COMM 308: Critical Production for Critical Times
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Faculty: Terri Dewhirst & Rebecca White

Course Description:
This production course explores the social impact of print media, videos, web designs, performances/ actions, audio work, and animations that we create individually and collectively. It is about space, place and time. The space is simultaneously physical and virtual. The place is local and global. The time is now. Take action: collage, announce, perform, create, produce and distribute. As collaborative student and faculty interventionists we will tackle issues on our collective mind like pollution, immigration, war, surveillance, healthcare, privilege, etc.  Sing praise to DADA, FLUXUS, Interventionists, Happenings, Body Art, etc. for paving the way for our creative experiments. Students will also engage in collaborative creative projects with community partners: Harlem Center for Education, Arab-American Family Support Center, Sauti Yetu Center for African Women, viBe Theater Experience, Network for Peace Through Dialogue, The College and Community Fellowship, Positive Health Project, Women’s Commission for Refugee Women & Children, and Why MES with HUMAN RIGHTS? Research Project.

Service Learning:
We have adopted service learning into the course as it is a progressive pedagogical tool that extends learning opportunities beyond the classroom. Students will work in teams, under the mentorship of faculty, with one of the community partners listed above on a mutually defined collaborative project. We anticipate this being a mutual learning experience between faculty, students and community partners. The work we will do in this course is real and will have a tangible effect in our community. We look forward to this adventure with all of you!

Learning Goals & Objectives:
By the end of this course students will:

• Obtain a greater understanding of the relationship between word and image.
  
  
• Develop a greater sense of civic responsibility to improve the society they live in.
  
  
• Develop a critical understanding of social issues through the theoretical frameworks presented in readings and discussed in class.
  
  
• Expand your appreciation for creative interventions.
  
  
• Hone blogging, research, editing, design and technical skills
  
  
• Develop a more sophisticated use of theory within creative practice (praxis)
  
  
• Understand that learning can be fun.

Required Course Materials:
Compassion, Empathy, Patience, Respect, Humor, Creativity, Energy and COMPLETED HOMEWORK!