• Discussion Questions 10%
• Online question responses 15%
• Midterm Exam 25%
• Presentation / video essay 15%
• Final Essay 25%
• Class Participation 10%

NOTES:

Discussion Questions and Online Responses

Each week 5 students will be assigned to write questions for class discussion based on the reading and the previous week’s film screening. These questions should be broad in scope, open ended, and be focused on generating class discussion. Questions should include specific references to the films and readings in order to ground us in the texts. These questions should be posted to the weekly discussion thread on Canvas before midnight on Wednesday – so that other students and I can read them before class on Thursdays.   After class (before midnight Sundays), students should post their responses to one or more of the questions posted that week. Your weekly responses will be graded complete/incomplete (5%) and at the end of the semester in collaboration with me you will meet to review your weekly responses and plan your final paper – at this time, I will grade your responses as a collection (10%)  

Take Home Midterm Exam

The midterm exam will be a series of short essay questions and will cover most of the material of the course. It will offer you the chance to synthesize the course material and position yourself in relation to the authors we have read in preparation for your final project  

Final Project

In consultation with me, students will develop a final project that examines one or more of the theoretical traditions we examine in the course in relation to one or more specific film works. I will distribute more detailed instructions later in the course, but the final project will have two parts:  

Presentation / Video Essay

Students will create a presentation or a video essay that applies the theoretical arguments of one of the authors we have read this semester to a specific film work. Your presentations or essays should include specific visual evidence (clips/stills) and a detailed explanation of the theoretical argument as it relates to this example.  

Final Paper

Your final paper should build on the example developed in your presentation/video essay. It should expand your argument to include other examples and other perspectives in order to make a theoretical argument about film more generally. These papers should be 10-15 pages in length.  

Class Participation

Class discussion will be a big part of this class – both with the whole class and in smaller groups. Students should come to class having read the assigned readings and ready to engage the questions posed on Canvas that week. While speaking in class is one measure of your engagement with the material, I will also be looking at the quality of your online responses, your discussions with me in individual meetings, and your “engaged listening” in class discussions when I assess your participation grade. If you know you are not someone who speaks much in class, please feel free to come see me about other ways that you can demonstrate your engagement with the course material.  

Course Reading

This is a reading intensive course. Students will normally read three excerpts/articles per week – 2 “classic” works and one recent work in dialogue with them. Students must bring copies of the course readings (electronic or paper) to class and be prepared to discuss specific parts of the texts. I encourage you to make extensive notes as you read and to bring those notes with you to class as well.