The emblems that Connor focuses on in his criticism vary depending on the type of film.

“In Hollywood movies, I pay attention to logos or images of the studios,” he says. “In other movies, I pay attention to other things that would be emblematic; so, when I look at French films I work on images of the state and cultural institutions that parallel whatever the production apparatus is.”

Though his popular new English class is clearly a priority, Connor seems more excited about his VES class, at least partly because it focuses on the Hollywood movies that have propelled much of his academic work over the last decade.

“It would be easy, to put together a Hollywood class where you would pick the 12 or 13 movies that fit best with what the VES is already doing with filmmaking and a personal vision,” he says.

But Connor has a different objective in mind for the class: to give his students an appreciation of the intelligence of the Hollywood machine.

As a VES graduate, Connor says, “you don’t have to find yourself leading a life of ‘the man is oppressing me, I can’t get my independent feature made, they’re all stupid.’ They’re not stupid; most of them are their classmates.”

Connor says that the burgeoning DVD revolution—which has led to the digitalization and preservation of movies in a permanent format for the first time ever—makes film criticism particularly exciting, and he hopes to convey that to his students.

Though there are similarities in his life at the head of the class to his experiences as an undergraduate, the contrast between student and teacher is clear from Connor’s description of his new role.

“As a student, I beat a path between Canaday or Dunster and my classes and I spent a ton of time in the library and watching movies. My day started at 11 in the morning and ended at 3 at night and I did a ton of work. As a professor, I have a family and we’re very close, but I do stupid dad things like fall asleep on the couch at 10 o’clock, while reading a book that I’m teaching the next day.”