Seats are still available in most Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival Mini Courses listed below. You can find these one credit P/F mini courses on Homer. The courses are engaging and very interesting and will immerse you in the Festival and issues surrounding the topic of sustainability.
Garbage, Oil, and other dirty stuff: Environment, Commodities, and Film in the Americas [IISP 10100-04] CRN 43202
The course will treat two themes: human and natural agency as portrayed in films & the history of "environmental films" in the Americas. 1 cr. LA Associate Professor Jonathan Ablard, History and Assistant Professor Michael Smith, History MW 2:00 pm-2:50 pm
Tying Story to Environment: the Checkpoint as Drama [IISP 10100-05] CRN 43203 [GCOM 10200-01]
A river forces its way through rock. A four lane highway chokes down to one. A huge line forms at airport security. Checkpoints occur in both the natural and man-made world.
Where pressure builds, drama will soon follow. This FLEFF mini-course will examine the recurring theme of a checkpoint as a source of drama film. We will analyze films included in this year's FLEFF screenings, plus classic recent indie and Hollywood features where the narrative is tied directly to a specific environment; physical, political and otherwise. 1 cr. LA Andy Watts, lecturer, Cinema, Photography, and Media Arts M 6-8:30 pm
Checkpoints: Markets, Crisis, Disaster [IISP 10100-01] CRN 43199
Examines how various economic and financial controversies have been portrayed in popular and documentary films. Students will explore such topics as the Enron fiasco, the Great Depression, and more recently the collapse of the banking industry and the housing market. Students will use their knowledge to analyze and compare FLEFF 2011 films. 1 cr. LA Instructor John McKinley Thursday 6-7:15 pm.
Too Late to Stop Now: Tipping Points [IISP 10100-02] CRN 43200
The tipping point is the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point, crossing over. It is the moment when protests become revolutions, popular you-tube videos become viral, and deforesting becomes devastating. We will consider the forces that bring about tipping points, including the power of individuals to fuel and/or restrain such moments. Topics will be determined by students’ interests. Our only constraint is that we be informed by our reading of Malcolm Gladwell’s, The Tipping Point, and our participation in FLEFF events and screenings. 1 cr. LA Professor Jodi Cohen, Communication Studies Thursdays 12:15-1:30 pm
Checkpoint: Can Games Change the World [IISP 10100-03] CRN 43201
Can games make the world better? Can they encourage cooperation, problem-solving, and altruism in ways that affect ordinary lives and address social and economic problems? In this mini-course, we’ll read Jane McGonigal’s new book Reality is Broken and engage her thesis that games can change the world for good. As part of our analysis, we’ll play a “checkpoints” game and decide if simulations and other rule-based experiences can teach
us something about the real world, and we’ll consider the problems associated with such a utopian vision. Students will attend several FLEFF films and examine how the "rules" at work in real-life social situations challenge or affirm the thesis that games can teach us how to change the world. 1 cr. LA Rachel Wagner, Assistant Professor, Philosophy and Religion MW 4-6 pm
Cultural Ecology [IISP 10100-06 or MUNM 25200 – 01] CRN 43204
Examines the philosophic, sociological and artistic issues surrounding the transmission and assimilation of cultures. Through the prisms of film, music and dance, we will question the relationship between cultural diversity, sustainability, assimilation, artistic integrity, authenticity & creativity. 1 cr. LA Professor Peter Rothbart, Music, Theory, History, and Composition Fridays 1:00-1:50 Whalen Room 2330.
Public Health, Media, and Lifestyle [IISP 10100-07 CRN 43205 or HLTH 39901-01 CRN 42735 ]
Explores the foundations and applications of public health through readings and the films and events of FLEFF. Students will explore the role of media in generating ideas, propagating myths, and influencing decisions about health. Students will attend films and participate in FLEFF events during the Festival week. 1 cr. LA Associate Professor Stewart Auyash, Health Promotion and Physical Education W 4-5:15 Hill 54.
*FLEFF runs from April 10-17, 2011. For additional mini course information contact Warren Schlesinger, FLEFF mini course coordinator [warren@ithaca.edu].
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20110315083547647