HUM 210: Contemporary Cinema

This is the course website for HUM210, Contemporary Cinema (section 5438), offered at Mesa Community College in Spring 2006

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Comment on Module 1

January 30th, 2006 · No Comments
Course Announcements

Let my first say that overall, I was really impressed with the work you all did. There is always the moment when I ask myself whether this will all “work” when I put together a new online class…you all pulled it off!

I also want to say thanks to all of you who went above and beyond the call of duty in searching out sources about “crew” members. The “film terms” portion of each module is just to help you all become more familiar with film studies. I had no intention of you all needing to find sources that both discussed the term, and the film we were watching; however, many of you did that this week! Rock on! Just keep in mind for future weeks, you don’t need to…you just need to find sources about the specific film term/element.

For the work assigned in “Week 1” and “Module 1,” you all will get full credit as long as you sincerely tried to complete everything. However, there are a handful of you who technically “did” everything required; however, it was at a very minimalist effort. For future modules, you’ll need to be more critical and more engaged. Not that any one person’s work in module one was “perfect,” check out Diane C’s, Nora M’s, and Robb O’s entries and replies for ideas on how to really engage the material.

From here on out, you’ll all be responsible for doing all the work, and replies, by the deadlines posted. If for some reason you will not be able to meet a specific deadline, email me in advance to start a discussion about it.

General Comments on Module 1:

  • I was thrilled to see people watching and commenting on the DVD extras. Seriously consider watching those “parts” of the films. They usually give some interesting insights into the films that help make meaning with the class material.
  • For the various “find resources” assignments you need to both blog and furl. You need to furl the resources you find (and consider furling the resources you find, but decide not to write about). You’ll need to spend some time reflecting on how/why the resource is useful to the class. You will also need to include a full bibliographic citation for it in the Blog entry, MLA style. If you need help with MLA, check out:
  • During your initial reflection on the weeks reading and viewing, please make sure to merge your discussion of the two. I assigned the film for that week for a reason, try to make the connection. And on that same note, I know that we all have gut responses to the films; however, I honestly don’t care whether or not you like the films. Instead, try to think about how and why the film was important to watch. How does it inform your understanding of contemporary cinema? Many of us need to start our reflections on films with a “like” or “dislike” comment; however, for this class you need to move beyond that. Consider pushing yourself by asking why you like or dislike it? What expectations do you have? How are they met? Defied? How do your various cultural understandings and ways of being affect your expectations and interpretations of the film?
  • Go in and check your comments in the blog…I made some.

    • I have updated the course gradebook. There is a link from the course site (far left, upper right hand corner). The link is: http://webct.mc.maricopa.edu.

    Fun Tip…personalize your uniblog by changing it’s look & feel. Log in to the administrative side, go to “Presentation” and you’ll be able to select from a bunch of themes.