GER/POL/RUS/SLA/UKR 3700: The Changing Face of Europe
HIS 3995: Special Topics in History
Cinematic Reflections of Communism and Its Aftermath
1-Credit Course
Section 1: Tu, 5-8 pm, October 13 - November 17, 2009, 368 Manoogian
Section 2: We, 5-8 pm October 14 - November 18, 2009. 368 Manoogian
Description and Goals
2009 marks the 20th anniversary of a chain of events that occurred across the Eurasian continent in 1989 and ultimately led to the end of communism in Eastern Europe. Among these events were the Polish parliamentary elections of June 4th, the Tiananmen Square Uprising in the same month, and the opening of the Berlin Wall on November 9th. To commemorate these events, an interdisciplinary group of WSU faculty will present a series of documentary and feature films dealing with communism and its aftermath in China, Germany, Hungary, Korea, Poland, and Russia. Each meeting will include an introduction by a WSU faculty member, a film screening, and a follow-up discussion. Topics covered will include: communist ideals of work and the worker, the relationship between the public and the private spheres, communism in Asia and its connections to (or remove from) the European context, state control and surveillance, the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, realist and postmodern reflections of (and on) the communist past. This course aims to give participants an understanding of the legacy of communism as it is reflected in film and as film reflects about it. Further, it aims to give participants an overview of different disciplinary approaches to reading film.
Dr. Kenneth Brostrom, Associate Professor of Russian
Dr. Alex Day, Assistant Professor of History
Dr. Kevin Deegan Krause, Associate Professor of Political Science
Dr. Lisabeth Hock, Associate Professor of German
Dr.
Katherine Kim, Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Dr.
Alina Klin, Senior Lecturer in Polish
Dr.
Laura Kline, Senior Lecturer in Russian
Dr.
Felecia Lucht, Assistant Professor of German
Dr.
Aaron Retish, Associate Professor of History
Dr.
Steven Shaviro, Professor of English
Dr.
Francis Shor, Professor of History
Dr.
Kirsten Thompson, Associate Professor of Film Studies
This course runs from October 13, 2009-November 18, 2009.
The Drop/ Add dates for the sections are as follows:
Section 1 (Tuesday Section):
October 12 - The last day to add the class
October 19 - The last day to drop with 100% tuition cancellation
October 26 - The last day to drop without getting a W on the transcript
November 16 - The last day to drop altogether
Section 2 (Wednesday Section):
October 13 - The last day to add the class
October 20 - The last day to drop with 100% tuition cancellation
October 27 - The last day to drop without getting a W on the transcript
November 17 - The last day to drop altogether
*Participation: Participants must be on time and attend the introduction by faculty member, film screening, and discussion for all of the six films in the section in which they are enrolled.
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Attendance will be taken at the beginning and end of class.
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No credit will be given for viewing films at home or otherwise outside of the scheduled time
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Active participation in discussion is expected.
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If you must miss a film in the section in which you are enrolled, you may attend a film in the other section during the same week, but this must be confirmed ahead of time with the course facilitator, Dr. Hock.
*Written Assignments will be submitted to the Blackboard Discussion Board. Students are required to write:
three 1-page (300-word) responses to three of the class sessions. Responses to individual films must be submitted no later than 7 days after the film is shown.
three ½-page (150-word) responses to postings written by others in the class. Responses must be posted no later than 7 days after the initial respose is posted and must address three different films.
The WSU Blackboard system will be used to organize the materials for this course. It can be found at http://blackboard.wayne.edu.
- You will be expected to check your WSU email account (accessID@wayne.edu) on a regular basis. If you prefer to use a non-WSU account, such as hotmail or yahoo, please make sure to have your WSU email forwarded to it. You can do this at http://pipeline.wayne.edu. If you have your mail forwarded to another account, it is essential to keep your inbox from becoming full, otherwise you will not receive your wsu mail.
- You can enter the Blackboard site for this class with your access ID number and password.
- You will find a link to this syllabus on the course Blackboard page.
- Blackboard will allow you to check your course grade throughout the course.
Students are encouraged to bring to class a small flashlight for note taking.
Participants are welcome and encouraged to attend all films and to contribute regularly to the discussion board! There is, however, no extra credit or honors credit for this class.
All cell phones, pagers, and computers must be turned off for the duration of the class period.
Grading
| Participation (includes attendance) | 60% |
| Discussion-Board Postings: Initial Responses | 30% |
| Discussion-Board Postings: Responses to Others | 10% |
| 100% |
The following grading scale will be used:
| A+ A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D+ D D- |
97-100 % 93-96 90-92 87-89 83-86 80-82 77-79 73-76 70-72 67-69 63-66 60-62 |
Please inform the course facilitator as soon as possible of any special learning requirements you have.
If you have a documented disability that requires accommodations, you will need to register with Student Disability Services for coordination of your academic accommodations. The Student Disability Services (SDS) office is located at 1600 David Adamany Undergraduate Library in the Student Academic Success Services department. SDS telephone number is 313-577-1851 or 313-577-3365 (TTY: telecommunication device for the deaf; phone for hearing impaired students only). Once you have your accommodations in place, I will be glad to meet with you privately during my office hours to discuss your special needs. Student Disability Services’ mission is to assist the university in creating an accessible community where students with disabilities have an equal opportunity to fully participate in their educational experience at Wayne State University. For additional information, please go to: http://studentdisability.wayne.edu/.