question/thoughts...

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by filmguy, May 17, 2009.

Loading...
  1. dlady

    dlady Active Member

    Nope, just got the position, after DL DBA. Masters degrees (2) are DETC. I am a persistent bastard who has found that doors tend to open when I walk over to them and turn the handle. Standing in front of them and hoping that someone is coming from the other side is not my style.
     
  2. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    It so happens that my old community college, City College of San Francisco, has one of the country's biggest and most abundant 2-year college film programs. That makes it atypical, since most community colleges offer far less, but it might be illustrative of what's happening out there.

    Here's the classes being offered in the Fall 2009 class schedule:

    CINE 18 American Cinema (a DL class).
    CINE 19 New American Documentary
    CINE 20A Film History
    CINE 21 Intro. to Film Studies
    CINE 22 The Documentary Tradition
    CINE 24 Basic Film Production
    CINE 25 Narrative Filmmaking
    CINE 30 Pre-Production Planning
    CINE 54 Cinematography and Lighting
    CINE 56 Intro. to Digital Film Editing
    CINE 60 Sound for Motion Pictures I
    CINE 61 Sound for Motion Pictures II
    CINE 72 Nonfiction Scriptwriting
    CINE 74 Adv. Cinematography and Lighting
    CINE 75 Screenwriting
    CINE 76 Adv. Digital Film Editing
    CINE 90 Film and Digital Finishing
    CINE 126 Documentary Filmmaking
    CINE 131 Directing Motion Pictures
    CINE 136 Special Effects
    Plus several work experience and independent study classes.

    Thats a pretty technical nuts-and-bolts lineup. It's probably reasonable to ask how well DL would prepare somebody to teach that kind of stuff.

    Ok, so what do the people teaching this stuff look like? What are their qualifications?

    The class schedule has 15 instructor names. I found bio information for eight of them. Of these eight, none boast doctorates. Five have masters degrees, these being three San Francisco State Cinema MA's, an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute, and an MFA from the late-lamented New College of California. Two more list bachelors degrees as their highest degree: one from UC Santa Cruz and the other from Columbia. The last woman didn't list any degrees at all, but had a long list of film credits.

    The impression that I get is that there's not a great deal of emphasis being placed on advanced degrees, but a lot of attention being directed at practical hand's-on filmmaking experience. The people that I found information for seem to be making documentaries in the SF independent film scene, have employment histories at Industrial Light and Magic, or similar backgrounds. I get the impression that most of them aren't full-time community college instructors and have day-jobs making films.
     
  3. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

    I agee with Bill D that experience seems as important as academics in the film related academics.
    I know someone very well who teaches a film related specialty occasionally for this school
    http://ftv.chapman.edu/
    He never completed his BS degree but is experienced and well regarded in Hollywood where received a top technical award.
     
  4. HikaruBr

    HikaruBr Member

    In Art fields, including Filmmaking, an MFA is considered a terminal degree. It's a two years degree (at least 60 credits - mine is 63) unlike the normal 36 credit MA in Film Studies (that serves to prepare someone for a Phd in FIlm Studies).

    So, in colleges for the practical classes normally the teacher has a MFA or only a BA (or BFA) and a lot of experience.

    The PHD in Film Studies in the USA is mostly theoretical - a PHD in Film Studies form Harvard could graduate without ever touching a camera.

    So Film Studies is one thing, Filmmaking is another, and they both demand different credentials for teaching.
     
  5. filmguy

    filmguy New Member

    True they do certainly require two different credentials as far as theory versus practical base... My preference is for the theoretical route as I want to teach things like Film Theory and World Cinema. I am considering some schools outside the United States that are offering a PhD in either Film, Media or Communications though I am somewhat concerned as some CC's may look down upon an online PhD from outside the US though I think it would give me a diverse background as I would have received my education in Canada, USA and then England.

    Currently (if anyone is still following this thread) I am leaning towards the University of Exeter, EGS and the University of South Africa so please feel free to share any insights you may have on those institutions...
     
  6. filmguy

    filmguy New Member

    Also, I did contact the school that I am currently attending and they revealed the following information (84 candidates):

    • 55% received a promotion or other advancement as a result of completing the MA English program

    • 89% received a salary increase as a result of completing the NU MA English program

    • 44% have been hired to teach part-time in 2 or 4-year colleges as a result of completing the NU MA English program.

    • 15% (13 graduates) have been hired to teach full-time in 2 or 4-year colleges as a result of completing the NU MA English program

    • 6% (5 graduates) have been accepted to doctoral studies on the basis of completing the NU MA English program.

    • 7% (6 graduates) published all or part of their master’s thesis
     
  7. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member


    Could you define "NU"? I looked back through your posts and could not find a definition.
    Thanks.
     
  8. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    National University www.nu.edu?
     
  9. filmguy

    filmguy New Member

    yes... NU = National University
     
  10. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

    "National University" did occurr to me but living in Southern CA I tend to think of NU as a B&M university.
     
  11. filmguy

    filmguy New Member

    No worries... if the statistics are accurate and I honestly see no reason why they shouldn't be than I believe that there is certainly room for optimism regarding teaching at a CC with an online degree (MA and PhD)
     

Share This Page