Case presentation for Film studies

Bethany College should develop in the Communication Studies program a web film and video production emphasis.

Observation 1 – No other Kansas college has a film and video production program     

Sterling has minor video production, primarily radio production

Kansas has a large film production unit – which offers very limited opportunity for the undergraduate.

No school has a production emphasis devoted to production for the internet.

Observation 2 – Most frequent request of prospective students is for media related work.

Observation 3 – While news press is declining in circulation, new media, often with high production values, is starting to predominate.

Contention 1 Serving new students requires new courses and new outlooks. The newest outlooks are web based mediated communications.

Contention 2 Current configuration of course work, orientation to Rhetorical studies and performance of oral persuasion looks backward, rather than forward – serves old students rather than new.

Therefore – to serve new students with new technology BC should invest the resources to move communication studies to film and video production for the web.

 

Plan – We do the following: Three parts needed: Space, Equipment, Instructor.

              Space – basement of Nelson Science, room converted for edit suite

              Equipment – three Canon XL1, tripods, dollies, one crane, one handy cam, two shotgun boom mics, one lavi, three MAC G-5 towers, three second monitors for G5 (each have dual monitors), reference video monitors, desks, one printer.

              Instructor – Isaacson knows how, for moment let him teach it. Ultimately hire a specialist.

 

Agency – Team approach, led by Communication department. Purchase with grants (observation 4, camera we have purchased with grant money).

 

Mandates -  Comm dept presses all other team members. Pres authorizes, Advancement – write grant, Maintenance, create space in space. Dean Oks Isaacson as instructor, CC approves the curriculum change.

 

Enforcement – Communication & Theatre carries out the implementation, oversees the pieces, pushes to get the job done for students.

 

Funding and Staffing – purchase funded through grants, staffing by existing staff for next 5 years. Aim to become additional staff member in 5. Technician who can serve both the needs of video development, animation, theatre production management.

 

Addenda – Assessment plan issue must be addressed by current faculty. Must name where it fits in the current mission of the department, how it will be assessed with current plan (or revise)

 

Contention 3 – Expect that if we go ahead with the plan we will see an increase in numbers in Theatre/Communication. Here, combined majors 16. Sterling, with something like proposal, Comm Majors alone 21, additional 15 theatre. Reasonable growth expectation.

I'm Sick

I'm sick today - again. I have a nasty cold.

The worst part is the sneezing. Maybe. Maybe it's the drippie nose. Maybe it's the stuffed up head.

In terms of Interpersonal Communication, sickness keeps me from being any sort of communicator. When I am sick I want to be left alone. I don't treat others properly. I tend to forget commitments. In other words,

I HATE BEING SICK!!!!!!!

Back to Class?

We're coming back to class after this strange Spring Break.

My Interpersonal Relationships have been rather few and shallow this week. I've spent most of the time working on catching up (wasn't entirely successful on that either). I'm looking forward to being back with people and away from my computer screen.

Gone - But Certainly Not Forgotten

Gone - But Certainly Not Forgotten

It's the first full day of Spring Break. I haven't seen a student all day. (I haven't graded a paper either, but that's another issue. I also haven't finished Sunday's Sermon - yet another issue.)

But just because the students are gone doesn't mean they aren't still making their presence felt.

E-mail.

Voice-mail (I haven't checked).

Text messaging.

Tasks for Easter.

I have been busy much of the day with student related tasks. Either student and production needs have been my aim, or they have not been far off my mind.

Interpersonal Communication in the age of electronics isn't all that different from the way it was in C.A. Swensson's time. I'm betting that students were never far from his thoughts when he made that February 1904 trip to California. Students are like that. They're something that professors obsess over, worry about,work for and expect work from. If it weren't that way, maybe we wouldn't be in the profession at a small college that puts a premium on relationships.

But I am here, I like it here, I feel validated by what I do here - so - Good Break, Kids. I'll be thinking about you while you're away!

Systems Theory

This power point outlines the basic qualities of Systems Theories. The question for communication is "what do we learn about families if we consider them as systems?"

Some of the things that we have to consider is "How do outside influences change the way the family operates at home?" "Are 'bad kids' just bad individuals, or are they elements of a bad system?" "How much is an individual's behavior constrained by the way the larger system works?"

A Great Discussion

Thanks to all of you for a great discussion today.

It was helped by the fact that many of you had read most, or all, of the article - and had experiences to contribute.

You enriched that article, turning it from a good exploration of an interesting theory into a dynamic piece that sparked thought. Good on you.

Conversational Analysis

More to the point that the Social Exchange Theory, here is the slide show on Conversational Analysis. This one will be in test materials.