Students will be required to attend a number of
film screenings, performance pieces, and museum installations during the term.
During the term students will also be required to participate in (at least once)
the LATS 41 radio program on WDCR. These radio programs will be broadcast live on
Dartmouth College radio (1340 AM) and recorded for netcast on the Student Radio
Program portion of the LATS 41 course website. In addition to the in-class
discussions, there will be many electronic forums for discussion, which will
occur outside of regular class time. These will include: short written responses
to assignments in the Paper Exchange; the students' Electronic Journals,
and synchronous web-based communication in the MOOndo Latino.
The class meetings will be a combination of lectures and discussions, and will
include a variety of (re)presentations of Latinos in text, video, film, radio,
live performance, museum installations, and digital multimedia. Class members are
expected to have read (or viewed) the material thoroughly and be prepared to
discuss the readings, films, radio broadcasts, lectures, artistic works, and
performances. Starting Week Three of the term, students will begin to collaborate
in groups to produce their final original presentations, which will entail the
creation of a substantial work of art or electronic media, as well as a critical
and theoretical final paper that analyzes the final project. These collaborative
projects will be shown to the class and discussed at the end of the term, and
will also be presented publicly to the Dartmouth community. A digital archive of
the projects will be included in the Student Project Showcase for LATS 41.
Readings & Discussion
The readings assigned for each meeting will be discussed by the entire class.
Therefore, although portions of classes are dedicated to lectures, class
participation in the discussions is essential. Students are also encouraged to
come to office hours to discuss the class material, the group presentations, and
to prepare for their final project.
Presentations
The group presentations will be done in groups of two (to three) students once
during the term. Each group will lead a discussion, present a critique of
readings, and prepare questions for class discussion. The topic of the discussion
will vary according to the interests of each group, but will often reflect the
readings, performances, or lectures of that week.
Paper Exchange, Electronic Journal & Student Links
Paper Exchange
The paper exchange is a place for students to submit their short responses based
on the weekly writing assignments. There are seven short responses in all and
these assignments will conclude after Week Seven of the term. These short essays
(1 - 2 pages) will be accessible for the entire class to read. The paper exchange
is also a place for students to comment on one another's short essays. The goal
of the paper excahnge is for the class to share ideas, interpretations and
perceptions about the reading assignments through asynchronous web-based
communication.
Electronic Journal
An online journal will be kept by the students and instructor. Submissions will
be made electronically through BlitzMail. The electronic journals are shared
solely between the individual student and the professor, and therefore, no
comments will be submitted by other students. The electronic journal entries may
be as short or as long as each students wishes. One of the main goals of the
electronic journal is to provide an ongoing, personal assessment of each
student's learning process.
Student Links
This description also needs a bit more work. This component
of the course website will need to have seven sub-categories (cinema, radio,
music, new media, performance art, mural art/fine arts, & museums), which fall
under two main categories (The Media & The Arts).]
The website log is a list of links of interest that every student will regularly
contribute to throughout the term. These student links form an ongoing
"annotated bibliography" of interesting and relevant websites that are related to
the specific areas of study of LATS 41. Students will submit short descriptions
of websites that they discover throughout the spring term. The goal is to compile
a resource of materials that will increase our awareness of the various ways that
the Internet is being used to promote Latinas/os in the media and the arts.
Midterms
There will be two midterm exams. Both exams will be an essay-based and
take-home exams. The first midterm exam will occur during Week Four, and the
second will occur during Week Seven of the term.
Final Paper
Guidelines and Questions
Answer all of the following questions. You may organize your responses in any way that seems appropriate. The total text should be equivalent to 5 to 7 typed pages, double-spaced. The final paper is due on (or before) Thursday, June 6th. Graduating seniors and MALS students must submit their final papers by Tuesday, June 4th. You need only submit an electronic document (Word is best) as an enclosure to electronic mail. Some (or all) of the text for this final paper will be posted on our course website in the Student Project Showcase pages and will be integrated with digital video documentation of your work. Consider this as you compose your responses to the following questions.
Process:
What have you learned about by taking this course and by working on this project?
How has collaboration been a factor in the process of developing your project?
Discuss the conception and evolution of your project.
Context and Content:
Which of the readings and theories have been the most relevant to your final project?
What do you believe is the significance of your final project?
How has your understanding and appreciation of electronic media and/or various art forms increased by working on this project?
Representations of/from Latinas/os:
How do you believe representations of Latinas/os has changed in the United States?
How does the art form/medium/media you have worked with relate to these changes?
Why does the representation of Latinas/os (and other subaltern groups) matter? How do you believe these representations can be improved upon?
Audience:
What have you learned about using this art form/medium/media for an audience?
What do you believe is the significance of New Media (WWW, digital representations, distribution systems, "virtual reality," MUDs and MOOs, etc.) for yourself and society?
Also:
What did you learn about by doing your in-class presentation of the readings?
How effective was the LATS 41 course website? Please evaluate the website.
How would you assess the difference between this project-based course as opposed to a more "traditional" course in which you have to write a lengthy final paper?
What will you take away from this class?
Final Project
One final project will be presented during week 10 of the
term. The type of project that you choose to do is quite open and may range from
a traditional academic research paper and presentation, to a performance/creative
piece (literary, drama-based, or other artistic form), to a technology-based
project. You are strongly encouraged to work in groups of two to three people,
though individual projects may also be acceptable. We will discuss this
undertaking in detail during the first few weeks of class.
There are, therefore, many options for the final project for this course. Some
options for the final project may involve the presentation of a performance
piece, which utilizes electronic media (video, radio, film, multimedia), live
performance (theatre, dance, music), or a combination of artistic forms. The use
of the fine arts (painting, drawing, sculpture) may also be possible. You are
required to work on a project that you and your partners are willing to share
with an audience outside of our classroom community. Proposals will be due during
the fifth week of classes. In addition to any live performance or media-based
project, an 8 - 10 page paper will also be due before the end of the term which
analyzes your project work. A video archive will be made of all of the student
projects and will be posted on the Student Project Showcase on the World Wide
Web.
For any student who still prefers a more traditional written assignment, another
option is a final research paper (20 - 25 pages). Proposals will also be due
during the fifth week of classes. In addition, a final oral presentation of the
student's area of research must be presented to the class.
Honor Code
When studying for exams, I encourage students to work together to
discuss the required readings, lecture notes, and handouts. Collaboration is at
the heart of this class, especially for the final group projects. Please refer to
Sources: Their Use and Acknowledgement (on-line at:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~sources) for a code of scholarly ethics from
Dartmouth's Academic Honor Principle.
Presentation |
10% |
PaperEx, Ejournal & Student Links |
15% |
Midterm |
20% |
Final Paper | 20% |
Final Project | 35% |
|
