The syllabus for  Illinois Valley Community College's  Film, Art, and Literature Film 2010-01 T Th 9:30-10:45 AM in A-321 Spring 2010 Kimberly M. Radek, Professor Office A-314 M 10:00-11:00 and 1:00-2:00            T: 9:00-9:30 W 10:00-11:00 and 1:00-2:00            Th: 9:00-9:30 and 12:30-2:00            F: 10:00-11:00 Phone: 815-224-0395 E-mail: kimberly_radek@ivcc.edu
	Helena Bonham Carter as Ophelia in Zeffirelli's Hamlet (1990)
	W. G. Simmonds's The Drowning of Ophelia (1910)

Course Objectives

This course looks closely at the relationship of film, visual art, and literature, focusing most specifically upon the interaction between them from a historical perspective, i.e., how this relationship has changed as the art forms have changed since their inception. Required comparative readings and film and art viewings are a component of this course. 

General Education

This course has no required prerequisites, counts for three hours of General Education credit at IVCC; and transfers to IAI-participating schools as an HF 900 class, and, as such, it must be approached with a serious and thoughtful attitude. In addition, it will help you to attain several of the eight goals, deemed central to IVCC's general education program, specifically:

Goal 1. To apply analytical and problem-solving skills to personal, social, and professional issues and situations.

Goal 2. To communicate orally and in writing, socially and interpersonally.

Goal 3. to develop an awareness of the contributions made to civilization by the diverse cultures of the world, including those within our own society.

Goal 4. To understand and use contemporary technology effectively and to understand its impact on the individual and society.

Goal 5. To work and study effectively both individually and in collaboration with others.

Goal 6. To understand what it means to act ethically and responsibly as an individual in one’s career and as a member of society.

Goal 7.  To develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle, physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Goal 8. To appreciate the ongoing value of learning, self-improvement, and career planning.

Required Texts for Purchase

Adams, Laurie Schneider. Looking at Art. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2002.

Brown, Dan. The Da Vinci Code.  New York: Doubleday, 2003.

Crichton, Michael.  Jurassic Park.  New York: Ballantine Books, 1991.

Giannetti, Louis. Understanding Movies. 11th edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2007.

Lynch, Rose Marie, and Kimberly M. Radek. Style Book. 2001.  (The free online version is sufficient.)

Soles, Derek.  The Prentice Hall Pocket Guide to Understanding Literature. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2002.

Grading Scale (%)

Class Participation: 15%
Examination #1: 10%
Examination #2: 10%
Examination #3: 10%
Examination #4: 10%
Group Form to Content Presentations (3): 30%
Interdisciplinary Research Project: 15% 

Class Participation: You will be evaluated on your contribution and efforts to the class. All homework, group projects, in-class writings, and quizzes will be graded and make up your participation grade. 

The Examinations: You will be tested over the material covered in class "lecture" material, discussions, and assigned readings and viewings. The examinations may include short answer, multiple choice, true/false, and passage, film, or work identification questions but will be largely comprised of essay questions. These exams will show that you have read or viewed the assigned texts critically and analytically, identifying common themes and techniques in them, and can write clearly about them. For each exam, there will be film and art viewings or literary selections that you will have to analyze. 

The Presentations: In these form to content presentations you and your group--each group should have at least four people--will analyze and evaluate the artistic merits of your chosen subject, showing how the director, author, or artist uses elements of the artistic medium to communicate the theme of the piece. These presentations should, of course, have clearly stated thesis statements in their first slide or paragraph and comply to the standards given in The Style Book. They should mention the piece's theme and include a handout which offers a selection of the given piece which the class can see or read--and study from later.  They will be given letter grades that will be converted to percentage points before the final semester grade is calculated, and they will be evaluated on audience, grammar, organization, presentation, spelling, and style as well as content.

Interdisciplinary Research Project: For this project you will have several options, but your goal is to demonstrate what you have learned about each art form and their interactions with each other.  You might write a research paper analyzing the intersections and interconnections between the works of a director, a writer, and an artist. You might create a presentation in which you relate the three different art forms around one theme. You might analyze the work of an artist who operates within all of these art forms.  In addition to this analysis, whatever the scope of your project, I will expect to see you integrate outside research from at least three sources in some way. Likewise, I expect that you will address at least one theory, either of aesthetics or ideology.   Like the presentations, these projects will be given letter grades that will be converted to percentage points before the final semester grade is calculated, and they will be evaluated on audience, grammar, organization, presentation, spelling, and style as well as content.

Expected Student Outcomes

Skills Necessary for Successful Completion

In this course, you must be prepared to view films and art and read works of literature intellectually, artistically, critically, and analytically and be able to express these ideas both orally and in written form, and demonstrate a knowledge of the history, conventions, and practices of these industries and their interrelation to each other.

Expected Student Behaviors

	The student will read/view texts with understanding and appreciation, reacting to and analyzing what he or she has read/seen, by the date(s) they are to be discussed.
	The student will participate actively to lectures and discussions, asking/submitting questions for clarification on ideas or issues, if needed.
	The student will participate in discussion, offering his or her insights about the literature or asking the class or instructor for clarification on material he or she does not completely understand.
	The student will integrate and cite accurately information of other writers, critics, or scholars, using those other opinions, beliefs, and/or observations to support his or her own opinions, beliefs, and/or observations.
	The student will synthesize lecture, discussion, and text materials to come to a more solid world view on the impact these arts have and have had upon history, society, and the art world, and vice versa.
	Students will respect each other's personal beliefs and be committed to helping each other learn more about the course information and themselves. Students will help each other become more confident in his or her own unique personal voice and see the authority in his or her own personal experience.

Plagiarism

The College's policy on plagiarism applies in this class; I will question you if your work does not appear to be your own. Keep all notes, outlines, drafts, and finished assignments so that you can demonstrate that writing you have submitted is your own work, should any question of plagiarism arise.