Inquiries into Communication

Designated topics in communication and theatre are explored. May be repeated with different topics.

Current Semester Information

291A: Tps:Shakespeare Festival

Tps:Shakespeare Festival

Based on the educational wing of Shakespeare & Company's (Lenox, MA) nationally renowned and recommended high school Shakespeare program, this course prepares DePauw students to do Shakespeare with local high school and middle school students. Part classroom activity and part in-school practicum, the course stresses the visceral, emotional, and intellectual power of experiencing Shakespeare's language physically and vocally. Culminates in a festival of Shakespeare's plays performed by local students at DePauw at the end of the semester. Repeatable for credit.

291B: Tps:Multi-MediaStoryTell

Tps:Multimedia Story Telling

Study of the dynamics of non-fiction storytelling through the use of traditional story framing constructs used by magazine journalists. Strong emphasis placed on story development and use of journalistic reporting techniques to create compelling non-fiction stories. Each student builds a website and publishes content produced in this course. We will cover the basics of website creation, design and search engine optimization. Prerequisites: Sophomore or above standing. Recommended: Basic knowledge of multimedia editing software in a PC or Mac environment (iMovie, Final Cut or Sony Vegas), student media experience, and completion of one or more of the following: Eng 232, Eng 321, Comm 235, Comm 236.

291C: Tps:Film History

Tps:Film History

Although the recent proliferation of new technologies greatly enhances our access to some moving image media, it also increasingly demonstrates that film history is vast and inexhaustible. In fact, one of the most notable consequences of the digital age is that it has become more challenging to keep up with many interesting happenings in global moving image media. No semester-long course in film history, therefore, could possibly encompass all of the significant developments in world cinema since the advent of the medium in the late nineteenth century. Rather than attempt to provide this inevitably inadequate encyclopedic overview, we will explore how the choices we make about what to study shape and are shaped by our conceptions of world cinema history. To accomplish this objective, this course will indeed cover some of the major trends in global cinema since its inception, concentrating primarily, but not exclusively, on narrative film in Hollywood and other commercial contexts. This focus, in conjunction with associated course assignments, discussions, readings, and screenings, will ultimately make us keenly aware of how emphasizing certain aspects of film history obscure alternative ways to comprehend the impact and story of arguably the most influential medium of the twentieth century and beyond.