Description
Whether or not you intend to pursue a visually-oriented career like film-making or design, you do live in a world that is saturated with images. Studies estimate that we encounter thousands of images on a daily basis, and none of these images are innocuous. For every image you see, someone designed it and someone paid for it. Maybe you noticed it, or maybe you didn’t—regardless, that image was there and it played a role in shaping your world.
Just as you might read a novel and follow the story but then go to your English class and discover you missed some really important parts to fully understand the book, you can also look at an image and only partially understand it.
This course intends to give you the tools to notice more of the images in your daily life and learn how to critically engage with them. Over the 16 weeks, we will watch movies, television shows, YouTube channels, music videos and look at photos, advertisements, artwork, graphic novels, and websites. By the end of this class, you should be better equipped to move through life as a more thoughtful consumer and a more engaged, responsible citizen.
This class can be an elective credit OR it can be taken as part of an English credit. It is intended for students who enjoy challenging material and are ready to think, discuss and grow in their understanding of today’s visual culture.
To turn this into a full English credit, your student could take this Intro to Shakespeare class in the second semester, or you could supplement it with grammar, vocabulary, other literature studies etc. A virtual book club or literature study from Literary Adventures for Kids is another option.
We would be happy to help you with ideas.
Instructor: Dr. Rachel van der Merwe – rachel@fundafunda.com
For: Grades 9-12
Hours: Approximately 4-5 hours a week
Credit Hours: one semester (1/2 credit – see suggestions above to use it as an English credit)
Self-paced: This course may be started at any point in the year as a self-paced course – it will be graded and feedback provided
Syllabus: Available here
Required Materials: Check your library before buying!
Persepolis Vol 1
The Medium is the Massage
How to Read a Film by Monaco (Please note: some pages of this book contain photos you may not approve of. None are referenced in the class. Our suggestion is that you remove those pages if they are a problem. There aren’t many.)
Students will also need to rent 3 or 4 movies
Fall Dates: August 19 – Dec 13 (with a week’s break over Thanksgiving)
Spring Dates: January 10 – May 2 (any week in March can be taken for Spring break)
**Links to resources may be affiliate links. You don’t pay anything more but we make a small percentage of each sale.
Benjamin Sebastian –
Great Class! Would definitely recommend to anyone who loves critical thinking, and discussion. This class gives an engaging and in depth look at how visual media affects our world, how we perceive it, and how it changes out lives. Truly a incredible class!
Daniel –
A fantastic course! You’ll learn how to analyze film, television, video games, advertisements, and the world of media around you, at a much deeper level. I can’t recommed it enough!