Expectations
In keeping with the mission of the Department of Cinema and Photography, this is a demanding course emphasizing critical thinking, social responsibility, and integration of theory and practice. The course involves a great deal of assigned reading and independent research. We meet less than four hours per week; plan to spend at least an equivalent amount of time working outside of class. Preparation for and participation in discussions and critiques is essential. This course requires steady work and creative thinking. Last-minute cramming will be evident in the quality of the work you produce, and shoddy work is disrespectful to your classmates, me, and above all, yourself.
You will be asked to develop new work in this class that will stretch your conceptual and technical skills, and you will be asked hard questions that you may not know the answers to. Please come with an open mind and the willingness to challenge your self and be challenged by others. While I will make every effort to monitor individual group progress in the class, I am not a mind reader: it is your responsibility to bring concerns about your performance, my performance, and the class in general to me early enough so I can do something about them.
Lastly, ATTENDANCE IS MANDATORY. I make no distinction between excused and unexcused absences—you are adults who make your own decisions as to what you do and where you go. However, I do consider more than two absences excessive, and excessive absences or tardiness will negatively impact your semester grade, excepting extreme and documented circumstances. Late work will only be accepted at the discretion of the instructor and may result in a reduction of your project grade.
Evaluation
There is no grade inflation in the Department of Cinema and Photography. However, because everyone comes to this course with differing levels of experience, evaluation will be holistic to take into account individual strengths and weaknesses. You can earn up to 100 points over the course of the semester; the final grading scale is based on a 10-point increment scale (A=90, B=80, etc.). The breakdown of the points is as follows:
Project 3: 20
Project 2: 20
Project 1: 10
Participation: 15
Paper and presentation: 10
Reading responses: 15 (3 responses x 5 points each)
Creative notebook: 5
Wiki: 5
In addition to the above criteria, please remember that IN ORDER TO RECEIVE AN “A” IN THE COURSE, UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS MUST INCLUDE ADVANCED LEVEL TEXTS IN 2 OUT OF 3 READING RESPONSES. Graduate students are expected to write ALL their reading responses to include advanced level texts for a minimal acceptable graduate level grade (B). If you do not write the required number of reading responses on advanced texts, your grade will be adjusted accordingly
Extra credit opportunities will be available for select special events taking place outside of class. If you have questions about your performance in class at any time, please come to my office hours or send me an email.