Requirements-Grading                                                                                                        

1.  Prompt and regular attendance  (after two absences, your grade will be affected). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I will take attendance at the beginning of class.  Two cases of lateness equals one absence.

2.  Active, Intelligent, and Ethical  Participation-Collaboration  (Class, Readings, Response Papers)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

There are two important parts to this:  First, "active, intelligent and ethical participation" refers to (1) how much you ask and answer questions in class;  (2) how you conduct yourself when others are speaking; and (3) how well prepared you are for class (i.e., how carefully you complete readings/responces and verbally participate in discussions). Second, collaboration refers to your attitude and conscientiousinteractions with others.  This includes the ethical treatment of people both in-and-outside of class with the utmost integrity and respect no matter how the communication/interaction takes place (face-to-face, email, phone, texting, tweeting, etc.)

3.  Projects/Research.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  

There will be approximately 3 major projects and several smaller assignments due during the semester.   Information about each will be handed out in advance.  PLEASE NOTE:  All projectsmust be POLISHED.  They must be cleanly and clearly conceptualized, sharply shot and edited, and they must conform to standard scholarly practices with regard to style and acknowledgment of sources.  Late projects will be penalized. 

4.  Exams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

There will be 2 exams given during the semester.  The exams are comprehensive and will cover lectures, images, software screenings, readings and discussions—pretty much everything.

TOTAL  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Required Readings & “Equipment”

Reading Assignments--Throughout the semester you will be reading a number of short articles.  The exams, discussions and writing exercises for the course will directly focus on these articles.  This means that if you miss a class, you’ve got to get the notes for that class from a classmate AND  you’ll need to get a copy of the article and exercise instructions from them as well.  Do this quickly. 

Hard Drive  and Compact Flash Card Purchase-- Memory is a good thing--both human and technological.   Indeed it is essential.  For this course you will need to be extremely systematic in where, how, what, and when you save your footage.  The primary storage devices for this course will YOUR EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE!    Save Times:  Important--You've got to give yourself lots of EXTRA time to save or render your final digital video files.  Saving or rendering edited DV files can often take a minimum of 2-5 times the amount of footage that you are trying to save/render.

1 Digital MiniDV Tape--You will need to purchase one  MiniDV tape for our digital imaging lab projects.

Screenings & Images & Notes—Inside and Outside of Class  We will be viewing a number of photographic, TV, film, and computer productions at various times during the course.  This will happen both inside and outside of class.    It will be imperative that you take detailed notes on these productions.  Much of the material you learn from these screenings will be relevant to discussions, papers, and exams.  Furthermore, the notes you take during the screenings will help you deconstruct the myriad of complex images/messages of advertisements and other visual media products.   On many occasions, I will hand out screening guides for you to fill out, on others, I won’t.   So make certain, that when the lights go out and the Photographs-TV-Film-Computer screens are projected, you’ve got a pen and paper handy.   In the age of 15 second commercials with 125 different edits, no one is by nature “media literate.”  Indeed, to become media literate in the 21st Century takes a keen eye, an observant mind, and a quick hand. 

Honesty:  The Department of Journalism and Mass Communication has a firm policy on cheating and plagiarism.  Both are grounds for immediate failure in this course.

Evaluation--Point values will be converted to letter grades as follows:

A              93-100                     B+            88-89                       C+           78-79                       D+           68-69

A-            90-92                       B              83-87                       C             73-77                       D             64-67

                                                B-             80-82                       C-            70-72                       F              Less than 64

Important Note!  Any assignment not turned in will count as a minimum two grade deduction from the final grade.

Phones/Texting:  This isn't the place for either one.  Make sure that when we start class your phone is off.  Period.