Propaganda, Public Relations & Film

Transcription

1 Propaganda, Public Relations & Film For graduate students & senior undergraduates Course Syllabus SP 410 & SP 510 July 22-August 14, credits T & Th 2:15 p.m. Neuberger Hall 56 Online and In-class summer course Cynthia-Lou Coleman, PhD Associate Professor Department of Speech Communication Office: Neuberger Hall 23 Telephone: ccoleman@pdx.edu Summer Office Hours: T & Th, noon-2 Required Readings & Texts Required reading packet available in July from Clean Copy Recommended Readings & Texts American Psychological Association (APA) Style Manual (Fifth edition) (Strongly recommended) Corrigan, T. (2003). Short Guide to Writing about Film. New York: Longman. Culler, J. (1997). Literary Criticism. Oxford.

2 Course Objectives The goal of the course is to present an introduction to how film is used to promote causes, influence opinion, sell products and promote stereotypes. In addition to examining propaganda in film, students will examine the culture of public relations, public relations practitioners, and allied fields (such as advertising, marketing, etc.) as portrayed in film. Students will be introduced to film theory through their readings in addition to participating in on-line discussions. Two streams of theory are introduced in the course: film theory, and theories of propaganda, persuasion, public relations, and film theory. Successful students will: a. Add to their knowledge of the base of film theory, and persuasion, propaganda, public relations and mass communication theories; b. Learn to locate research papers, authoritative materials, web materials and other resources relevant to theories; c. Learn how to discuss and interpret films relevant to propaganda and persuasion; d. Learn methods for analyzing and critiquing film; e. Learn self-directed techniques for succeeding in a virtual classroom. How the class Is run Students are expected to be self-directed in reading and writing about theory, and will view films on their own. Class time will be devoted to discussion only, with viewing of film clips. In-class sessions are: July 22, 24, 29 & 31 and Aug. 5, 12 & 14 (final day: class meets at 1 p.m.). with the remaining time devoted to online. Students will come to class prepared to participate in the topics scheduled for that day. All homework and paper assignments will be due online. Hours & Attendance A 4-credit course is typically hours in class, not counting course preparation, homework, writing & viewing films.

3 Because the summer session is just four weeks, students will spend less time in the classroom and more time on-line. Philosophy The class in heavily dependent on online contributions: all students are expected to be fully engaged in the virtual class. My philosophy is that your learning is an intersection of reading the materials, viewing films, actively participating in discussion (in person and on-line), and completing all assignments. My expectation is that you are thoroughly engaged in your learning: that you approach work being prepared, enthusiastic, and open to learning. A word about deadlines. Papers and assignments are due on the dates indicated, and may be turned in using online methods. Writing & Presentation. Your written work will be errorfree, clean, written in excellent English style and grammatically correct. This is a senior-level and graduate course, and clear writing is required. In addition, you are required to use the stylistic guidelines of our discipline (APA style). Use the required APA style manual for writing papers. Homework & Assignments Summary Abstracts/film analyses. All students write summary abstracts for films and readings. Assignment guidelines are available in the course packet, and refer to the sheet on writing abstracts and film summaries for style features. Papers. Three papers are required for the course, with details in the course packet. Briefly, papers offer an analysis of the characterization of a critical aspect (theory) of propaganda, persuasion, public relations, etc., combined with film theory. Special Circumstances Students with documented disabilities who need accommodation must contact Disability Services for Students for assistance, and inform the professor the first week of class in order to receive accommodation. Students who are requesting to be excused from class because of a religious holy day or practice must let the professor know the first week of class. Inform the professor

4 of any anticipated absence due to special circumstances. Documentation will be required. Our Policy Courses and professors vary, so be mindful that the grading requirements for this course will vary from other courses you are taking. Great care is taken in the course to ensure fairness in grading. Grading is based on objective, quantifiable methods. In the rare case when a grade is disputed, students must deliver a written report with justification to the professor within a week s time. Incompletes are not allowed in the class. Graduate Students Ethical Issues Expectations for graduate student performance are high. Writing and thinking are held to high standards. Graduate students should take the more advanced pathway in writing each paper (see the paper assignment sheets). While you may work with classmates on obtaining pertinent research materials or viewing films, all written assignments must be individually created and written. Each student writes his and her own abstracts, analyses, papers and projects. All papers turned in for the class must be the result of your original work in this class specifically: you are not permitted to hand in an assignment you wrote for another class. Similarly you are not permitted to use assignments from this class for any other class. Plagiarism. It is essential that all students thoroughly understand that any work written by someone else whether spoken, obtained on the internet, found in scholarly journals, uncovered in magazines, or located within texts---cannot be reproduced in your written materials without attending to copyright, fair use, and citation standards followed in scholarly research. Do not use any information from a source unless you have properly reported and cited the source. Discovery of plagiarism or cheating will result in a grade of zero. Whether or not you are familiar with these standards you are still responsible for using them. Writing standards. Students are expected to write well, follow grammatical rules, and use the APA style. Information about citation standards is located in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA Style Manual). See also

5 Whether or not you are familiar with these standards you are still responsible for using them. Housekeeping Students will receive their graded assignments one week after handing them in. At the end of the term assignments are kept for pickup in the main department office until two weeks into Fall term. Students are therefore encouraged to keep copies of their original materials. Grading Policies Points Percentage Paper % Paper % Paper % Abstracts & Film Summaries % Participation in- Class, on-line, & attendance % 1000 points 100% Final Grading Assessment A points A B B B C C C D D D CLASS READINGS AND FULL DETAILS ON THE FILM ASSIGNMENT AND PAPERS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE FROM CLEAN COPY IN THE REQUIRED COURSE PACKET