COMM 480 ORAL INTERPRETATION OF OUTLIERS SYLLABUS

SPRING 2013 - UNITS: 4.0 INSTRUCTOR: James Floss E-MAIL: jmf2 @ humboldt.edu


TIMES/CRN: 21011, M, W 3:00 - 4:50pm; Gist Hall 2 TYPE: Seminar

OFFICE: Hs. 54 Rm. 5 Office Extension: 826-5422; Voice Mail available
OFFICE HOURS: TT 1:00 to 2:00pm.

See my teaching schedule to make appointments for other times.


SUPER OBJECTIVE: Working cooperatively, students will mine the book Outliers for dramatic potential. A full-length script will be adapted from the book, rehearsed, advertised, and performed at the end of the semester. Each student will record his or her own collaboration in the project in a journal.

FIRST MEETING: The class will first meet on Wednesday, January 23 in Gist Hall 2, in the basement studio space. The scope of the project will be discussed. Team-based methodologies will also be discussed. Students will be expected to purchase, borrow, or download Outliers and begin reading immediately. It is available for purchase in the bookstore.

PROCESS: This project will unfold through intensive discussions and a decision-making process that all students must participate in. The process will need to include these elements:

• Book discussions
• Teambuilding
• Scene selections
• Scripting
• Filesharing
• Staging
• Rehearsing
• Advertising
• Performance

TEAMBUILDING: Much of the work will be done in teams or small groups. Students will be encouraged to be on several teams. Teams could include scripting, directing, publicity, facilities, spectacle, and dramaturgy. Teams will be decided early in the semester through consensus.

JOURNALS: Not every student is expected to perform; but every student is expected to contribute mightily to the overall project. Each student is expected to keep a detailed journal of every activity they perform for the class. Entries in the journal need not be lengthy but every single activity should be recorded.

GRADING: Grading will be based largely on how to participatory each student is. Your participation in discussions, decision-making, practical outcomes, and other concerns will be monitored. Your journals will also be an important barometer of how involved you were.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This syllabus has been kept intentionally brief and general as not to impede the organic nature of the class. What the eventual production of Outliers becomes will be largely based on the interests and enthusiasm of the students. For our production of Outliers to be successful, real work will need to begin the very first class session and advance every class session after that. It will require integrity and commitment. When decisions are made it is expected that they will be acted upon immediately. When students assume responsibilities it is expected that they will follow through. Each team member is expected to contribute to his or her team's work.