From: Nicholas O'Brien (email suppressed)
Date: Sun Dec 06 2009 - 20:48:56 PST
Your students sound awful! I get my students to read the material (incoming
freshman or transfer 1st years) with only a little bit of hesitation. When
the material is positioned away from the curmudgeon pantheon of Moving-Image
Arts History and reframed as being an introduction to understanding their
media environments, I've noticed a tendency for more intrigue into assigned
readings (this coming from a more technically leaning institution).
And not to be too antagonistic, but maybe it isn't the student's _fault_
that the price of Taschen/MIT Press/Phaidon/etc. books is more than they can
afford (on top of the exorbitant amount for liberal arts undergrad).
On Sun, Dec 6, 2009 at 8:37 PM, Patricia R. Zimmermann <email suppressed>wrote:
> It goes without saying in a film studies/theory course that if you don't
> read the books you are not going to pass or get beyond a C-. Most
> production students don't care about GPA in my experience.
>
> This is the world we are in now. Students don't want to read.
>
> We can hack this system, however, with imagination.
>
>
>
> -------
> 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: Mon, 7 Dec 2009 02:05:22 +0000
> >From: Experimental Film Discussion List <email suppressed> (on
> behalf of Rob Gawthrop <email suppressed>)
> >Subject: Re: looking for good intro text
> >To: email suppressed
> >
> > How about failing the students.
> >
> > Rob
> >
> > On 06/12/2009 23:31, "Beth Capper"
> > <email suppressed> wrote:
> >
> > 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-Makersa�� Coop to Andy
> > Warhola��s Factory,
> > >> portable 16mm cameras were bringing a whole
> > new way of seeing to the cinema
> > >screen.
> > >> These heady days of a��underground
> > filma�� 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
> > >> Yorka��s independent film community
> > during this exhilarating
> > >> period.
> > >> UNDERGROUND NEW YORK (PROTEST WOFA�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-Makersa��
> > >> 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
> > Gershwina��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
> > <http://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>.
> >
> > Email has been scanned for viruses by Altman
> > Technologies' email management service
> > <http://www.altman.co.uk/emailsystems>
>
>
> __________________________________________________________________
> For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>
-- Nicholas O'Brien doubleunderscore.net __________________________________________________________________ For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.