DMS 518 / 418 On the Road: Media Geographies
Summer 2012
Session M July 26 – August 10
Rueb / Lavenstein
reg# 12500
“A traveler! I love his title. A traveler is to be reverenced as such. His profession is the best symbol of our life. Going from ___ toward ___; it is the history of every one of us.” — “Summer” (Henry David Thoreau)
The recent convergence of film, video, and sound as delivered via mobile media is explored in this field-based production course that literally takes place on the road. Students and faculty travel together and work in small teams to create mobile media works that engage the interrelationship of media, movement, and geography as they learn about and experience the landscapes, histories, and cultures of the United States and Canada.
The course begins with a two-day workshop in Buffalo which includes short exercises to introduce formal and technical skills and techniques spanning experimental, non-linear, documentary, narrative and non-narrative forms, especially as they relate to locative media, film/video and site-specificity. Students then break into 3-5 teams to follow separate itineraries as they create works that explore their experiences of place and people. Each year a unique itinerary will be determined based on faculty interest and student enrollment.
For Summer 2012 we will follow a trajectory that takes us to sites of significance in the writings of Henry David Thoreau. Using the texts “Walking,” “A Yankee in Canada,” “The Maine Woods,” and “Cape Cod” as spring boards for our inquiry into itinerant art forms, we will travel by foot, railway, boat and car throughout the territory defined in the Champlain maps that so impressed Thoreau. One such map sketched by Thoreau extends from the Great Lakes to Quebec, Maine and down to Massachusetts. Accordingly, we will travel from Buffalo to Montreal, Quebec City, Maine (where students may optionally choose to climb Mount Katahdin) and finally to Cape Cod and Walden Pond in Massachusetts.
Enrollment is open to graduate and undergraduate students. Students will be responsible for travel expenses, which will run approximately $800-$1000 per student (transportation and lodging) + meals. In addition to hostelling, we will camp at points along the way, so students should be prepared to bring and/or pool their equipment. Advance registration is recommended.
Lab Fee is $100
Instructors:
Teri Rueb
http://www.terirueb.net
http://www.cla.auburn.edu/cmjn/people/faculty/hollie-lavenstein