Univ. of California Press), Framing Hitchcock (Wayne State University Press; coedited with Chris Brookhouse), Hitchcock: Interviews (Univ. of Missouri Press), Roberto Rossellini’s Rome Open City (Cambridge Univ. Press), Orson Welles in Focus: Texts and Contexts (Indiana Univ. Press, co-edited with James N. Gilmore), and Haunted by Vertigo: Hitchcock’s Masterpiece Then and Now (John Libbey Press/Indiana Univ. Press, co-edited with Donal Martin).
Important Information About Verso University Classes
- Classes are usually structured as a consecutive series.
- Class size is often limited.
- Each series has a one-time fee registration fee covering all classes in the series.
- Registration is mandatory.
- The Westport Library wants to ensure that all interested students are able to participate in Verso University courses. If the registration fee is a barrier to entry for you, please contact [email protected].
Verso University is the Library’s lifelong learning and education initiative, serving up year-round offerings of classes, workshops, and lectures designed to further education and learning. Offerings run the gamut of educational opportunities, ranging from one-time lectures to ongoing courses to classes that meet weekly or perhaps monthly.
Verso University programs are made possible by the generous support of the Nancy J. Beard Lifelong Learning and Education Fund.
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The Westport Library is committed to intellectual freedom, inclusivity, and lifelong learning. Our mission is to provide welcoming spaces for the free exchange of ideas. The Library does not endorse or condemn points of view, including any program content or the views expressed by presenters or participants.
