Geology in the Movies - Fall 2012 Course Syllabus - UT Direct
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Geology in the Movies Fall 2012 Course Syllabus Class Time: Mon/Wed 11-12p in JGB 2.218 Instructor: Dr. Ginny Catania Office Location: EPS 3.128, gcatania@ig.utexas.edu; 512.471.0403 Office Hours: Thursdays 10-11a, or by appointment Textbook: Natural Hazards (3rd Ed.), by: E.A. Keller and D.E. DeVecchio Course Overview: Hollywood disaster movies are endlessly fun to watch but notorious at getting the facts wrong. This leads to poor public understanding of how science gets done and how the Earth works. This course provides students with a general background in Earth science as well as the communication tools to debate complex Earth science controversies with confidence. We will explore the realities of how the Earth works versus the Hollywood interpretation and students will re-write movies to make them more scientifically palatable. Prerequisites: No prior knowledge of Earth science is expected but students should be prepared to engage in class discussions. General writing and oral skills will be put to use.
Course Format: We will meet twice a week for lectures and quizzes and then you will meet with your TA once a week for a discussion section (on Fridays). In the discussion sections you will watch and discuss movies and documentaries related to Earth Sciences. Active participation in class discussion will also be an integral part of the learning experience and accounts for 10% of your final grade. Class discussions will require that you listen to the ideas of others, formulate and edit your own ideas and present them in a cogent manner. ALL students are expected to watch the movies and join these discussions. Additional Course Requirements: Because this is a Signature Course we have unique opportunities to take advantage of special UT resources. This includes making use of information literacy to understand the sources we use for research, significant writing assignments, a visit to the Texas Natural Science Center and the opportunity to attend one of the UT lecture series. Important! You must attend one of the lectures listed here: Research that Changes the World Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. at Bass Concert Hall Juan Dominguez, Ph.D.; Zachary Elkins, Ph.D.; Lori Holleran-Steiker, Ph.D. Election 2012: History, Rhetoric, Politics Sept. 18, at 7pm at Bass Concert Hall H.W. Brands, Ph.D.; Sharon Jarvis, Ph.D.; Daron Shaw, Ph.D. Course Evaluation: Class Project: 40% Movie Summaries: 10% Class discussions: 10% Quizzes: 40% (5 of them) This course carries the Writing Flag. Writing Flag courses are designed to give students experience with writing in an academic discipline. In this class, you can expect to write regularly during the semester, complete substantial writing projects, and receive feedback from your instructor to help you improve your writing. You will also have the opportunity to revise assignments, and to read and discuss your peers’ work. You should expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from your written work. Details on the class project are given at the end of the syllabus. Movie summaries are due in the discussion period after the movie has been shown (see schedule). These are a single paragraph summarizing the point of view in the movie and identifying any possible mistakes or biases identified by you or in class discussions. We will have 5 quizzes that will be administered during class time. Quizzes are a mixture of true/false, multiple choice, and short essay. The best 4 of these quizzes will count toward your final grade. Quizzes are non-cumulative, and may contain questions
about other class related activities (e.g. the visit to the Natural History Museum etc.). You will have one week in which to make up missed assignments and quizzes and will be penalized 10%. After a week, forget it. The final paper will not be accepted if late. If you know you will be absent for an assignment deadline or a quiz please let me AND your TA know in advance so we can make other arrangements for you. Grades for this course will be assigned using the plus/minus grading system (www.utexas.edu/provost/planning/plus-minus/). The university does not recognize the grade of A+ so the following rubric will be used for determining grades: Letter GPA % A 4 94-100 A- 3.67 90-93.9 B+ 3.33 87-89.9 B 3 84-86.9 B- 2.67 80-83.9 C+ 2.33 77-79.9 C 2 74-76.9 C- 1.67 70-73.9 D+ 1.33 67-69.9 D 1 64-66.9 D- 0.67 60-63.9 F 0
Class Project: As an expert in Geology, you have been asked by a famous Hollywood producer to re-make a Hollywood disaster movie. This project involves a thorough critique of the original movie and a description of how you would improve the movie using the scientific knowledge you’ve gained in class. You can pick any movie or documentary that involves natural disasters (ask me for suggestions) except for those watched in class. More information will be given at a later date as to the exact nature of each assignment. 1. The first assignment is to produce an outline of your final paper. The outline will include a brief description of the movie you wish to remake and a description of how you will carry out the necessary research to understand when they get the science wrong. You will not review the science here, just tell me how you will perform the research needed to critique it. Due date Sept. 28; worth 5% of final grade. 2. The second assignment is to produce a rough draft of the final paper. This is a more ‘flushed out’ version of the outline. By now, I expect that you will have made the time to watch your movie and examine where it goes awry. The rough draft can be a set of bullet points but keep in mind that the final paper will be more polished if you put effort into your rough draft. This rough draft will be graded by your peers. Due Oct. 17; worth 10% of final grade. 3. The third assignment is to provide a thorough critique of a rough draft from one of your peers. I expect you to correct spelling and grammatical errors and to outline where the author can improve the paper (both generally and specifically). Due Nov. 2; worth 5% of your final grade. 4. The fourth assignment is to produce a final paper (5-pages) that will be graded based equally on scientific quality and writing ability. The final project will have 3 parts: 1) a short description of the movie you have picked (general plot outline) and the Earth science topic explored in the movie; 2) a description of the science that is not executed correctly in the movie and; 3) revisions to the plot based on the real science you’ve learned in class (and elsewhere). Due Nov. 30; worth 10% of final grade. 5. The fifth assignment is to present your ‘revised movie’ in class. This will be framed as a pitch to a room full of movie producers (your TA and your peers). You need to convince us why we should make your movie. The presentation should last just 6-7 minutes and can involve visuals of any media. You are expected to attend the presentations of your classmates. Presentations take place during the last few days of class; worth 8% of final grade. 6. A final assignment will be to condense your entire paper down to 140 characters (the length of a tweet). This is designed to help you extract out all of the important information so that you can convey information effectively. This is due at the end of classes and is worth 2% of your final grade. If you need help writing your paper I suggest you come to me for help, read about writing on the internet or visit the Undergraduate Writing Center (uwc.utexas.edu/) where you can receive hands-on assistance with writing projects.
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