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JUPS-400-01 CBL: Social Justice Documentary Video
Spring only
In Social Justice Documentary Video, students will learn about the relations between documentary media and social change by making documentaries about the work of Community Based Organizations in Washington, D.C. Students will combine Film and Media Studies scholarship, video production skills, and Community Based Research and Learning as they view and discuss significant documentary films and videos, read about documentary theory and history, consider documentary as a tool for engaging the “real world,” and begin to practice writing, shooting, and editing video. The class will collaborate with members of D.C.-based Community Organizations to create documentary projects. Drawing upon existing relationships between Georgetown’s Center for Social Justice and Community Organizations, the course will connect to the Programs at the Perry School and the Council for Latino Agencies. Pre-production will involve collaborative research and writing; production will involve shooting in the D.C. community; and post-production will involve the creative input of representatives of the organizations. Students will complete the course having produced a short, collaborative documentary video. As partners, the Community Based Organizations will also receive copies of the documentaries and will be encouraged to use these videos to advance their community work. The course will be offered in partnership with Georgetown University’s Program in Justice and Peace and the Center for Social Justice.
The course will enroll 16 students and will be offered for 4 credits. Students need not have had previous video production or Film and Media Studies coursework. Course texts will include Bill Nichols’ Introduction to Documentary (Indiana UP 2001) and Barry Hampe’s Making Documentary Films and Reality Videos (Henry Holt 1997). D.C.-based documentary filmmakers will visit the course to discuss non-fiction production and social action.
The course will be team taught by Dr. Bernie Cook and Vartan Akchyan.
Dr. Cook is Assistant Dean in the Georgetown College and Adjunct Assistant Professor of American Studies. He earned his PhD in Critical Studies in Film and Television from the School of Theater, Film, and Television at UCLA. Since 1998, he has created and taught film and media studies courses in the English Department, the American Studies Program, and the Program in Justice and Peace at Georgetown. Dr. Cook is editor of Thelma & Louise Live! The Cultural Afterlife of an American Film (University of Texas Press, 2007). He has published articles on television news coverage of warfare and on violence in American fiction film. In 2001, he participated in the Documentary Film Institute at George Washington University, collaborating on a short documentary, Changing Room (2001), which has screened at film festivals in Washington, San Francisco, and Phoenix. In 2004 and 2005, he served on the Programming Advisory Committee for the SILVERDOCS International Documentary Festival.
Mr. Akchyan is a media specialist in the Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS) at Georgetown University. He earned his Masters from Georgetown’s Culture, Communication, and Technology Program. He produced and directed a thesis film, Jews in Armenia, which has screened internationally at film festivals. Currently, he supports faculty work with technology and is in charge of video production for CNDLS.
Credits: 4
Prerequisites: None
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