Course Description
This seminar, to be taken during senior year, constitutes the senior exercise required to graduate with the IMS major. It prepares students with the skills and knowledge to continue their media studies practice and research post-graduation. The Media Studies Senior Seminar functions as the culminating course of your studies in the field and is required of all majors.

Topic Description
This seminar is focused on the praxis (theory and practice) of space in media presentation and representation. Exploring the broad themes of "space", "site", and "exhibition", students will use to first part of the semester to conceptualize, test out, and experiment with their ideas and methods, which then culminate in their work on a Capstone Project or Paper during the second part. The course concludes on Senior Day, an all-day academic conference, gallery exhibition, and film screening showcasing the work of all seniors taking MS190 this semester.

This section is designed specifically for senior majors who have experience with (i.e. you should have taken at least two intermediate or advance courses in your chosen medium) and are continuing to develop their work in gallery-based presentations including media installations, performances, photography, and hybrid projects. Media projects that explore ideas of site-specificity, as well as projects that construct or represent space (e.g. video games, soundscapes and field recordings, curated exhibitions) are also suitable. Additionally, I am happy to work with research papers that engage with the aforementioned ideas, theories, and media forms - choose from a sub-field or area in media studies that you have taken at least two intermediate or advance courses in. This class aims to bring together insights gleaned from student's interest in questions of space, site, and exhibition within the field of media studies in order to develop a cohesive culmination that is representative of your undergraduate education. Therefore this section of the class is not suitable for Capstone Projects or Papers that do not directly engage with its topic.

Student Learning Outcome
By the end of this course, students are expected:  

• To be able to conduct advanced level independent research/production in their chosen specialty area, culminating in an individual final paper or project.

• To demonstrate their understanding of the overall field of media studies—its major debates, schools of thought, methodologies, and approaches to the study and production of media.

• To be able to articulate in both written and oral presentations how their paper or project contributes to larger developments within the field of media studies.

• To be able to critically evaluate their own and each other’s work in both group and individual settings.

• To practice media production and writing as a process that involves drafting, getting feedback from viewers/readers, and revising.

Course Requirements

Class Participation (15% of class grade)
Your weekly attendance and active participation are central to the class’s success and to your success in the class, as is your thoughtful engagement with the work of your peers. In addition to attendance and participation in class discussions and crits, your contribution to the class readings, discussion forum, and peer groups (including peer review), although not graded, will cumulatively figure into your class participation percentage.

Reading Assignment
Required reading will be assigned by the instructor as well as draw from and selected by the class. Please do the reading by the class meeting when it is assigned. Student are also invited to submit suggested readings for each topic (20-40 pages, ideally in PDF format or as a URL for online publications) in order to create a pool of additional readings the class can draw from in their work. During the second part of the semester, each peer group will select readings that can inform their Capstone process and peer review.  

Cycle/Topic Grades (10% for each section, total of 30% of class grade)
During the first part of the semester, the class will explore the three topics ("space", "site", "exhibition"), with each topic in a 3-week cycle (9 weeks total). You will be graded for your work in each cycle/topic. Cycle/topic grades will be determined by student media projects or student-led classes. Each student should do at least one of each. Students planning to create a Capstone media project should do 2 projects out of the 3 cycles, and students planning to write Capstone research papers should do 2 student-led classes out of the 3 cycles.

Student-led classes take place during the second week of each cycle. Each class will take place over one class period (1.5 hrs.). Planned collaboratively by 3-4 students, these classes should explore the topic of each cycle further based on the class material from the first week of that cycle. Students planning these classes can select class readings, media objects, and other material for their class. This is a collaborative assignment, and will be graded as such. Each group planning a student-led class must hand in a lesson plan within a week after their class for grading. See Canvas for student-led class prompts.

Media projects are created in response to the topic of each cycle. They should respond creatively to the reading assignments, media examples, and class discussions around that topic. Students are strongly encouraged to connect these media projects to the topics, theories, and methods for their planned Capstone. Each student doing a media project must hand in a one page proposal for instructor approval by the second week of the three-week cycle. See Canvas for media project prompts.

Capstone Abstract / Proposal (5% of class grade)
In preparation for completing their Capstone project or paper, each student will develop an abstract (for research papers) or proposal (for media projects) due Week 10. (750-1000 words, MS Word files only: .doc or .docx) See Canvas for Capstone abstract/proposal prompts.

Capstone Paper / Project (40% of class grade)
As the Capstone of the Media Studies major, each student will undertake an independent project or paper related to the topic of this course. A non-written (i.e. media) project must be accompanied by a project paper that is written in two parts (history/theory and production/reflection) and comprises 10% of the project grade. A research paper must be accompanied by an annotated bibliography in either MLA or Chicago formats. It also comprises 10% of the paper grade. Detailed prompts for both parts are on Canvas.

The requirements for the term project are format dependent as follows:

1. Critical Studies: a 20-25 page seminar paper that makes a reasoned, well-supported analytical argument in which you appropriately use theoretical/conceptual/historical material to make original insights about the media object or phenomenon of your choice. This paper is accompanied by an annotated bibliography.
2. Digital/Electronic: an original, complete web-based or digital media project accompanied by a 10 page project paper.
3. Film/Video: an original, complete film or video project 3-5 minutes in length accompanied by a 10 page project paper.
4. Gallery/Installation: an original complete artwork that is installed in the gallery or a different site on campus (Note: students who choose site outside of the Mosbacher/Gartrell Center will be responsible for securing these sites on their own) accompanied by a 10 page project paper.

Work-In-Progress (WIP) Review (10% of class grade)
You will present 5 minutes of your Work-in-Progress (WIP) in Week 13. Each student will have about 10 minutes, including questions and comments, to present. Presentations should include works-in-progress, and can incorporate PowerPoint slides, theoretical framings, quotes from drafts, and any other material that would best represent your progress. 

Peer Groups
You will be broken up into peer groups by Week 10-11 based on the abstracts and proposals you submit. These groups will act as a support network and additional source for feedback as you complete your Capstone. Each peer group will also select additional readings for the group to provide common language, theories, and background knowledge that can inform their peer review process. After the WIP presentations, peer group members will review each other’s work-in-progress. As a sign of respect to the other members of your peer group, please keep to deadlines and come to class prepared each week. Feedback is an essential part of developing your skills as a writer/maker. When reviewing your peer’s work please be constructive and specific. See Canvas for peer review prompts.

Grading and Other Policies

All assignments must be handed in on time and turning in assignments late maybe detrimental to your grade at a rate of 1 letter grade per week. 

We may study sexually explicit, political, and otherwise challenging material in this course. These are not included for shock value, but are legitimate investigations of controversial subject matters in media. You are certainly encouraged to explore difficult and complex subject matters in your work, and you should be prepared to consider these issues intellectually and emotionally. Our class is a safe space in which students can express their beliefs and opinions. You always have a voice, but please be respectful of others as well. Abusive language and behavior are not tolerated. Open-mindedness is encouraged!

Honors and Distinctions
Each of IMS's member colleges have their own honors policy. Some of the Claremont Colleges do not give out honors. Please consult with the academic advisor in Media Studies in your home college on its policy for honors or other related awards.

Attendance Policy
You are expected to arrive on time for class and be present for the entire class period. Attendance is determined by when I take roll. Documented medical or family emergencies will be excused, and you have one “free pass” for when you need a personal day. Please contact me as soon as possible if you need to miss class for one of these reasons. All other absences or excessive and repeated lateness to class will negatively impact your participation grade. If you are absent, you will need to submit any work that was due that day within one week. Please note that group projects and time-sensitive projects (e.g. student-led class) cannot be handed in late. I will not be offering Zoom as a method to attend class.

Technology and Recording Policy
Laptop computers with an internet connection and appropriate software, sometimes smart phones and other mobile digital devices can be used in class only for class-related activities (e.g. taking notes or relevant web searches). I ask students to agree to these conditions for class: no recording of audio, photo, or video unless pre-approved by instructor (see below); no emails, texting, messaging, checking your social media accounts and other non-class related activities on your device. I encourage thoughtful experimentation with new media technologies (e.g. AI) in your work, and that you make these transparent in your projects or papers. Violation of class media technology policies will, in some cases, affect your class grade or result in your removal from class.

Pitzer College understand classes and office hours as places of “confidential communication.” As per California State law (CA Penal Code Section 632) on two-party consent, it is illegal to record conversations in places of “confidential communication” without the consent of all parties. The College understands recording to include voice recording, video recording, automated transcription, and other similar technologies.

Email Policy
Responding to students via email is a courtesy I extend to you. During the week I will do my best to respond to you within 48 hours (so please note: a “night before” email may not get answered in time!). If you write to me over the weekend you will not receive a reply until Monday. The best way to get my time and attention is to visit listed office hours or, if these conflict with another commitment, to email to make an appointment. Office hours are yours; please use them. I do not discuss grades or class performance over email; please see us during office hours.

Academic Accommodations
If you have a learning disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, please contact the academic support service of your home campus by email at the beginning of the semester if you have not already registered for accommodations. Your home campus is responsible for establishing and providing accommodations and notifying the faculty teaching the class. Below is a list of contacts for each campus: 

CMC: accessibilityservices@cmc.edu
HMC: access@g.hmc.edu
Pitzer: academicsupport@spritzer
Pomona: disability@pomona.edu
Scripps: ars@scrippscollege.edu

Academic Integrity
You are responsible for reading and adhering to your home colleges’ policies on academic integrity. The student handbooks are a good place to start. If you have any questions about what constitutes plagiarism, you should direct them to the professor. All academic papers should include proper citations. Here are two of the often used forms of academic citations for Capstone research paper and project papers:

MLA: https://libguides.libraries.claremont.edu/mla
Chicago: https://libguides.libraries.claremont.edu/chicago/

Research support for Capstone research and media project papers:
Ashley Larson, MA, MLIS
Arts & Humanities Librarian
The Claremont Colleges Library
Email: Ashley.Larson@claremont.edu

Questions About Grading
I try my best to make my grading criteria as clear as possible, and you are welcome to come and discuss your grades and your class performance with me. However, I only consider legitimate concerns, and be aware that your grade is as likely to go down as it is to go up after I reassess your assignment. I do not tolerate haggling, bribing, threats, and any other pointless arguments. I consider all aspects of your performance before I assign a grade, please respect my assessment as I respect your efforts.

Extra Credit
Students are encouraged to attend screenings, conferences, lectures, exhibitions and web events related to this course. Write a two-page (typed and double-spaced) report of the event or activity. Incorporate the event's relevance to the class as well as your personal responses to it. Proof of attendance is required (keep your ticket stubs, programs, etc.) Students are allowed two extra credit papers. Announcements for events of interest to this class are done in the first 5 mins. of each class.

Course Schedule:

Week 1: Introduction, Space
Tuesday 1.20
__ • Course structure
__ • Syllabus
__ • Class policies
__ • Info session with IMS staff + exhibition spaces

Thursday 1.22
__ • Space and installation art
__ • The production of space
Reading Assignment
Erika Suderburg. "Introduction: On Installation and Site Specificity," in Space, Site, Intervention: Situating Installation Art. Erika Suderburg, ed. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2000, pp.1-22
Henri Lefebvre. Excerpts from The Production of Space. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1974/1991, I pp.1-2, XIV-XVIII pp. 30-46 (read also for next week)
Suggested Reading
Gernot Bohme. "Felt Spaces," in The Oxford Handbook of Sound Art, Jane Grant, John Matthias, David Prior, eds. New York: Oxford University Press, 2021, pp. 30-36

Week 2: Space (cont.), Equipment/Light & Gallery Workshops (TBC), Student-Led Class for "Space", Media Project Proposals Due
Tuesday 1.27:
__ • Production Workshop with Eddie Gonzalez: New equipment and lighting workshop (Lunchtime)
__ • Please upload your suggested readings for "space" (I recommend 20-40 pages) to the class Box folder by class meeting time
__ • Please upload your proposals for "space" projects to your Box folder by class meeting time. See Canvas for prompts
Reading Assignment
Henri Lefebvre. Excerpts from The Production of Space. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1974/1991, I pp.1-2, XIV-XVIII pp. 30-46
Holly Willis. "City as Screen," in Resolutions 3, pp. 105-111
Michael Rush. "Installation and the New Cinematics," in Resolutions 3, pp. 112-120
The articles from Resolutions 3 are in one PDF
Suggested Reading
Ming-Yuen S. Ma. There is No Soundtrack: Rethinking Art, Media, and the Audio-Visual Contract, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2020, pp. 121-176

Thursday 1.29
__ • Final deadline for "space" projects proposals. Please upload to your Box folder before our class meeting time.
__ • Individual meetings

Week 3: Group Critique for "Space" Projects
Tuesday 2.3
__ • Group critique on "Space" media projects

Thursday 2.5
__ • Group critique on "Space" media projects

Week 4: Site
Tuesday 2.10
__ • Site-specificity in art
__ • Genealogy of site-specificity
__ • Gallery Workshop with Michal Wisniowski (during class meeting)
Reading Assignment
Miwon Kwon, One Place After Another: Site-Specific Art and Locational Identity. Cambridge, M.A.: MIT Press, 2004, pp. 1-31
Suggested Reading
Erika Suderburg, ed., Space, Site, Intervention

Thursday 2.12
__ • Please upload your suggested readings for "site" (I recommend 20-60 pages) to the class Box folder by 5PM PST
__ • Sounding a politics of place
__ • Sound imperialism
__ • Aesthetic colonization
__ • Acoustic communities
Reading Assignment
Ming-Yuen S. Ma. There is No Soundtrack: Rethinking Art, Media, and the Audio-Visual Contract, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2020, pp. 177-217
Suggested Reading
Michael Bull. Sound Moves: iPod Culture and Urban Experience. New York: Routledge, 2007.
Steven Feld. Sound and Sentiment: Birds, Weeping, Poetics and Song in Kaluli Expression. 30th anniversary edition, Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2012.
Paul Rodaway. Sensuous Geographies: Body, Sense and Place. New York: Routledge, 1994.
R. Murray Schafer. The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the World. Rochester, V.T.: Destiny Books, 1994/1977.

Week 5: Student-Led Classes for "Site"
Tuesday 2.17
__ • Please upload your proposals for "site" projects to your Box folder by class meeting time. See Canvas for prompts
__ • Student-led class

Thursday 2.19
__• Student-led class

Week 6: Group Critique for "Site" Projects
Tuesday 2.24
__ • Group critique on "Site" media projects

Thursday 2.26
__ • Group critique on "Site" media projects

Week 7: Exhibition, Sound & Gallery Workshops (TBC)
Tuesday 3.3
__ • Production Workshop with Eddie Gonzalez: sound for film, video, installation (lunchtime)
__ • Architecture, embodiment, exhibition
__ • Exhibition and the senses (smell, taste, touch)
Reading Assignment
Juhani Pallasmaa. "Museum as An Embodied Experience" in The Multisensory Museum: Cross Disciplinary Perspectives on Touch, Sound, Smell, Memory, and Space. Nina Levent, Alvaro Pascual-Leone, eds. Lanham, M.D.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014, pp. 239-249.
Pick 2 out of the 3 chapters (smell, taste, touch) below to read:
Jim Drobnick. "The Museum as Smellscape" in The Multisensory Museum: Cross Disciplinary Perspectives on Touch, Sound, Smell, Memory, and Space. Nina Levent, Alvaro Pascual-Leone, eds. Lanham, M.D.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014, pp. 177-196.
Irina D. Mihalache. "Taste-full Museums: Educating the Senses One Plate at A Time" in The Multisensory Museum: Cross Disciplinary Perspectives on Touch, Sound, Smell, Memory, and Space. Nina Levent, Alvaro Pascual-Leone, eds. Lanham, M.D.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014, pp. 197-212.
Simon Lacey & K. Sathian. "Please DO Touch the Exhibits! Interactions Between Visual Imagery and Haptic Perception" in The Multisensory Museum: Cross Disciplinary Perspectives on Touch, Sound, Smell, Memory, and Space. Nina Levent, Alvaro Pascual-Leone, eds. Lanham, M.D.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014, pp. 3-16.
Suggested Reading
Suzanne Lacy & Leslie Labowitz, "Feminist Media Strategies for Political Performance," in The Feminism and Visual Culture Reader, pp. 302-313

Thursday 3.5
__ • Listening in the gallery
__ • Sound and exhibition
__ • Showing sound in art and media
__ • Gallery Workshop with Michal Wisniowski (section 02 during class meeting)
Reading Assignment
Caleb Kelly. Gallery Sound . New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2017, pp. 1-24, 77-85.
Tom Everrett. "RA Curatorial Guide to Museum Sound Design, " Curator": The Museum Journal, Vol. 62, No. 3, July 2019, pp. 313-325.
William Whittington. "Sound, Museums, and the Modulation of the Imagination," in The Oxford Handbook of Sound and Imagination, Vol. 1 Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard, Mads Walther-Hansen, Martin Knakkergaard, eds. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019, pp. 549-563.
Suggested Reading
Ming-Yuen S. Ma. There is No Soundtrack: Rethinking Art, Media, and the Audio-Visual Contract, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2020, pp. 121-176
Seth Cluett. "Ephemeral, Immersive, Invasive: Sound as Curatorial Theme, 1966-2013" in The Multisensory Museum: Cross Disciplinary Perspectives on Touch, Sound, Smell, Memory, and Space. Nina Levent, Alvaro Pascual-Leone, eds. Lanham, M.D.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014, pp. 109-118.
Salome Voegelin. "Soundwalking the Museum: A Sonic Journey Through the Visual Display" in The Multisensory Museum: Cross Disciplinary Perspectives on Touch, Sound, Smell, Memory, and Space. Nina Levent, Alvaro Pascual-Leone, eds. Lanham, M.D.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014, pp. 119-130.

Week 8: Student-Led Classes for "Exhibition"
Tuesday 3.10:
__ • Please upload your proposals for "space" projects to your Box folder by class meeting time. See Canvas for prompts
__ • Student-led class

Thursday 3.12:
__ • Student-led class

Week 9: Spring Break, No Class Meeting

Week 10: Group Critique for "Exhibition" Projects, Capstone Paper Abstracts and Project Proposals Due
Tuesday 3.24
__ • Group critique on "Exhibition" media projects

Thursday 3.26
__ • Group critique on "Exhibition" media projects

Capstone Abstracts / Proposals DUE Friday, 3.27, 5pm PST at the latest
Please upload the final versions of your Capstone abstract or proposal (MS Word documents only- with .doc or .docx suffix) to your Box folder

Week 11: Oral Presentation on Proposed Capstones, Peer Group Meetings (with Professor)
Tuesday 3.31
__ • Please prepare a 5 mins. oral presentation of your proposed Capstone media project or research paper in class. Be ready for questions and feedback. Each student will have 7-10 mins. total. Peer group meetings to discuss peer reviews and reading selection

Thursday 4.2
__ • Peer Group Meeting: Students meet with their assigned peer groups to select readings and feedback format.
__ • Peer Group 1 (Group: Members)
__ • Peer Group 2 (Group: Members)
__ • Peer Group 3 (Group: Members)
__ • Peer Group 4 (Group: Members)

Week 12: Individual Meetings, Gallery Workshop (TBC)
Tuesday 4.7
__ • Individual meetings
__ • Gallery Workshop (installation prep 1) - Kallick Family Gallery
Thursday 4.9
__ • Individual meetings

Friday, 4.10, 5pm DUE: media project paper draft upload papers (MS Word documents - with .doc or .docx suffix) to your Box folders.

Week 13: Work-In-Progress Presentations
Tuesday 4.14
__ • Present work-in-progress and other visual material (PowerPoint, flowchart, images/footage, web site or installation mock-up). Be ready for discussion and feedback
Thursday 4.16
__ • Present work-in-progress and other visual material (PowerPoint, flowchart, images/footage, web site or installation mock-up). Be ready for discussion and feedback

Week 14: Peer Reviews Due, Individual Meetings, Color Correction & Gallery Workshops (TBC)
Tuesday 4.21
__ • Individual Meetings
__ • Gallery Workshop (installation prep 2) - Kallick Family Gallery

Thursday 4.23
__ • Individual Meetings
__ • Color Correction Workshop - TBA

Friday, 4.24, 5pm WIP peer reviews due
__ • Each peer group email me ONE compiled document containing all of your pitch peer reviews (MS Word documents only - with .doc or .docx suffix)
__ • All group reviews should be done by this date

Week 15: Individual Meetings or Final Group Crit, Gallery Projects Due
Tuesday 4.28 and Thursday 4.30
__ • Individual meetings - IMS Courtyard or editing room/gallery. Or we can also scheduled a group crit in which students present their works-in-progress for discussion and feedback this week if students prefer that to the individual meetings option.
__• All Projects for gallery exhibition due, drop off Thursday 4.30, 1:15PM-2:30PM, Kallick Family Gallery

Week 16: Last Week of Classes, IMS Graduate Presentation/Conversation, Course Evaluations, Senior Day, All Projects and Papers Due
Monday 5.4: All Projects for screening due

Tuesday 5.5: WST Q116 Presentation/Conversation with IMS graduate
__ • Course evaluation discussion
Final drafts of CS and Media Project Papers due by noon upload to your Box folders (MS Word documents only - with .doc or .docx suffix)

Thursday 5.7: Senior Day (Attendance Mandatory!)
Tentative Schedule
11:00AM-12:15PM: Critical Studies / Digital/Electronic Panel 1 Benson Auditorium
12:15PM-1:00PM: Lunch served Benson Lobby / Mounds
1:00PM-2:15PM: Critical Studies / Digital/Electronic Panel 2 Benson Auditorium
2;30PM-4:30PM: Film/Video Screenings, Benson Auditorium
5:00PM-7:00PM: Dinner / Gallery Opening Kallick Family Gallery, IMS Courtyard

Friday 5.8: Graduating senior grades due by noon (12:00PM PST)

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