Course Description
An introductory level course exploring video as a medium, particularly as it is utilized by women, people of color, lesbians and gays, grassroots activists, as well as other peoples who are under and/or mis-represented by dominant media. This class explores independent video production from historical as well as issue-oriented approaches. The history of video technology, from analog to digital, is studied with a focus on developments that made video an accessible and powerful tool for self-expression and political intervention. Issues around gender, race, class, and sexual politics are examined in relation to works from the above-mentioned communities. Bodies of work by individual makers and collectives are presented as case studies in how multiple issues can be addressed through singular oeuvres. No prerequisite.
 

Course Organization
Class activities include group discussion, student presentations, video screenings, writing assignments, and direct action. There may also be site visits and field trips, depending on our schedule and class size. Your participation in class activities will factor into your final grade. Throughout the semester, guest speakers, including film and video makers, media artists, programmers, etc., maybe invited to class and/or venues at the Claremont Colleges, so be prepared to attend out-of-class screenings.

Please turn off all cell phones and pagers during class. These and other diversions are not acceptable during class time, and will lower your grade. 

Attendance
Attendance and participation of all classes is required. Do not miss class or arrive late! If you miss class 3 times without a proper excuse, (e.g. a doctor's note if you are sick) you fail the class. Absences must be cleared by me before or after (in case of emergencies only) the class you missed in order for it to not affect your final grade. Attendance is determined by when I take roll.

Class Participation
Your active, well-prepared participation in class discussions is essential to creating a dynamic (i.e. not boring!) learning environment. Although you will not receive a letter grade for class participation, it will figure into your final grade based on my observations.

We often 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 be tolerated. Open-mindedness is encouraged!

Class Assignments & Exams
Reading and writing assignments are not graded individually, but are averaged into your participation grade.

Unless an extension is approved by myself in advance of the due date, your grade will be reduced by one letter grade (i.e. B to C) per class day your paper is late. You are encouraged to meet with me individually during my office hours to discuss your assignments, your grades, and your overall performance in class. I am always open to suggestions and feedback!

Benjamin Shepard & Ronald Hayduk, eds., From ACT UP To The WTO: Urban Protest and Community Building in The Era of Globalization, Verso, NY, 2002.

Additional References (good sources for your research paper/project):
Most if not all of these titles are at the Honnold Library, if you want to purchase copies, go to amazon.com, half.com, etc .

Roy Armes, On Video, Routledge, NY, 1988.
Barbara Abrash & Catherine Egan, eds., Mediating History: The MAP Guide to Independent Video, New York University Press, NY, 1992.
Bad Object-Choices, eds., How Do I Look? Queer Film and Video, Bay Press, Seattle, WA, 1991.
Gina Dent, ed., Black Popular Culture, Bay Press, Seattle, WA, 1992.
Manthia Diawara, ed., Black American Cinema, Routledge, NY, 1993.
Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks, Grove Wiedenfeld, NY, 1967.
---, The Wretched of The Earth, Grove Wiedenfeld, NY, 1963.
Russell Ferguson, Martha Gever, Trinh T. Minh-ha, Cornel West, eds., Out There: Marginalization and Contemporary Culture, New Museum/MIT Press, NY, 1990.
Peter X. Feng, ed., Screening Asian Americans, Rutgers University Press, 2002.
Peter X. Feng, Identities in Motion: Asian American Film & Video, Duke University Press, 2002.
Coco Fusco, English is Broken Here: Notes on Cultural Fusion in The Americas, The New Press, NY, 1995.
---, The Bodies That Were Not Ours and Other Writings, Routledge, NY, 2001.
Roger Garcia, ed., Out of The Shadows: Asians in American Cinema, Olivares/Locarno Film Festival, 2001.
Martha Gever, John Greyson, Pratibha Parmar, eds., Queer Looks: Perspectives on Lesbian and Gay Film and Video, Routledge, NY, 1993.
Darrell Hamamoto & Sandra Liu, eds., Countervisions: Asian American Film Criticism, Temple University Press, 2000.
John Hanhardt, Video Culture: A Critical Investigation, Peregrine Smith Books, NY, 1986.
Thomas Harding, The Video Activist Handbook, Pluto Press, London & Chicago, 1997.
Alexandra Juhasz, AIDS TV: Identity, Community, and Alternative Video, Duke University Press, Durham, 1995.
Russell Leong, ed., Moving The Image: Independent Asian Pacific American Media Arts, UCLA Asian American Studies Center and Visual Communications, Los Angeles, 1991.
Laura U. Marks, The Skin of The Film: Intercultural Cinema, Embodiment, and the Senses, Duke University Press, Durham, 2000.
Cherrie Moraga & Gloria Anzaldua, eds., This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, Kitchen Table Press, NY, 1981
Jose Munoz, Disidentification: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics, University of Minnesota Press, MN, 1999.
Chon Noriega, ed., Chicanos and Film: Representation and Resistance , University of Minnesota Press, MN, 1992.
Michael Renov & Erika Suderburg, eds., Resolutions: Contemporary Video Practices, University of Minnesota Press, MN, 1995.
Ruby Rich, Chick Flicks: Theories and Memories of The Feminist Film Movement, Duke University Press, Durham, NC, 1998.
Ira Schneider and Berl Korot, Video Art: An Anthology, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, NY, 1976.
Anthony Smith, ed., Television: An International History, Oxford University Press, UK, 1998
Fatimah Tobing Rony, The Third Eye: Race, Cinema, and Ethnographic Spectacle, Duke University Press, Durham, NC, 1996.
Ella Shohat & Robert Stam, Unthinking Eurocentrism, Routledge Press, NY, 1994.
Jun Xing, Asian America Through The Lens, AltaMira Press, 1998.

* Your general performance in class including participation, writing assignments, attendance and punctuality, except in the special cases listed above, such as if you have more than 3 un-excused absences.

Generally, outstanding ('A') students in this class have good attendance and completed all their assignments on time. They are consistently well prepared for class, and actively participate in and advance our discussions with pertinent information, questions, and observations. Their work demonstrate their awareness of the issues at hand, the historical context for the film and videos they are discussing, as well as their ability to articulate their observations and analyses in a clear and concise manner. Only letter grades are given out in this class.

Academic honesty - all work done for this course must be the original work of the student submitting it, and should have been undertaken exclusively for this course. No work done prior to this class maybe used to fulfill the class assignments.

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.

* 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.

Course Schedule:

Web Site
A totally whacky site on the history of video technology

Week 2 Reading Assignment
Aesthetics of Video Image by Roy Armes, in On Video, pp. 186-210
"10-Point Plan for Video" by Vito Acconci, "You are Consumed" by Richard Serra, "I Use Video as a Knife by Willoughby Sharp, all in Video Art: An Anthology.

Videos
TELEVISION DELIVERS PEOPLE (1973) or BOMMERANG (1974) by Richard Serra

No Screening This Week

Videos
TELEVISION DELIVERS PEOPLE (1973) or BOMMERANG (1974) by Richard Serra
Movie Tone Reels: BLACK AIRMEN OF WWII (1941), CRAZY FOOTBALL: HOLLYWOOD STYLE (1942), EMPTY HIGHWAYS (1942), THE WOMEN MADE THE TANKS (1942), JAPANESE-AMERICANS IN INTERNMENT CAMPS (1942)

Week 3 Reading Assignment
The Importance of Being Ernie: Taking a Close Look (and Listen) by Bruce Ferguson, in Illuminating Video, pp. 349-265.
The American Networks by Les Brown, in Television: An International History, pp. 147-160.

No Screening This Week

Week 4 Screening (Tuesday, September 26, 7pm, SC230)
Episodes from the ERNIE KOVACS SHOW (Optional)

Videos
Excerpt from LOVE TAPES by Wendy Clarke (1981)
MADE FOR TV by Anne Magnuson and Tom Rubinitz (1984)
Excerpt from JOAN DOES DYNASTY by Joan Braderman (1986)

Week 9 Reading Assignments
The Feminism Factor: Video and its Relation to Feminism by Martha Gever, in Illuminating Video, pp. 226-241
Significant Others: Social Documentary as Personal Portraiture in Women's Video of the 1980s by Christine Tamblyn, in Illuminating Video, pp. 405-417
Interview with Kate Horsfield, Susan Mogul in Women of Vision, pp. 95-106, 183-194
What is Video Activism? by Thomas Harding in The Video Activist Handbook, pp. 1-13

Week 9 Screening (Tuesday, October 28, 7pm, SC230)
VITAL STATISTICS OF A CITIZEN, SIMPLY OBTAINED by Martha Rosler (1977)
LOVE TAPES by Wendy Clarke (1981)
JOAN DOES DYNASTY by Joan Braderman (1986)

No Screening this Week - Study for Exam #2

Week 12 Screening (Tuesday, November 18, 7pm, SC230)
DOCTORS, LIARS, AND WOMEN: AIDS ACTIVISTS SAY NO TO COSMO (1988) by Jean Carlomusto and Maria Maggenti for the LIVING WITH AIDS public access TV show
TONGUES UNTIED by Marlon Riggs (1989)

Suggested Viewing
SHE DON'T FADE by Cheryl Dunye (1991)

November 27: Thanksgiving Holiday - No Class Meeting

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