From: Beth Capper (email suppressed)
Date: Sun Dec 06 2009 - 15:31:30 PST
How about...
make your books available as downloadable pdfs!
On Sun, Dec 6, 2009 at 4:20 PM, Patricia R. Zimmermann <email suppressed>wrote:
> I hesitate to dive into this "book" issue for film classes, but
> nonetheless,given the Web 2.0 zeitgeist, I must.
>
> I totally agree with Tony about books. The undergraduates I teach at Ithaca
> College have actually often gone to our dean to complain that I actually USE
> books in my classes (for those who don't know me, I teach history/theory,
> not production). The norm for theory classes in liberal arts at most schools
> is 5-8 books--and all the students do in cinema studies courses is complain
> and then take action against this. The few overachievers who buy books are
> all focused on getting into graduate PHD programs.
>
> The sad aspect of this anti intellectualism is that students are shooting
> themselves in the head and the foot by not reading. They are entering
> industries and arts cultures with highly education, liberal arts, humanistic
> thinkers with analytical edge. By not reading they are tracking themsevles
> into the hidden class system of the media ecology.
>
> That said, I do think that the current contradictions of this moment in
> higher education offer all us new ways to imagine inviting students into a
> larger disciplinary based conversation that is both legacy and innovative.
> Here are some ideas I've culled from colleagues that I'm going to steal to
> propel more engagement:
>
> 1. Use websites on the syllabus and have students INTERACT with the website
>
> 2. use blogs and require blogging and require linking
>
> 3. require students to participate in and comment on smart blogs in our
> field (there are a lot, in fact, I have one myself)
>
> 4. Use blackboard and post your websites
>
> 5. Do webinars and conference calls (it's free, they dial in) with people
> in the field who have knowledge you want them to know. I taught a course a
> few years ago and we had Scott MacDonald as a "course listserv" guest. I
> taught a course in film festivals, online, this summer, and we did four
> conference calls withpeople in the field, requiring students to read the
> websites and bios BEFORE the networking call)
>
> 6. About ten years ago, our own Tony Conrad had me on a conference call
> with his class to discuss an article I had written. I think he had me call
> into a phone line he put on speaker phone. I had a blast. I didni't have to
> travel to Buffalo, and I enjoyed it and felt comraderie with Tony.
>
> 7. Use Wikis to engage dialogue
>
> 8. Use teleconferencing to bring in conversations with people around the
> world
>
> 9. If you can't find a book on a topic, that means your class it breaking
> new ground. Treat it like a film festival and bring people involved in those
> organizations or those films into your class via all of the above--see if
> your school can get them some minimal honoraria or trade them something.
>
> 10. Be optimistic, have fun, let go of old assumptions, invent new ways to
> invite students into the field through engagement.
>
> All for now--good luck. Pedagogy is changing, and it's really been an eye
> opener for me. We no longer need to wait for books to be available, since
> most books now don't fit most film classes, they are monographs.
>
> Thanks, Tony, for making me think.
>
> Patty Zimmermann
>
> -------
> Patricia R. Zimmermann, Ph.D.
> Professor, Cinema, Photography and Media Arts
> Roy H. Park School of Communications
> Codirector, Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival
> Division of Interdisciplinary and International Studies
> 953 Danby Road
> Ithaca College
> Ithaca, New York 14850 USA
> Office: +1 (607) 274 3431
> FAX: +1 (607) 274 7078
> http://faculty.ithaca.edu/patty/
> http://www.ithaca.edu/fleff
> BLOG: http://www.ithaca.edu/fleff10/blogs/open_spaces/
> email suppressed
>
>
> ---- Original message ----
> >Date: Sun, 6 Dec 2009 16:35:17 -0500
> >From: Experimental Film Discussion List <email suppressed> (on
> behalf of Tony Conrad <email suppressed>)
> >Subject: Re: looking for good intro text
> >To: email suppressed
> >
> >Hi Bernie--------
> >
> >You will probably not like this message.
> >
> >But yesterday I received my copy of a new Taschen book, Art Cinema
> >(9783822835944), that takes a swipe at the huge project of connecting
> cinema, in
> >its origins and full sweep as art, with the contemporary art media. In it
> you
> >will find Bresson, Pipilotti Rist, Aernout Mik, Len Lye, Muehl, Sharits,
> Arrabal,
> >Tracey Moffatt, Dreyer, Greenaway, etc. etc. (but no community-based video
> at
> >all). Of course this book is a failure, but it connects viscerally with
> things
> >students are interested in (sex, surrealism, movies), and is loaded with
> pix and
> >lite on text. In fact, I will consider it as a textbook for certain of my
> own
> >classes.
> >
> >That said, my experience has been that students don't buy books any more,
> >especially big beautiful picture books--- however useful. I used Michael
> Rush's
> >book Video Art as a text, and I felt that nobody in the class owned or
> really
> >read it very much. The fact is that students will access a compilation of
> >websites more readily than they will use reserve texts at the library,
> even when
> >in the library itself. The only books that average students regularly
> acquire are
> >"textbooks" they are required to swallow page by page, in business,
> science, and
> >pre-med courses. Except among over-achievers, books are over.
> >
> >:-)
> >
> >-----------t0ny
> >
> >
> >
> >On Sun 12/06/09 10:22 AM , Mark Webber email suppressed sent:
> >> bernard
> >>
> >> this sounds something like a book i've been working on for a few
> >> years, and i'm afraid it is still a few years away.
> >>
> >> my project is an oral history of the development of 'avant-garde' film
> >> from the 50s to the 70s, predominantly covering the US situation,
> >> which will be told in the words of those directly involved. it is more
> >> of a social / cultural history of the ways in which the films were
> >> made, shown, distributed and discussed rather than a study of the
> >> films themselves.
> >>
> >> i've conducted 70-80 new interviews to date. eventually, copies of the
> >> complete interview transcripts and recordings (many of which are 3-4
> >> hours long) will be deposited at archives in new york and london,
> >> where they will be available for other researchers.
> >>
> >> details below of a related (free) event in new york this evening. (not
> >> sure if it's just me, but i didn't receive part 1 of the this weeks
> >> listings)
> >>
> >> mark
> >>
> >> ...
> >>
> >> UNDERGROUND NEW YORK
> >> New York Gershwin Hotel
> >> Sunday 6 December 2009, at 7:30pm
> >>
> >> In the 1960s, filmmakers investigated new forms of production in
> >> dialogue with radical shifts in art, music, performance and popular
> >> culture. Following the example of the Beats, the counterculture was
> >> alive with protest, freedom of expression and the breaking of taboos,
> >> and from the Film-Makers� Coop to Andy Warhol�s Factory,
> >> portable 16mm cameras were bringing a whole new way of seeing to the
> cinema
> >screen.
> >> These heady days of �underground film� were captured by
> >> Gideon Bachmann in a spirited broadcast for German television. Rarely
> seen
> >> today, it is one of the few surviving documents to show aspects of New
> >> York�s independent film community during this exhilarating
> >> period.
> >> UNDERGROUND NEW YORK (PROTEST WOF�R)
> >> Gideon Bachmann, 1967, black & white, sound, 51 minutes
> >>
> >> Shirley Clarke grows carrots on top of the Chelsea Hotel and meets
> >> Jonas Mekas and Michelangelo Antonioni at the Film-Makers�
> >> Distribution Center. Allen Ginsberg, Susan Sontag and Tuli Kupferberg
> >> protest for peace before being shipped off to the Department of
> >> Correction. USCO freak out in their intermedia church and Maurice Amar
> >> stages a happening at the Movie Subscription Group. Gideon Bachmann
> >> goes on location with Adolfas Mekas in New Jersey, George Kuchar in
> >> the Bronx, and Carl Linder in his bedroom. Bruce Conner dances in a
> >> diner, and Andy Warhol fakes it for television.
> >>
> >> Presented by Mark Webber, the Gershwin�s outgoing artist in
> >> residence, who is currently researching an oral history of avant-garde
> cinema
> >> from the 1950s through the 1970s. Some of those interviewed for the
> >> project will be present.
> >>
> >> Free Admission.
> >> Arrive 7:30pm. Screening 8pm.
> >>
> >> at
> >>
> >> The Gershwin Hotel
> >> 7 East 27 Street (between 5th & Madison)
> >> New York, NY 10016.
> >>
> >> Subways: R, W, 6 at 28 St or F, V at 23 St.
> >>
> >> On 4 Dec 2009, at 09:02, FRAMEWORKS automatic digest system wrote:
> >>
> >> > Date: Thu, 3 Dec 2009 19:25:44
> >> -0800> From: Bernard Roddy OO.COM>> Subject: looking for good intro
> text
> >> >
> >> > Greetings, frameworkers:
> >> >
> >> > Can anyone think of an introductory text that
> >> combines a history of > experimental film and video IN THE U.S. with a
> >> strong discussion of > the history of artists' organizing, writing, and
> >> distribution IN THE > US?
> >> >
> >> > For Great Britain there's David Curtis' A
> >> History of Artists' Film > and Video in Britain. This has the distinct
> >> advantage of combining > film and video art criticism with strong (and
> >> introductory) writing > about the social history behind production,
> >> distribution, and > critical reception. It includes discussion of
> >> "little magazines," > the "schooling" of film artists,
> >> institutional support for artists' > work in film such as the
> Experimental
> >Film Fund
> >> and the Arts > Council, as well as issues motivating and
> >> confronting artists' > organizations like the London Filmmakers'
> >> Co-op.>
> >> > I'd love to find something like this for the
> >> U.S. It would include > a history of things like Canyon Cinema and the
> >> Film-Makers' Co-op, > Cinema 16 and Anthology Film Archives, in
> >> addition to offering a > critical context for student work.
> >> >
> >> > Thanks in advance.
> >> >
> >> > Bernie
> >>
> >>
> >> __________________________________________________________________
> >> For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at om>.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >__________________________________________________________________
> >For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>
>
> __________________________________________________________________
> For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>
__________________________________________________________________
For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.