Timothy Shary writes:

>I always tell my students that screenings for film courses should be 
>considered the same as labs for science courses-- they are required 
>in order to learn the material.

I've tried that, but found that it just doesn't work.  The widespread 
availability of most films on VHS or DVD coupled with the fact that 
most students (at my institution, at least) are focused purely and 
simply on passing the assessments and have no interest whatsoever in 
the subject beyond that, means that they simply don't show up to 
organised screenings.  Another barrier (which is common in a lot of 
UK institutions) is that teaching sessions are timetabled in one-hour 
blocks, and it's very difficult to book a lecture theatre for longer 
than that.  The only other option is Wednesday afternoons, when 
there's no scheduled teaching: but we are strictly forbidden from 
putting on compulsory sessions relating to undergrad taught modules, 
mainly because the Students' Union insists on this, believing that 
it's more important for them to be playing sports, doing part-time 
jobs (understandable, given the economic climate of HE nowadays) or 
drinking themselves to oblivion in the bar.

Last year I was even vetoed from screening a 35mm archive print of a 
film that is not available on any form of retail video, unless I gave 
an undertaking that it wouldn't be mentioned in any of the essay or 
exam questions.  This was because the only possible slot for the 
session would have been a Wednesday afternoon, and I can't organise 
sessions on a Wednesday afternoon which are anything other than 
optional, i.e. over and above the course requirements.  If I'd 
screened the film on that basis, about three students would have shown up.

>The only instance other than illness (or family crisis, etc.) when I 
>excuse students from screenings is when they tell me the content of 
>a film will upset them, which is rare.

I absolutely refuse to do this under any circumstances.  In the first 
session of my 'Archiving the Media' module, and in the information 
which students have when they're deciding their final year module 
choices, I make it clear that in this one they will be shown (for 
example) concentration camp footage, extremist propaganda from both 
left and right, a home movie which shows a public guillotining and 
hard core porn.  If they're not willing to deal with that, they 
shouldn't be taking the module.  These people are adults, not 
children: and the ability to produce a rational and considered 
response to emotionally and/or ideologically problematic material 
should be a core skill for any graduate in a humanities or social 
sciences discipline, IMHO. If they've got personal issues which 
prevent them from being able to make such a response, they should go 
and do a degree in electrical engineering.

Leo

Dr. Leo Enticknap
Curator, Northern Region Film & Television Archive & Senior Lecturer 
in Media Studies
School of Arts and Media
University of Teesside
Middlesbrough
TS1 3BA
Tel. +44 (0)1642 384049
Fax +44 (0)8712 249151 

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