"If life is messy and unpredictable, and documentary is a reflection of life, should it not be digressive and open-ended too?"
-Lucien Castaing-Taylor
- Course: ANTH 477 Visual Anthropology (Fall 2013)
- Classroom: Alumni 308
- Days/Hours: Tuesday 5-7:50pm
- Instructor: Jean Dennison
- Office: Alumni 409c
- E-mail: jeand@email.unc.edu
- Office Hours: 3:30-4:30pm Tues/Thurs (please email to sign-up)
In this course students will have a direct and sustained engagement with visual forms of communication as tools for understanding and communicating anthropological concepts. While this class does require weekly readings and film viewings, the central component of the class will be the production of a video for public consumption. Through weekly creative assignments and extensive in-class critiques, students will spend over 30 hours building and refining their final visual projects.
Our central goal will be to move away from concepts of objectivity or subjectivity toward the use of deeply situated spaces to investigate the making of reality. The class will thus critically engage cross-cultural representations, colonial and post-colonial representations, as well as feminist and science studies approaches to ethnography. Finally, we will discuss the processes of production and the culture of social relations between media artists and community.
Rather than approaching visual anthropology with its usual divide between 'anthropological content' and 'aesthetic composition' this class will attempt to foster both, pushing an artistic eye toward newly unfolding anthropological concerns. Experimentation and creativity will be highly valued within this setting.
Upon completion of the course, students should be able to: 1) use visual forms of communication to communicate to a general public 2) creatively and artistically explore issues of anthropological concern, 3) explain a variety of theoretical approaches to the visual, 4) comprehend and compare the process of constructing media representations, and 5) explain the ways in which knowledge never exists independent of inequalities.
This will be a challenging and time consuming visual production class. Make sure you consider this when making your final class decisions for the semester. Be prepared to devote the time necessary to both projects and to class reading each week. With some of the assignments you will need to plan ahead in order to get the project adequately completed on time. To do well in the course you will need to have some background in photography and/or art, however you do not need to have a background in video production. We will work in teams, so you must be willing to develop team skills to do well.
Because this is a hands-on production and critique-based class, attendance is critical. The format of the class outlined below necessitates that everyone not only come to class, but come having read and viewed the materials assigned and done the assignment for the day. Credit for participation cannot be made up. If you cannot attend class you must talk to me before the class begins. Because we only meet once a week, more than one absence without a written excuse in advance will affect your grade. All assignments are known well in advance; therefore, opportunities for make-up work or permission to hand in an assignment late are only granted for exceptional circumstances. If you feel that your situation is such, contact me before your assignment is due and provide me with a written medical excuse.
You will need to have access to a 35mm or digital camera for this course. Also, if your group elects to do video, you will need to have access to a digital video camera and an external hard drive.
Around the UNC campus there are several places to access equipment. The Beasley Multimedia Resource Center and The Media Resources Center both have still and video cameras available as well as computers with video and web page design software. You are strongly encouraged to reserve the equipment from the MRC well ahead of time, but the Beasley center is on a first come first serve basis, so get there early. While the Beasley center is only open to students enrolled in classes registered with the center, such as ours, the Media Resource Center is open to all students, faculty and staff. During the semester the Beasley center will provide various training sessions including in Final Cut Pro for video editing and various software for web page design. The MRC also offers online tutorials and one-on-one media lab classes in a wide range of visual media programs to fit your schedule. You are strongly encouraged to take advantage of these training opportunities. The Beasley center also has trained staff on hand during operating hours to answer additional questions.
Of course, students are also welcome to edit/design their projects at home with their own or free editing software.
Technology problems are very common with video editing, so please do not wait until the last minute to attempt to edit your video. Problems with technology will not be accepted as an excuse for late projects.
To edit video students will need:
- External Hard drive – mac platform ($25-800)
- A great deal of patience and time
Participation (200 points): One half of the grade for participation (100 points of your total 1,000 points for the class) will be based on your leading a particular class discussion. The other half (100 points) will reflect your participation in classes where you are not the leader. If you do not attend class, you cannot participate. Therefore, attendance is required (see policy on attendance above). Further, there is no way to make an “A” in the class if you do not come to class with a solid understanding of the reading/film and participate in class each week. Graduate students will be expected to help facilitation during each class. Participating in activities not directly related to the class during class time (such as the use of personal technologies) will automatically result in a loss of participation points for the day.
Leading class discussion: Each week one student will sign up to lead class discussion. When it is your turn, you will be required to lead class discussion for between thirty and sixty minutes that week. Your job will primarily be to craft a list of discussion questions, which bring attention to specific passages from the reading/viewing for the week and engage the class in discussion. You should also be able to provide additional background and your own reading of the film/reading to help facilitate the discussion.
On your assigned day of class, you will start by asking a series of probing and provocative questions about the assigned book and/or articles. You may set up these questions by providing some background to the materials. Then, you will begin to lead the class in a discussion of the answers to these questions. As we all work through your questions as well as others that come up in the context of the discussion, we will articulate our own reading(s) of the materials. You will need to email the instructor an indication of the week you would like to present by week two.
Projects (800 points): Each assignment will be graded based both on its creativity and its content. All projects should be posted to the course's Sakai page, under the appropriate assignment, prior to class on the date due. Any file over 200MB will have to be compressed or split into multiple parts. All material must be created solely for this class during this semester. In week 7 undergraduate students will begin completing the assignments in groups. Graduate students will complete the work all on their own.
Style (25 points): Go to the art/architecture library or look online and find a photographer whose style is interesting to you. Using The Photographer's Eye, pay special attention to how they frame their shots and what sort of equipment they used to get the effect. Scan/upload 5 of their images that illustrate this style and present the photographs to the class. The presentation should be around 5 minutes in length and include something found in The Photographer's Eye to talk about style of the images. – DUE WEEK 2 (9/1).
Autoethnography (50 points): Study your personal space and document the ways in which that physical environment visually symbolizes who you are. Photograph that environment and construct a photo essay exhibit (with no more than 10 images) that represents that understanding. Framing is important to this exercise. Using The Photographer's Eye, incorporate a variety of shots to add depth and understanding to your visuals. Pay special attention to how the images are sequenced to tell a story. Upload images as a single .pdf or .ppt file, with the first page containing all of the images arranged graphically on a page (or pages if necessary) and the remaining pages arranged sequentially with only one image per page. – DUE WEEK 3 (9/8).
Final project idea (50 points): Research and submit to Sakai one well thought-out idea for the final project. Highlight why the topic is important and why a visual medium would be useful. You will have up to five minutes to present your ideas in class and take notes of the other presentations. Email me the following week listing which project(s) you would like to participate in and whether or not you would like to work in a group. If you do not complete this final step you will not get credit for completing the assignment. – DUE WEEK 4 (9/15)
Hypermedia (25 points): Give a 5 minute presentation on an existing webpage that uses images/videos effectively to communicate on a topic related to your final project. During your presentation talk about the mechanics/design of the webpage, with a particular focus on how the webpage encourages viewer engagement. Submit the link on as well the an outline of your discussion points online. – DUE WEEK 5 (9/22)
Representing Others(50 points): Find an individual who is in some way related to your final project idea. With permission capture a day-in-the-life of that person. The visuals should reveal activities as well as say something about the social/cultural life of the individual as well as capture personality. This project may be presented in either photos or video with no more than 10 images or a 2 minute video (if you have prior video editing experience). Be prepared to discuss the problems you encountered and future solutions in class. Framing is important to this exercise. Using The Photographer's Eye, incorporate a variety of shots to add depth and understanding to your visuals. Pay special attention to how the images are sequenced to tell a story. Upload images as a single .pdf or .ppt file, with the first page containing all of the images arranged graphically on a page (or pages if necessary) and the remaining pages arranged sequentially with only one image per page.– DUE WEEK 6 (9/29)
GROUP WORK BEGINS
Autobiographical/Indigenous Ethnography (50 points): Ask one or more of the informants of your final project to take photographs that reveal something about your project’s central issue or problem. Discuss the images with the photographer. As a group write and upload (as of .doc) a one page analysis of the pictures, the discussion, and what you have learned from the exercise. In class display up to 15 of the photographs and prepare a ten minute presentation of your analysis. Upload images as a single .pdf or .ppt file, with only one image per page.– DUE WEEK 7 (10/6)
Consent Form (50 points): Based on UNC IRB protocol, construct and upload a consent form. The template is located here. This assignment will serve as your final project proposal and the consent form should be used for all of the remaining assignments, although you may also get consent orally based on reading the material covered in the form. – DUE WEEK 8 (10/13)
Observational Cinema (50 points): Anthropologists focus on social and cultural behavior. As part of your final project find an interaction that reveals cultural world views or ideologies within the area you are investigating for your final project and capture an exchange that reflects these interactions. Using techniques discussed in class create and upload (as a quicktime file) a roughly three minute video segment on a topic relating to your final project. – DUE WEEK 10 (10/27)
Interviews (50 point): Using the techniques discussed in class conduct three interviews that will be used in your final project, either as background research or as footage. Upload a clip from each interview (as a quicktime file) and discuss what worked and did not work with the interviews in class. – DUE WEEK 11 (11/3)
Storyboard (50 points): Create a series of diagrams to depict the composition of your final video. Each diagram should consist of: a sketch of the video; a brief description of the visuals; notes for the camera operator; the details of the desired audio that will accompany the visual; and an estimate of how long the segment will be. The storyboard should then be placed in order to provide a foundation for capturing the proper footage/photographs and for making the most engaging editing decisions. Submit as a .pdf or .ppt file. – DUE WEEK 12 (11/10)
Experimental Video (50 points): Using various experimental techniques discussed in class edit together a 2-5 minute video sequence for your final project. Students will be required to upload (as a quicktime file) and present this material during class, discussing the techniques they have deployed. – DUE WEEK 13 (11/17)
Rough Draft (100 points): Students will be required to upload (as a quicktime file) and present a rough draft of their final projects during class. Full credit on this assignment will only be given to projects that complete the requirements of the final project, and only need to fine-tune the editing. –DUE WEEK 15 (12/1)
Final Project (200 points): Choose a social issue about which a video will be able to advance anthropological theory and/or critique a social phenomenon. Video projects should be designed to be 10-12 minutes for groups and 8-12 minutes for individuals. These videos will be uploaded (as a quicktime file) and presented publicly at the end of the semester, as your final exam. Groups will have a total of 20 minutes to set up and present their project. This time limit includes a 5-10 minute Q & A section. –DUE FINALS WEEK (12/13, 7pm)
Honor Code
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has had a student-administered honor system and judicial system for over 100 years. The system is the responsibility of students and is regulated and governed by them, but faculty share the responsibility. If you have questions about your responsibility under the honor code, please bring them to your instructor or consult with the office of the Dean of Students or the Instrument of Student Judicial Governance at:http://honor.unc.edu. This document, adopted by the Chancellor, the Faculty Council, and the Student Congress, contains all policies and procedures pertaining to the student honor system. Your full participation and observance of the honor code is expected.
Plagiarism in the form of deliberate or reckless representation of another's words, thoughts, images or ideas as one's own without attribution in connection with submission of academic work, whether graded or otherwise. Plagiarism will not be tolerated in this class and will result in a failing grade for the class and suspension for one academic semester. Materials for class assignments should be produced specifically for this class unless prior approval from the professor is granted.
There is one required books (The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos) and two recommended books (Final Cut Pro Portable Genius and The Principles of Beautiful Web Design). All of these books are available through the University bookstores or the internet. All other readings are provided online.
Readings are generally under 30 pages per week, but will often be challenging. You should plan to read each week’s reading at least twice: once before you complete that week’s assignment and once right before class. You will also be required to watch a film each week, on your own time, online or at the Media Resource Library. Your grade will suffer if you do not incorporate these materials into your projects (where appropriate) or if you cannot discuss this material articulately in class each week.
Reading materials are made available through the course's Sakai page, under resources, for the educational purposes of students in Jean Dennison's Visual Anthropology class. No further reproduction, transmission, or electronic distribution of this material is permitted.
All DATES ARE TENTATIVE
Week 1 () - Introduction to Course
Introduce course and discuss syllabus. Fill out information sheet. Go around and introduce self. View Passing Girl: Riverside (25 min) and discuss.
Weeks 2 () - Anthropological Ways of Seeing
Assign discussion weeks. Present assignment. Discuss next assignment. Discuss reading and film. Documenting Space slide show.
Due: Email discussion ranking by Monday; Style
Readings for class: Abu-Lughod, Lila (2002) Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? American Anthropologist 104(3): 783-790.
Dumit, Joseph (1997) A Digital Image of the Category of the Person: PET scanning and Objective Self-Fashioning. In Cyborg and Citadels: Anthropological Interventions in Emerging Sciences and Technologies. Gary Lee Downey and Joseph Dumit, eds. Santa Fe, New Mexico: School of American Research Press. Pp. 83-102.
View for class: Cannibal Tours excerpted (30) and Islak (9:41)
Weeks 3 () - Autoethnography
Present assignment. Discuss next assignment. Discuss readings and Film.
Due: Autoethnography
Readings for class: Russell, Catherine (1999) Auto Ethnography. In Experimental Ethnography. Durham: Duke University Press. Pp: 275-313.
View for class: Tongues Untied (55) Media Resource Center 65-DVD5538 or on course's Sakai page, under resources.
Weeks 4 () - Image Acts
Present project ideas. Discuss next assignment. Discuss reading and film. Discussion of Informed Consent and Ethics.
Due: Final project ideas
Readings for class: Handout on Video Technique
Bakewell, Liza (1998) Image Acts. American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 100, No. 1. (Mar., 1998), pp. 22-32.
Pink, Sarah (2006) Engaging the Visual: An Introduction. In The Future of Visual Anthropology. London: Routledge. Pp: 3-20.
View for class: Faces of the Other (3) Writing Desire (23) Media Resource Center 65-DVD12653 or on course's Sakai page
Weeks 5 () - Hypermedia
Present assignment. Discuss next assignment. Discuss reading.
Due: Email project ranking by Monday, Hypermedia
Readings for class: Pink, Sarah (2006) Ethnographic Hypermedia Representation. In Doing Visual Anthropology. Sage Publications. Pp: 191-217.
Week 6 () - Research
Present assignments. Discuss next assignment. Groups present reading and film.
Due: Representing Others
Readings for class: Assigned based on topic.
View for class: Chosen based on topic.
Weeks 7 () - Indigenous Media
Present assignment. Discuss next assignment. Discuss reading and film.
Due: Autobiographical/Indigenous Ethnography
Readings for class: A Time of Visions: Interviews By Larry Abbott
View for class: Bad Indians, a Poem by Ryan Red Corn (5:14) and Geronimo E-KIA, a poem by the 1491s (4:28)
Week 8 () - Observational Cinema
Present assignment. Discuss next assignment. Discuss reading and film.
Due: Consent Form
Readings for class: Handout on editing
Ruby, Jay (1991) Speaking For, Speaking About, Speaking With, or Speaking Alongside — An Anthropological and Documentary Dilemma. In Visual Anthropology Review 7(2): 50-67.
View for class: [Clips from] Chronicle of a Summer (2:05) and The Laramie Project (96) Media Resource Center 65-DVD1441 or on course's Sakai page.
Weeks 9 () - Fall Break
Weeks 10 () - Interviews
Present assignment. Discuss next assignment. Discuss reading and film. Discuss general interview strategies.
Due: Observational Cinema
Readings for class: Handouts on Interviews
Sheftel, Anna and Stacy Zembrzycki (2010) Only Human: A Reflection on the Ethical and Methodological Challenges of Working with " Difficult " Stories. In The Oral History Review 37(2).
View for class: Club Native (78). Media Resource Center 65-DVD4958 or on course's Sakai page.
Week 11 () - Experimental Video
Present assignment. Discuss next assignment. Discuss reading and film. Storyboard technique.
Due: Interviews
Readings for class: Schneider, Arnd (2008) Three Modes of Experimentation with Art and Ethnography. In Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 14:171-194.
Handout on Story boarding: Begleiter, Marcie (2001) Text, Image, Diagram. In From Word to Image. California: Michael Wiese Productions. Pp: 54-77.
View for class: I Wonder What You Will Remember of September (27) Media Resource Center 65-DVD12641 or on course's Sakai page.
Week 12 () - Visual Culture
Present assignment. Discuss next assignment. Discuss reading and film.
Due: Story Board
Readings for class: Murray, Susan (2008) Digital Images, Photo-Sharing, and Our Shifting Notions of Everyday Aesthetics. Journal of Visual Culture. 7:147-163.
View for class: Flickr.com (Search your: Hometown, Current Town, Gallery of choice)
Week 13 () - Situated Knowledge
Discuss progress on final project. Present assignment. Discuss reading and film.
Due: Experimental Video
Readings for class: Haraway, Donna (1988) Situated knowledges: The science question in feminism and the privilege of partial perspective. Feminist studies 14(3): 575–599.
View for class: Active Pass to IR9 (32:25)
Week 14 () - No Class, Thanksgiving
Week 15 () - Rough Drafts
Present rough drafts and discuss needed changes.
Due: Rough draft
Final Exam () - Final Presentations
Present final projects publicly.
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