Assignments

I will assess your learning in this class from the following assignments (for details about how these assessments will be reflected in grading, go here):

1. Essays/Unessays. I will assign two essays/unessays during the term. One will be assigned in week 5 and one in week 10. The final essay/unessay will be summative. For each, you can choose between writing and academic essay on a given topic or producing an "unessay" on a theme or topic of your choice related to course material. An "unessay" is a creative work that can be produced with a range of media and in a variety of forms. If you want to learn more about this concept, I recommend this blog post by Emily Suzanne Clark, which also links to additional resources. Further detail will be provided on Moodle. For the week 5 assignment, I will also ask you to do a follow-up based on my assessment and comments. The essays are opportunities to demonstrate the basic learning goals and related outcomes for the course with a focus on Diversity.
2. Film Analysis. Following the screening of a film, starting with The Great Train Robbery in week 1, you will do a short, three paragraph critical review of each week's film following the framework for analysis outlined in the first week of class. One paragraph should be on mise-en-scene, one paragraph should be on narrative, and one paragraph should be on the use of the camera (the shot). Focus your analysis on how these different aspects of the film contribute to a particular way of seeing the American West. You will have the option of doing your analysis in an alternate format using media other than standard prose and the three paragraph format.

   I will make individual images from the films we screen in class available via weekly assignment pages on Moodle. Whether, and how, to use these images is up to you. In any given week, you may use, all, some, or none of these selections. You may also select your own images, or may choose to write more broadly about the films.

   Writing can be informal and exploratory, but should show a good, and evolving grasp, of the film study concepts. Approach these assignments as notes in preparation for your more formal analysis in the essays.

   Reviews are due the week after we screen a film in class via Moodle, where you will also find details for each week's review. These assignnments are opportunities to demonstrate a specific understanding of the role of popular film in the making of the West and Western identities and to explain the power of visual media to shape perceptions of the world. As assignments that synthesize geography and film study, they are also opportunities to practice Integrative Learning.

3. Reading Fora. Each week on Moodle will include a discussion forum with questions about the assigned reading. You should contribute at least one (1) response to these questions, or to comments from other students in the class, by class time on R (5:00 pm). I will no longer accept comments for credit after that time each week. Readings and discussion questions are opportunities to demonstrate learning across the goals and outcomes for the course, but are particularly opportunities to participate in discussions about the West in the twenty-first century.

4. In-Class Writing. Each class session will involve short, in-class writing assignments. Each day will vary, but I will regularly pose tasks intended to help me assess what you are learning in the class. The In-Class Writing is an opportunity for you to practice and demonstrate reflection and self-assessment, which is a primary feature of Integrative Learning.

   There will be up to twenty (20) In-Class Writing assignments for the term. If you miss a class meeting, you can arrange to make up the In-Class Writing by contacting me as soon as possible, preferably the same day. If there is no time for In-Class Writing on a given day, I will simply exclude that day from grading.

Students enrolled in GEOG 521 (CRN: 21539) will also complete an additional project, with details to be worked out in consultation with me.