Attendance & Participation [30%]
Participation is crucial to this seminar style class. Please come to class and screening with an open and inquisitive mind. Participation includes thoughtful attention in class, in class discussion, and online writing/discussion. I realize that some students will be more comfortable participating in online written discussions than in person spoken and vice versa, but I will be looking for you to make an effort in both arenas.
moodle collective meta: [hosted on moodle, two comments due weekly by midnight Friday] This weekly, interactive writing will be included in your participation grade, but I will meet with you each individually partway through the semester to talk through how you’re doing with the class meta.
Each week, you’ll participating in an online written conversation with your classmates, in which the goal is to analyze and overanalyze (in this class, there is no such thing!), in true active audience/fandom style, by connecting readings to screenings and vice versa, and/or by responding to and continuing the discussions we’ve had in class that week. I also encourage you to explore connections to other media examples/media culture if you see them. When appropriate, I’ll post specific prompts, but in general the goal is to analyze screenings in relation to readings, probe further at readings, continue class discussion, and then, when appropriate, turn all these ideas outward (and upside down and inside out).
If you’re the first person posting, incorporate some questions into your post—you don’t need to have all the answers, but rather can be setting the ground for the conversation. Each group member should comment twice (approximately 250 words a post, but this really isn’t about the word count), and please do make reference to the discussion of those who have posted to the thread before you, so that we can have a real, interactive conversation. And you can build in new questions at any time. These responses (both of them, so please don’t wait until 11.59 PM on Friday night) will be due to Moodle discussion forums (located in their given weeks on Moodle) every Friday by midnight. You have one freebie to skip a week.