CREATURE FEATURES: WILDLIFE IN FILM

FWCB 1901 (limited to 15 freshmen)
Course registration # 63398
2 credits
Meets: Tuesday, 6:00-8:30
Bell Museum Room 3 (East Bank Campus)
Instructors: Anne R. Kapuscinski, Emily E. Pullins (please contact Emily for all course-related questions)
Office Hours: W, 11:00-12:00 (Pullins) and by appointment at Office Location (Kapuscinski & Pullins)
Office: 186 McNeal Hall, (St. Paul Campus)
Phone: 612-624-7723, after hours call Emily at home, 612-721-3657 (but I am at work late many evenings)
Fax: 612-625-8153
Email: Dr. Pullins, pulli005@tc.umn.edu

Contacting Dr. Pullins: I will be coordinating most of the work for the course, so you should try to reach me with any questions or issues that come up before Dr. Kapuscinski. I can also help you to make arrangements to meet with Dr. Kapuscinski. I work most days at our home base, an on-campus center called the Institute for Social, Economic and Ecological Sustainability. Please feel free to drop by ISEES at the address above, or call/email to make an appointment to visit with either of us. I am occaisionally on the West and East bank campuses, and could coordinate a meeting there if that is where you tend to be. I usually work from 9am to 5pm, run to the gym, and then come back to my office before leaving campus. I answer email relatively quickly, and prefer that as a means to answer short questions. But, I enjoy visiting with students, and discussing your ideas and projects with you, so feel free to pick up the phone and give me a call or stop by the office. I am on campus most nights until 6:30 or 9:00pm, so try reaching me there before contacting me at home.
Office Hours with Dr. Pullins: I will do my best to be available during the office hours that are listed. However, I have duties at ISEES that may require that I attend occasional meetings during that time period. Therefore, I will send emails and make announcements in class if I am not available on a particular date. To ensure that I am available, or to set up a different appointment time, please email or call me at least 24 hours prior to when you hope to meet with me.

This publication/material is available in alternative formats upon request.

About Dr. Kapuscinski:
Dr. Kapuscinski is a Professor of Fisheries and Conservation Biology, the founding Director of the Institute for Social, Economic and Ecological Sustainability (ISEES) and an Extension Specialist in Biotechnology and Aquaculture at the University of Minnesota. She is an international authority on biosafety policies and science, ecological effects of genetically engineered organisms, and genetically engineered fish and other marine organisms. In 2001, she received a Pew Marine Conservation Fellowship, the world's preeminent marine conservation award, in recognition of her past leadership and to support her work with industry, government and public interest groups to improve the safety governance of biotechnology. Dr. Kapuscinski presently serves on the UN Global Environmental Facility's Science and Technology Advisory Panel, and a National Academy of Science committee on conservation of Atlantic salmon, among others. In 1997, the Secretary of Agriculture awarded Dr. Kapuscinski the Department of Agriculture's highest individual honor (USDA's Honor Award for Environmental Protection) for promoting sound public policies on biotechnology in aquaculture and on conservation of genetic diversity in fish.

About Dr. Pullins:
Dr. Pullins is a Research Associate at ISEES, primarily responsible for grant development for the Biosafety and Governance Program at ISEES. Dr. Pullins has co-developed and taught several courses at the University, including Sustainability Science and Biosafety Science and Policy. She received her Ph.D. in Agronomy & Plant Genetics at the University of Minnesota in 2000, where she studied photomorphogensis in soybean plants as part of a research program on alternative cropping system design for enhanced weed control. Her hobby in film studies and the representation of science in film was an inspiration for this course.

CREATURE FEATURES: WILDLIFE IN FILM DESCRIPTION & GOALS

Film plays an important role in how contemporary society views, understands, and interacts with wildlife. Wildlife documentaries shown on television are the primary source of information for millions of people regarding wildlife and ecology - and are increasingly profitable and popular. Film is used by wildlife scientists in experiments to understand wildlife behavior. Fictional, popular movies about the "heroes" and "villains" of wildlife (as in Lion King and Gorillas in the Mist) have been tremendously influential in decision making about conserving and using wildlife species.

Our fascination with capturing wildlife on film dates back to the earliest moments in the history of motion pictures. Wildlife were subjects in some of the first moving pictures depicting movement, as with the first images of animal locomotion captured by Eadweard Muybridge in 1878, and images of birds in flight taken by Etienne Jules Marey in 1882. The ways in which wildlife are depicted on film, and the reasons for capturing images of wildlife on film, have changed and proliferated since the early days of cinematic-scientific experimentation. The representation of wildlife in film has been influenced by different social movements in the visual arts, conservation and the sciences, as well as by advances in film technologies.

In Creature Features, we will explore the various ways in which the art of filmmaking and the science of wildlife studies are related, the role of film in wildlife research and education, and the collaborations of wildlife scientists and artists in conversation with the public about wildlife issues. Our explorations will include viewing a diversity of film types in the course, including wildlife depicted in documentary, fiction movie, non-fiction movie, IMAX, art, and scientific experimental films. Each viewing will be preceded by a short presentation that provides a basis for critically understanding the film in context, as well as readings related to the wildlife science or issues that are raised within the film itself. Guest speakers from fisheries and wildlife, filmmaking, and film criticism professions will occasionally present.

We have designed this course to give you an introduction to several disciplines in the humanities and sciences, as well as to a few key themes. Themes we will explore include: scientific ideas about wildlife; elements and technologies of wildlife film making; wildlife in film as research subject; popular wildlife movie genres including documentary, horror, and action adventure; controversy about the "spectacle" of wildlife through film; and educating with wildlife film.

We are delighted to introduce you to the wealth of wildlife film history in Minnesota through this course. Wildlife film pioneers included the first directors of the Bell Museum of Natural History at the University of Minnesota. Director T.S. Roberts in the early 1900's photographed and filmed wildlife for scientific purposes. For forty years, Director Walter Breckenridge made and promoted wildlife films as a popular public educational activity through presentations at the Bell Museum. Mike Day, Director and Executive Producer of the William L. McKnight-3M Omnitheater at the Science Museum of Minnesota, has been a national leader in the development of films in the IMAX format for over twenty years, many of which have featured wildlife themes. To the greatest extent possible, local artists, scientists, naturalists and filmmakers will be showcased in our course activities.

Pre-requisites

You don't need to have had any prerequisites for this class, other than to be a freshman with an appreciation for films that feature wildlife! We hope to get students from both scientific and humanities backgrounds in the course. We will have presentations by both scientists and curators, artists and researchers. We do ask that students stretch beyond their "comfort zone" to read texts that come from both the sciences and humanities as part of the process of learning about wildlife in films and movies. In these ways, Creature Features is a truly interdisciplinary course that attempts to explore the linkages between scientific and artistic work.

Course Outcomes

Upon completion of Creature Features, students will be able to become more thoughtful consumers and users of visual media-based instructional resources - specifically movies and documentaries featuring wildlife. Course outcomes towards this end include:

" Describe the relationship between science and art in the context of natural resources
" Use movies as an effective educational tool
" Describe the use of film as an effective research tool
" Differentiate between conservation and environmentalism concepts
" Exploration of the disciplines of fisheries and wildlife sciences, conservation biology, museum curation, and rhetorical and cultural studies, including their influence in the history of filmmaking
" Apply specific aesthetic and scientific criteria to evaluate a variety of media-based instructional resources, specifically movies and documentaries featuring wildlife
" Observe the role of perception in knowledge formation through the phenomena of film projection and scientific observation
" Engage in meaningful self-reflection through class discussion and class activities

EXPECTATIONS

Attendance
Because we hold class only once a week, and because our classes may include film showings or field trips, it is critical that you attend every class meeting. With a class size of only 15, and a lot of time for class discussion, you will be missed if you aren't in class. If you miss more than three classes, even with a legitimate excuse, you will be a candidate for receiving an "F" in this course. If you do not do make up assignments for a missed day, you will receive an incomplete for the course. Make up assignments will lose 30% of their grade value for each additional week after the missed session that they are not submitted.

In case of a missed class, we will require that students: 1) obtain a copy of notes from a fellow student; 2) arrange an office meeting with Dr. Pullins to discuss the topics addressed during the missed class (possibly to include screenings); and 3) submit an assignment in addition to any assignments due on the day missed that reviews concepts addressed during that class (to be arranged during your office visit). You must arrange an office visit no later than three working days after missing your class, and must submit make up assignments one week after your office visit. If you do not complete these assignments, you will receive an incomplete in the class.

Incomplete coursework is a major inconvenience for students and instructors. I expect you to do everything in your power to avoid this situation. Legitimate excuses include verified illnesses and family emergencies. No incompletes will be given unless you have a prior written agreement with me.

There will be four mandatory events:

During Class, April 8: Science Museum IMAX Omnitheater (departing at 5:00pm)
During Class, February 11: Bell Museum of Natural History (February 11 & 18), and
During Class, February 18: Bell Museum of Natural History
Saturday, April 23: Creature Features Film Festival, Bell Museum of Natural History (10:00am-4:00pm, student notes described below)

Review this schedule carefully. If you cannot attend the mandatory events, you should not take the course. Please discuss any potential course schedule conflicts with the instructors on the first day of class.

Class Design and Workload
Each class has an introductory discussion by a guest or instructor for up to one hour, followed by a class activity such as a film or movie screening, optical toy building, or interactive writing and viewing activity, and usually closes with a discussion section that focuses on the topics raised in your homework assignment.

We will be giving you small assignments throughout the semester that you can synthesize together to construct your final project. Our goal is to help you learn how to manage an "intimidating" research paper by methodically accomplishing small research and writing tasks that will be synthesized into a final presentation and paper. Students will be graded on: five short essays (5 pts. ea.), one bibliography (5 pts. ea.), five discussion preparation writing assignments (5 pts. ea.), one tour lecture notes assignment (5 pts.), a five-page final paper (10 pts.), a presentation at the film festival (3 pts.) and a final exam (7 pts.). Bring all assignments to class to hand in. We will return all assignments one week after they are turned in, in class. You are welcome to pick up your work or review your final exam during posted office hours, or contact us to make other arrangements.

Final Project. You will select a species to focus on for the semester from a pre-selected list of wildlife and fish species. Several writing assignments tie to your selected species, and can be used as parts of your final five-page paper. The paper will review three film genres that feature your species, provide scientific information about your species, critique the use or lack of scientific information in these films, explore the techniques that are used to feature the species in film, and will focus on the characteristics of an award-winning documentary that features your species or the habitat in which it lives.

Readings. We have planned an average of 30 pages of readings per week, that you should accomplish before coming to class. The reading is relatively light and interesting. Throughout the course, we will read sections of Reel Nature, and occasionally we will have selected readings from a course reader.

Written Assignments. The writing assignments fairly small, but there is one every week. Most of the writing and research assignments are used as components for your final paper. The points for these assignments are distributed throughout the course, so consistency in doing assignments will net you more points than "ace-ing" the final.

Jan 28: Scientific information on your species, 1 page essay
Feb 4: Discussion preparation on Reel Nature Chap. 1, 1 page
Feb 11: Discussion preparation on Watching Wildlife, and How to Read a Film Section 1, 1 page
Feb 18: Reflective essay on Science is Fiction reading, 1 page
Feb 25: Discussion preparation on Film Terms and Topics, 2 page
Mar 4: Discussion preparation on Reel Nature, Chap. 2, 1-2 page
Mar 11: Reflective essay on conservation themes in documentary film,, 2 page
Mar 18: Annotated film bibliography for documentary films
Mar 25: Discussion preparation on Reel Nature, Chap. 5 and Chap. 7, 1-2 page
April 1: Reflective essay on animal behavior readings, 1-2 page
April 8: Documentary critique essay based on criteria, 2 pages
April 15: Tour question notes
April 22: 1st draft of final report, 5 pages
April 29: Film introduction, 2 pages
May 6: Final report, 5 pages

Grading. Your final grade will be based on adding up the points for individual assignments (which total 100), and giving you a letter grade based on a percentage of the total points. The grades will be based on the cutoff points as follows:
A, 94 pts. A-, 90 pts.
B+, 97 pts. B, 94 pts. B-, 80 pts.
C+, 77 pts. C, 74 pts. C-, 70 pts.
D+, 67 pts. D, 64 pts. D-, 60 pts.
Less than 60 pts. receives a failing grade

If you wish to dispute the grade assigned to a paper or a question on an exam, you must do so in writing within 24 hours after the exam or paper has been returned. You must include a specific rationale for why your answer is correct.

Participation. We have a very small class size, and intend to use it to have great discussions in class! It is of great importance to us that we get to know you, that we have ample time to hear your thoughts and ideas on the topics we are discussing, and that all the effort you put into preparing for discussion each week (usually by doing the reading and homework assignments) is utilized as a source of material for our group discussion. We will be assessing your participation through your attendance, the timely completion of your homework assignments, and in the degree to which you share your insights in class discussion. For those of you who like to talk a lot, we ask that you help facilitate discussion by providing others with opportunities to talk, and by asking questions of your colleagues as much as you do of the instructors.

We will also give you several opportunities to provide us with feedback about our participation in the class. There will be two survey and feedback opportunities midway through the semester, and again at the end of the semester, for you to provide us with your ideas about how the course can improve, to assess your real workload, to collect your concerns and questions about the course, and to reflect on what your have gotten from the course at that stage.

Conduct Policies. This course is intended for freshmen who are interested in either the arts or sciences. This diversity of experience, starting assumptions, and ways of approaching problems is one of the most enriching aspects of the course. The course draws on literature from film and cultural studies, rhetoric, conservation biology, and fisheries and wildlife sciences. The course is designed to introduce students to disciplines that are unfamiliar, but historically linked. No one student will feel in command of the themes discussed all the time. Instead, there may be moment of confusion or impatience when the discussions seem either too scientific or artistic. You may realize that you have different worldviews on issues of conservation, or a cultural difference that pivots on being an environmentalist or hunter. These reactions are expected. We expect your patience and curiosity to guide your conduct in class discussions, so that everyone can enjoy the course as a means to learn and explore a wide diversity of disciplines and topics. In showing specific films, the instructors do not necessarily endorse the views presented in them.

REQUIRED TEXTS

Mittman, Gregg. (1999). Reel Nature: America's Romance with Wildlife on Film. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Creature Features Course Reader, to be picked up at Paradigm Course Resources, Dinkydome, Minneapolis East Bank Campus.