COURSE INTRODUCTION:

This course is for both History and Documentary Studies majors and minors interested in pursuing a fieldwork/archival research project culminating in 1) a media documentary on a topic that interests them or 2) a research paper based on extensive and intensive primary source research. History students taking the course must select historical projects; Documentary Studies students, for whom this course is a required core course, may select either historical or contemporary topics. Students are expected to complete a substantial research-based documentary project in any one of the following forms: audio, video, hypermedia, still photography (with an "exhibit catalog"/captions), or text. Students will work with the course instructor as well as appropriate on-campus experts; they will receive feedback, as well, from fellow students enrolled in the course. Teams projects may also be undertaken, so long as individual responsibilities of participating students are clearly identified. Discussions of selected readings in history and media, media ethics, documentary and contemporary issues, and production techniques will complement the discussions of individual projects.

Topics dealing with New York State or New England are recommended, as textual, aural, and graphic sources are readily available at the New York State Library, WRGB, WMHT, the Schenectady Museum, the University at Albany Library, the Albany Institute of History and Art, and nearby archives in western Massachusetts, Vermont, and Connecticut. Likewise, local community, institutional, and political studies are especially encouraged, given the specific strengths of area archives and manuscript collections. In anticipation of the Hudson400 Semester, topics related to the Hudson River -- historical or contemporary -- are especially welcome. I will discuss this in more detail when we meet.

We will meet as a group for most of the semester. Toward the end of the semester all students will be expected to work on their research projects and meet in specific media groups. Depending on enrollment, the class may be organized into separate research teams that will meet together to discuss individual and collective research problems, and brainstorm solutions. If appropriate, I’ll schedule at least two meetings with each team during this period. In addition, I intend to meet with you individually to discuss your progress and offer assistance where needed. I expect you to pace yourselves realistically.

Please note that toward the end of the semester you will be called upon to present your project to the class. I and fellow class members will respond with suggestions, which you should take to heart as you prepare the final version, due a week later.

Readings:

Readings are available on electronic reserve listed under “History 492." Some will be distributed in class; several will be selected based on the research interests of class members and so are not specified in this syllabus. Additional material will come from on-line Web sites through links on this syllabus.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:

The following statement of policy is required by the University at Albany: It is assumed that your intellectual labor is your own. If there is any evidence of academic dishonesty, including plagiarism, the minimum penalty will be an automatic failing grade for that piece of work. Plagiarism is taking (which includes purchasing) the words and ideas of another and passing them off as one’s own work. If another person’s work is quoted directly in a formal paper, this must be indicated with quotation marks and a citation. Paraphrased or borrowed ideas are to be identified by proper citations.

GRADING:

Grades will be based on class participation (10%), preliminary project proposal (10%), and very heavily (80%), on your final project. Audio and video/film projects should include a full text script. Photography projets should include a "catalog" and all photo captions as well. Your final projects will be evaluated on the basis of the following, so keep them in mind when writing:

1. Whether a film, a radio documentary, or a research paper/narrative essay -- is it well structured and compelling? Does it have a clear argument or theme?
2. Is it built on a strong research base? That means going well beyond on-line sources, and utilizing primary, archival materials as well as monographs and other secondary sources.
3. If it utilizes visual and aural elements, are they well edited, prepared, processed, and presented?
4. If oral and video interviews are used, are all of your permissions/releases in hand? Original recordings, or unedited digital reproductions, should be submitted with the final project.
5. Are all of your permissions/licensing rights in hand for all non-original elements (copyrighted photographs, audio elements, etc.)?
5. If the project is a documentary, do you have a full and annotated script?
6. Is the project original, or derivative and based on existing work?

Film: A Midwife's Tale (1993)

Class 2 (Tuesday, February 5): Research and Fieldwork Case Studies

Required Readings:

Class 3 (Tuesday, February 12): Introduction to Manuscript and Media Archival Research

Required Readings:

(Tuesday, February 19): NO CLASS (Winter Break/President's Day)

Class 4 (Tuesday, February 26): Special Appearance: Penny Lane, Standish Room, Science Library. NOTE: On this day, the class will run from 2:30 until 4:00 instead of its usual time slot.

Penny Lane is a documentary filmmaker and a 2005 MFA graduate of RPI’S Integrated Electronic arts program. Her film, The Abortion Diaries focuses on twelve women who share their personal experiences on abortion. The film has been extensively screened at more than 175 venues in forty states. Lane is currently working on a historical documentary film about Mame Faye, an “almost forgotten madam from Troy, NY.” The film examines “the ongoing battle over the rights of women as autonomous sexual beings, as capitalists, and as historical agents.”

Assignment: Detailed project proposal/prospectus due (7-10 pages). It should include a narrative describing your project, a brief review of related projects (and how yours will differ from them), and a comprehensive bibliography of primary and secondary sources that includes books, articles, sound/audio resources you will use, as well as video, film, and photographic sources. All relevant archival collections (with their locations) should be noted.

Class 5 (Tuesday, March 4): Oral and Video Interviews as Primary Sources / History and Radio Documentary Work

Required Readings:

http://dohistory.org/on_your_own/toolkit/oralHistory.html
Other material to be distributed in class.

Class 7 (Tuesday, March 11): Research and Writing for Documentary Filmmaking

Required Readings:

Sheila Bernard Curran, "Outlines, Treatments, and Scripts" from Documentary Storytelling [electronic reserve].

Frederick Lewis's Rockwell Kent script [electronic reserve].

Frederick Lewis, "Voyaging Southward in Search of Rockwell Kent." [electronic reserve].

Which Way EJ? Script [electronic reserve].

Required Readings/Links:

• http://www.crossingtheblvd.org/
• http://www.360degrees.org/
• http://best.online.docus.googlepages.com/

Class 9 (Tuesday, March 25): [NO meetings - Spring Break]

Class 10 (Tuesday, April 1): Documenting with Photographs

Films: Vietnam's Unseen War.

Required Readings:

Selections from David Nye, Image Worlds: Corporate Identitied at General Electric, 1890-1930 (MIT Press, 1985) [On electronic reserve].

Selections from James Borchert, Alley Life in Washington Family, Community, Religion, and Folklife in the City, 1850-1970 (Univ. of Illinois Press, 1982). [On electronic reserve].

Class 11 (Tuesday, April 8): Research Project Work: Group and Individual Meetings
[Meetings in Multimedia Lab, SS 054]

Class 12 (Tuesday, April 15): Research Project Work: Group and Individual Meetings [Meetings in Multimedia Lab, SS 054]

Class 13 (Tuesday, April 22): Research Project Work: Group and Individual Meetings [Meetings in Multimedia Lab, SS 054]

Class 14 (Tuesday, April 29): Research Project Work: Group and Individual Meetings [Meetings in Multimedia Lab, SS 054]

Class 15 (Tuesday, May 6): Presentations

May 13: FINAL PROJECTS DUE.