Joan Hawkins, Communication and Culture
Combining practice with theory: Expanding the parameters of academic expression
C420 Topics in Media History: The History of the American Avant-garde
Course revision
Support provided by Campus Instructional Consulting
Instructional Goals
- help students engage with avant-garde films as a vibrant and important aspect of contemporary media production
C420 History of the American Avant-garde is a new elective course and is the Department of Communication and Culture’s first class that concentrates specifically on American postwar avant-garde and experimental film. One goal of the class is for students to learn how to “read” and critique difficult films and to make connections about the relevance of experimental and avant-garde film to their lives. Professor Hawkins’ teaching challenge was to help her students engage with these films as a vibrant and important aspect of contemporary media production. To accomplish this goal, Professor Hawkins gave students a choice of long-term projects and planned a class schedule that incorporated as many guest speakers, filmmakers, and experimental film events on campus as possible.
In designing the course, Professor Hawkins relied upon two strategies that had proven successful in previous courses she had taught. One strategy was giving students a choice of final projects that included several creative production options. Students had the option to create their own experimental films, write a shooting script for an experimental film, design a film festival, and create a journal in which they wrote about a number of films they viewed on their own. By combining practice with theory these creative projects encouraged students to engage with the material throughout the semester. The projects also gave them an opportunity to apply what they had learned about experimental and avant-garde film in a manner adaptable to their individual strengths.
The second strategy Professor Hawkins drew upon was a class schedule that incorporated many guest speakers, including experts on experimental film and avant-garde filmmakers, as well as a number of special campus events taking place that semester. These opportunities gave students a chance to see a wide range of contemporaries working with experimental and avant-garde film. Professor Hawkins cultivated a class atmosphere that allowed students to discuss fully and critique these artists’ and filmmakers’ work, resulting in very productive conversations about what students had seen and experienced. These discussions demonstrated to Professor Hawkins that students were truly interested in the course material and thinking about its wider relevance.
The active learning strategies Professor Hawkins included in C420 produced excellent results and contributed to the course’s overall success. She succeeded in exposing students to a variety of people working in experimental film, which enhanced their sense of the importance of avant-garde film to contemporary artistic and media production. This exposure, as well as Professor Hawkins’ emphasis on backing up arguments with specific evidence, also helped students construct thoughtful critiques of these often difficult and unfamiliar kinds of film. Scheduling these speakers and events around class times and materials can be a struggle, but her students’ involvement and apparent enthusiasm made it well worth the effort.
The creative projects also resulted in sophisticated products that demonstrated students’ increased understanding of experimental film theory, production, and scope. This reinforced Professor Hawkins’ sense that expanding the parameters of academic expression by encouraging creative projects instead of traditional papers keeps students involved with the course material while allowing them to tap into their experiences and strengths. Through these active learning innovations, Prof. Hawkins helped her students understand the relevance and vitality of American experimental and avant-garde film.
—Sarah Marion
