Introduction to Film

Requirements

 

I expect regular and active attendance. Regular attendance will enable you to make regular contributions to our discussions. The more you contribute, the better—both for the intellectual climate of the classroom and for your own learning curve. By not showing up (on time), you deprive yourself of valuable class discussion, just as you deprive your classmates of your own contributions. So: If you know that you're going to have to miss more than 2 classes (the equivalent of six 50-minutes classes), you should drop the course this semester and enroll at another time. There are no "excused absences."

I will ask you to select three (=3) of the screened films and write a preformatted screening report (MS Word or Adobe PDF). These reports will be due electronically as email attachments one week after their respective screenings. View Screening Report Samples. Make sure that you integrate our reading(s) into your report.

I will ask you to give an introductory presentation of about 5-10 minutes on a film/director on the syllabus, and then facilitate the class discussionfollowing the screening. Your job will be to steer the class discussion by analyzing select key scenes in the film and by incorporating our readings. Your introduction/facilitation must be accompanied by a handout that you distribute the week before your report.

You are required to write one 7-10 page film essay on any of the films on the syllabus. This paper must demonstrate on a larger scale the formal and thematic skills of analysis that you have developed. Due date: Monday, 15 April 2013 (to coincide with tax day:)) View Student Sample Essays Please note that your screening reports, your presentation/facilitation, and your final essays ought to be on different films.

A take-home essay question exam. Your final grade will be made up as follows:

Attendace/Participation	20%
Screening Reports	20%
Presentation/Facilitation	20%
Final Essay	20%
Final Exam	20%

Please note that you will have to fulfill all of these requirements to pass the class.

It is your responsibility to become familiar with the standards of academic integrity at WSU. Passing off someone else's work or ideas as your own is grounds for failure.:

Electronics

• Laptops and notebooks are part of classroom resources, but I expect you to use them judiciously. That means you are focused on class learning, not checking email, surfing, gaming, etc. during class. I reserve the right to ask a student to switch off a laptop/notebook if I feel it is not used appropriately. I do not allow the use of cell phones or handheld devices in class and, in the event of non-compliance, will ask you to leave class for the remaining period. Please turn off your phone during the class hour. Thank you.

Plagiarism

• Plagiarism is a violation of the WSU Student Code. To plagiarize means to pass off someone else’s work as your own or to improperly or insufficiently document your sources. If you plagiarize, you will receive an E for the assignment. If it happens again, you will fail the class, and I will notify university authorities about disciplinary action.
• WSU subscribes to TurnItIn.com, an electronic service that verifies the originality of student work. Enrollment in this course may require you to submit some or all of your assignments to TurnItIn.com, and documents submitted to TurnItIn.com are retained, anonymously, in their databases. Enrollment in this course constitutes an understanding of an agreement with this policy.

Disability Accommodation

• PPM 3-34 notes: “When students seek accommodation in a regularly scheduled course, they have the responsibility to make such requests at the Center for Students with Disabilities (SSD, #181 of Student Services Center) before the beginning of the semester in which the accommodation is being requested. When a student fails to make such arrangements, interim accommodations can be made by the instructor, pending the determination of the request for a permanent accommodation." Such accommodations include reading services, provisions in case of mobility impairment, sign language and interpretive assistance, and closed captions for the hearing impaired, among others.

Emergency Closure

• In the unlikely event of an extended campus closure, we will conduct our course electronically via email and virtual discussion groups. In this case, please make sure that you check your email account regularly for messages and attachments (in Word, PowerPoint, or audio) coming from me and/or your fellow seminar participants. Such messages may function as lecture substitutes, provide directions for reading and writing assignments, and contain other relevant information. Also make sure that your account has adequate storage capacity for transmitting documents. Please let me know by the end of the first week of the semester if you do not have access to a computer and/or the Internet from your home. Thanks.

Core Beliefs

• According to PPM 6-22 IV, students are to “determine, before the last day to drop courses without penalty, when course requirements conflict with a student's core beliefs. If there is such a conflict, the student should consider dropping the class. A student who finds this solution impracticable may request a resolution from the instructor. This policy does not oblige the instructor to grant the request, except in those cases when a denial would be arbitrary and capricious or illegal. This request must be made to the instructor in writing and the student must deliver a copy of the request to the office of the department head. The student's request must articulate the burden the requirement would place on the student's beliefs."

Note

• If you prefer an alternate name or gender pronoun, please advise me of your preference and I will happily honor your request.

Recycling Policy

• Weber State University is dedicated to being a leader in sustainability to ensure present needs are met without compromising the ability for future generations to inherit a healthy planet, society, and economy. Part of this commitment includes sustainable waste management practices with the ultimate goal of becoming a zero-waste campus. In order to achieve this goal, it is up to the WSU community to be informed about the various recycling policies on campus.
• Please recycle following items on campus: plastics #1 & #2 (rinsed), cardboard, non-glossy paper, & metal cans.
• *Please look at plastic identification symbol on the bottom of plastic bottles & jugs before recycling.
• For more information on recycling at WSU, please reference Energy & Sustainability Office website