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SLL40380

Academic Year 2026/2027

Global Prison Film (SLL40380)

Subject:
Languages, Cultures & Ling
College:
Arts & Humanities
School:
Languages, Cultures & Linguis
Level:
4 (Masters)
Credits:
10
Module Coordinator:
Dr Marco Bellardi
Trimester:
Spring
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

The genre of prison film has been one of the most exploited by the film industry since at least the 1930s and 1940s. Classic prison films have established key generic traits through memorable narratives and mediated a specific imagination as well as misconceptions about punishment among their audiences. In recent years, the production has continued to be dominated by US films and tv series; however, European productions have also gained momentum and contributed to discourses about coercive environments. Moreover, recent films and tv series have raised new awareness of the process of identity transformation, or “identity work”, among fictional inmates compared to past representations where more fixed identities were displayed for narrative purposes. Complex narratives open multiple windows on the inmates’ psychology and life backgrounds as well as the transformative process that prison life entails, be it towards re-education, redemption, personal growth, re-introduction in society or, conversely, towards destructive, degenerative experiences, loss of identity, acts of bullying, violence, and murder, while also opening the genre to a wider array of issues related to women and LGBTQ+ subjects. This module offers an overview of these issues and frames the prison film and its subgenres within contemporary visual culture in the US and Europe.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

Students who successfully complete this module will:
- Have become familiar with the generic characteristics of prison films
- Have developed a solid knowledge about the historical development of the prison film genre
- Have become aware of the main social and representative issues related to coercive environments in different epochs and countries
- Have gained the ability to apply interdisciplinary perspectives to film analysis and write convincingly about the topic
- Have developed basic skills in video presentation of complex content.

Students may use generative AI only for reviewing/refining essays and for essay planning, according to the Guidelines adopted by the College of Arts and Humanities, which will be circulated by the lecturer.

Indicative Module Content:

Course Structure
Week 1. Introduction. Exploring the genre and politics of representation
Week 2. The prison escape film
Week 3. Inmates and guards
Week 4. The asylum
Week 5. Political prisoners
Week 6. Prison identities
Week 7. Bodies, minds, identity work
Week 8-9. Reading weeks
Week 10. Prison masculinities
Week 11. Women in prison
Week 12. Borstals and Magdalene laundries
Week 13. Contemporary docufictions and drama
Week 14. Conclusion, Q&A.

UNESCO highlights a set of key competencies that support individuals in their development and support society in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UCD has adapted these competencies and is combining them with others to form a general framework of learning competencies. This module will help you develop the competencies below to the levels specified. 
Learning Competency Additional Information Level

Collaboration

 The ability to learn from others; to understand and respect the needs, perspectives and actions of others (empathy); to understand, relate to and be sensitive to others (empathic leadership); to deal with conflicts in a group; and to facilitate collaborative and participatory problem solving. Competent

Critical Thinking

 The ability to question norms, practices and opinions; to reflect on one’s own values, perceptions and actions. Proficient

Systems Thinking

 The ability to recognize and understand relationships; to analyse complex systems; to think of how systems are embedded within different domains and different scales; and to deal with uncertainty. Competent

Strategic

 The ability to collectively develop and implement innovative actions that further sustainability at the local level and further afield. Competent

Integrated Problem Solving

 The overarching ability to apply different problem-solving frameworks to complex sustainability problems and develop viable, inclusive and equitable solution options that promote sustainable development, integrating the competencies in this list. Competent

Self-awareness

 The ability to reflect on one’s own role in the local community and (global) society; to continually evaluate and further motivate one’s actions; and to deal with one’s feelings and desires. Proficient

Normative

 The ability to understand and reflect on the norms and values that underlie one’s actions; and to negotiate values, principles, goals, and targets, in a context of conflicts of interest and trade-offs, uncertain knowledge and contradictions. Competent

Anticipatory

 The ability to understand and evaluate multiple scenarios for the future – possible, probable and desirable; to create one’s own visions for the future; to apply the precautionary principle; to assess the consequences of actions; and to deal with risks and changes. Competent

Digital Literacy and Judgement

 The ability to access, evaluate, create and communicate information in digital environments; to engage critically, ethically and responsibly with digital technologies and digital information; to understand their opportunities, limitations, risks and impact on individual’s digital identities; and to exercise informed judgement in digital participation and decision-making. Proficient

AI Literacy & Agency

 The ability to understand, critically evaluate and responsibly engage with artificial intelligence; to recognise how AI systems are shaped by human values; to assess their ethical, social and environmental implications; and to exercise human judgement, agency and accountability in AI-related contexts. Advanced Beginner

Wellbeing

 Wellbeing is having the resources and skills to meet life's challenges, including attributes such as personal development skills, resilience, stress management, strengths, lifestyle skills, nutrition, physical activity, sleep, alcohol/substance use, academic skills, time management, goal setting, interpersonal skills, group work, communication. Competent

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Specified Learning Activities

100
Autonomous Student Learning

100
Lectures

12
Seminar (or Webinar)

12
Total

224

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Weekly lecture and seminar based on a programme of viewing and reading.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations
Learning Requirements:

BA studies or equivalent.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Assignment(Including Essay): One 10-min video-presentation. It should include a brief comparative analysis of relevant filmic elements in at least 2 films. Week 15 Alternative linear conversion grade scale 40% No
30
 No
Assignment(Including Essay): One 4,000-word essay. Essays should focus on issues in the politics of representation with reference to at least 3-4 films Week 14 Graded No
70
 No

Carry forward of passed components
No
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Summer No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Advice on assessment tasks will be available in advance and feedback available post-assessment.

Key readings:
• Alber, Jan (2007), Narrating the Prison: Role and Representation in Charles Dickens’ Novels, Twentieth-Century Fiction and Film (Amherst-New York: Cambria Press).
• Dawn C. Cecil (2015), Prison Life in Popular Culture: From The Big House to Orange Is the New Black (Boulder: Lynne Rienner).
• Fludernik, Monika (2019), Metaphors of Confinement: The Prison in Fact, Fiction, and Fantasy (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
• Foss, Katherine A. (2018), Demystifying the Big House: Exploring the Prison Experience and Media Representations (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press).
• Gonthier, David (2006), American Prison Film since 1930. From ‘The Big House’ to ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press).
• Grønstad, Asbjørn (2008), Transfigurations: Violence, Death and Masculinity in American Cinema (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press).

• Kehrwald, Kevin (2017), Prison Movies: Cinema Behind Bars (New York: Wallflower).
• Jackson, Shirley A. and Laurie L. Gordie (eds.) (2018), Caged Women: Incarceration, Representation and Media (Abingdon: Routledge).
• Nellis, Mike and Christopher Hale, (eds.) (1982), The Prison Film (London: Radical Alternatives to Prison).

• Wilson, David and Sean O’Sullivan (2004), Images of Incarceration. Representations of Prison in Film and Television Drama (Winchester: Waterside Press).
• A detailed list of further readings will be made available by the lecturer.

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Spring Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Wed 16:00 - 18:50
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