This course will train students in visual anthropology data analysis and post-production—the post-fieldwork phase of multimodal anthropology research. Students will engage in critical analysis of ethnographic film, photography, and sound, with a specific focus on ethnographic content relevant to a particular place or people (for Fall 2024 the emphasis for most students will be Morocco, with some exceptions as approved by the instructor). This is fundamentally an experiential learning course in the sense that students will learning multimodal ethnographic analysis and post-production not just in principle, but in practice by substantively contributing to an ethnographic film project (or other multimodal anthropology project, subject to instructor approval). Students will engage in various subdisciplines of multimodal anthropology analysis and post-production, but the core assignment will be their contribution to a final (usually collaborative) project, such as an ethnographic film.
Through this course, students will learn and undertake every element of a post-production workflow for film, photography, and sound. This includes logging footage, cutting dailies, editing sequences, narrative construction, developing skills in digital ethnographic storytelling, photographic catalog management, sound engineering, color correction and color grading, and other major multimodal data analysis and post-production tasks. In multimodal anthropology, “editing is analysis.” As such, students will learn to integrate principles of data analysis and multimedia post-production in their projects in order to contribute to a piece of multimodal anthropology scholarship. While students will be exposed to various sub-disciplines of analysis and post-production, most will specialize in one area (e.g., sound engineering, editing, narrative production, color) and collaborate with other students who will specialize in other areas to round out an ethnographic film or other multimodal project. Each project will have a specific ethnographic focus, with the intention to produce a film (or other scholarly product) that is worthy of submission to an ethnographic film festival or other form of publication. Collaboration will allow for a higher degree of sophistication in analysis, ethnographic narrative, and production quality to achieve this goal.
Each student will undertake one major post-production project using a corpus of ethnographic material from Morocco (or other approved ethnographic focus). In most cases this will be a component of a collaborative ethnographic film, in collaboration with other students who develop other dimensions of the film or project. However, students will also demonstrate mastery over each element of the post-production for film, photography, and sound engineering. The point is to learn enough about each discipline in the post-production process to facilitate your capacity as an ethnographic storyteller using these media, while also specializing enough in one dimension of the process to make a substantive contribution to the overall project.
Course and University Policies
Honor Code
In keeping with the principles of the BYU Honor Code, students are expected to be honest in all of their academic work. Academic honesty means, most fundamentally, that any work you present as your own must in fact be your own work and not that of another. Violations of this principle may result in a failing grade in the course and additional disciplinary action by the university. Students are also expected to adhere to the Dress and Grooming Standards. Adherence demonstrates respect for yourself and others and ensures an effective learning and working environment. It is the university's expectation, and my own expectation in class, that each student will abide by all Honor Code standards. Please call the Honor Code Office at 422-2847 if you have questions about those standards.
Sexual Harassment
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits sex discrimination against any participant in an educational program or activity that receives federal funds. The act is intended to eliminate sex discrimination in education and pertains to admissions, academic and athletic programs, and university-sponsored activities. Title IX also prohibits sexual harassment of students by university employees, other students, and visitors to campus. If you encounter sexual harassment or gender-based discrimination, please talk to your professor or contact one of the following: the Title IX Coordinator at 801-422-2130; the Honor Code Office at 801-422-2847; the Equal Employment Office at 801-422-5895; or Ethics Point at http://www.ethicspoint.com, or 1-888-238-1062 (24-hours).
Student Disability
Brigham Young University is committed to providing a working and learning atmosphere that reasonably accommodates qualified persons with disabilities. If you have any disability which may impair your ability to complete this course successfully, please contact the University Accessibility Center (UAC), 2170 WSC or 422-2767. Reasonable academic accommodations are reviewed for all students who have qualified, documented disabilities. The UAC can also assess students for learning, attention, and emotional concerns. Services are coordinated with the student and instructor by the UAC. If you need assistance or if you feel you have been unlawfully discriminated against on the basis of disability, you may seek resolution through established grievance policy and procedures by contacting the Equal Employment Office at 422-5895, D-285 ASB.
Academic Honesty
The first injunction of the Honor Code is the call to "be honest." Students come to the university not only to improve their minds, gain knowledge, and develop skills that will assist them in their life's work, but also to build character. "President David O. McKay taught that character is the highest aim of education" (The Aims of a BYU Education, p.6). It is the purpose of the BYU Academic Honesty Policy to assist in fulfilling that aim. BYU students should seek to be totally honest in their dealings with others. They should complete their own work and be evaluated based upon that work. They should avoid academic dishonesty and misconduct in all its forms, including but not limited to plagiarism, fabrication or falsification, cheating, and other academic misconduct.
Plagiarism
Intentional plagiarism is a form of intellectual theft that violates widely recognized principles of academic integrity as well as the Honor Code. Such plagiarism may subject the student to appropriate disciplinary action administered through the university Honor Code Office, in addition to academic sanctions that may be applied by an instructor. Inadvertent plagiarism, which may not be a violation of the Honor Code, is nevertheless a form of intellectual carelessness that is unacceptable in the academic community. Plagiarism of any kind is completely contrary to the established practices of higher education where all members of the university are expected to acknowledge the original intellectual work of others that is included in their own work. In some cases, plagiarism may also involve violations of copyright law. Intentional Plagiarism-Intentional plagiarism is the deliberate act of representing the words, ideas, or data of another as one's own without providing proper attribution to the author through quotation, reference, or footnote. Inadvertent Plagiarism-Inadvertent plagiarism involves the inappropriate, but non-deliberate, use of another's words, ideas, or data without proper attribution. Inadvertent plagiarism usually results from an ignorant failure to follow established rules for documenting sources or from simply not being sufficiently careful in research and writing. Although not a violation of the Honor Code, inadvertent plagiarism is a form of academic misconduct for which an instructor can impose appropriate academic sanctions. Students who are in doubt as to whether they are providing proper attribution have the responsibility to consult with their instructor and obtain guidance. Examples of plagiarism include: Direct Plagiarism-The verbatim copying of an original source without acknowledging the source. Paraphrased Plagiarism-The paraphrasing, without acknowledgement, of ideas from another that the reader might mistake for the author's own. Plagiarism Mosaic-The borrowing of words, ideas, or data from an original source and blending this original material with one's own without acknowledging the source. Insufficient Acknowledgement-The partial or incomplete attribution of words, ideas, or data from an original source. Plagiarism may occur with respect to unpublished as well as published material. Copying another student's work and submitting it as one's own individual work without proper attribution is a serious form of plagiarism.
Use of Generative AI in this course
This policy is forthcoming, assuming that we don't arrive at the singularity first...
