Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/East Carolina University/American and International Film History Part I (Fall 2021)

This course is a broad survey of the major films, genres, regulatory bodies and economic structures that defined cinema, both American and international, from its inception in the mid- 1890s through the onset of World War II. The course will address the social, industrial, and aesthetic history of these films, studying how they were made, sold, and exhibited in theaters. Students will begin the course by focusing on the technological and social changes that led to the development of cinema and how later developments, such as the coming of sound and the development of various international studio systems, impacted the medium. While the major concern of this course is to understand these films in terms of their historical context, studies will also examine specific formal, narrative and rhetorical choices made by the individual films and filmmakers.

Course objectives: -students will acquire an understanding of the early history of world cinema -students will trace how the language of cinema was developed and refined over time -students will analyze and appreciate silent cinema and its elegance as it developed through the 1920s -students will demonstrate an understanding of film as a framework for understanding political, social, and cultural history -students will evaluate the ways in which films document, reflect and interact with contemporary world events -students will be able to analyze the discourse of cinema within a historical and cultural context -students will investigate films and economic structures that developed parallel to Hollywood films including independent African American cinema, exploitation films and international film movements -students will learn how to conduct original historical research and create their own Wikipedia entry on the history of early cinema

Instead of assigning a traditional research paper for this class, students will be asked to either create a new Wikipedia entry or expand an existing one on the subject of film history before WWII. We will break this assignment into several stages: learning how to write/edit in Wikipedia, researching your topic, constructing an annotated bibliography, writing/editing the final entry and then handing in a short reflective paper about the entire experience.

Annotated Bibliography:

An annotated bibliography summarizes the main ideas of each source (in approximately one paragraph) and explains how you might use each source to construct your Wiki entry. You will need between 10 and 15 entries in your annotated bibliography.

Completed 400-word Entry:

Once you’ve created a 400 word entry OR added 400 words to an existing entry, email me the link to your work as well as the talk page containing your edits.

Reflective Paper: Once your entry is complete you will write a 2000-word paper reflecting on the experience of doing this assignment. What did you learn about your subject? What did you learn about the process of historical research and the act of producing film history? Finally, what did you learn about Wikipedia and the way we produce and consume “facts” today?

Week 1
Welcome to your Wikipedia assignment's course timeline. This page guides you through the steps you'll need to complete for your Wikipedia assignment, with links to training modules and your classmates' work spaces.

Your course has been assigned a Wikipedia Expert. You can reach them through the Get Help button at the top of this page.

Resources:


 * Editing Wikipedia, pages 1–5
 * Evaluating Wikipedia

Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you. (Because of Wikipedia's technical restraints, you may receive a message that you cannot create an account. To resolve this, please try again off campus or the next day.)

This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.

Week 3
Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 6

Week 5
Reach out to your Wikipedia Expert if you have questions using the Get Help button at the top of this page.

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, pages 7–9

Films

History

Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.

Week 6
Guiding framework

Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.

Week 7
You probably have some feedback from other students and possibly other Wikipedians. Consider their suggestions, decide whether it makes your work more accurate and complete, and edit your draft to make those changes.

Resources:


 * Editing Wikipedia, pages 12 and 14
 * Reach out to your Wikipedia Expert if you have any questions.

Week 8
Now that you've improved your draft based on others' feedback, it's time to move your work live - to the &quot;mainspace.&quot;

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 13

Week 9
Now's the time to revisit your text and refine your work. You may do more research and find missing information; rewrite the lead section to represent all major points; reorganize the text to communicate the information better; or add images and other media.

Week 10
Continue to expand and improve your work, and format your article to match Wikipedia's tone and standards. Remember to contact your Wikipedia Expert at any time if you need further help!

Week 11
It's the final week to develop your article.


 * Read Editing Wikipedia page 15 to review a final check-list before completing your assignment.
 * Don't forget that you can ask for help from your Wikipedia Expert at any time!

Week 12
Everyone should have finished all of the work they'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.