Fall Quarter Collaborations: Inspiring Change through Accountability
Fall quarter’s key assignment involves working autobiographically and collaboratively with the themes of sustainability and justice. These themes are very broad and the challenges associated with them can seem insurmountable. Fall quarter is designed, in part, to draw students into these themes personally by reflecting on one’s own culpability in contributing to problems of sustainability and justice, and to reflect on the personal responsibility and agency one can bring to creating a more sustainable and just world in ways that inspire.
There are four key parts to the Fall Quarter S & J Collaborations:
- Part 1: A creative nonfiction literary essay written individually;
- Part 2: A creative nonfiction literary essay written collaboratively;
- Part 3: An audio-visual adaptation of the essay using digital video;
- Part 4: A visual film adaptation of the essay using 16mm film.
This four-part assignment is intended to engage students in program themes through creative writing and media arts practices, and to foster a sense of personal agency as artists working in the context of sustainability and justice. This assignment is also designed to give students direct practice crafting adaptations as well providing hands on production in electronic media and 16mm film.
The purpose is also to strengthen students’ collaborative abilities and to provide them with peer support while working through the various aspects of the assignment—planning writing, production, postproduction, and presentation.