Instructor Contact

Denah Johnston

• Email: djohnston@ccsf.edu
• Office Hours: Monday/Wednesday 4-5pm and by appointment in advance via Zoom.
• Office Location: REMOTE
• I will respond to all course email within 48 hours Monday-Friday, exclusive of school holidays. Once the course begins, I prefer to get messages through the Canvas "Inbox". 
• You can visit my CCSF instructional website for more information on me and other online classes I teach.

Communication Plan

• I will respond to your messages within 48 hours during the week (Monday-Friday) excluding holidays or if you are notified otherwise. I prefer to get messages through the Canvas "Inbox."
• Your work will be graded within 1-2 weeks of the due date unless you are informed otherwise.
• I will participate in the discussions, but I cannot not respond to every student. The class is divided into two discussion groups and I try to respond to about 8-10 students in each group. Your patience is appreciated. 

Building Community

The heart of this class is the discussion forum. Each week you and your classmates will analyze and discuss the issues that come up in the material this week. Each time this class is offered, I am humbled by the thoughtfulness of all of you, your posts, and your responses to each other inform my understanding of the topics. We learn from each other, from our varied experiences, from our different world views. I look forward to participating in discussions with you.

Instructor Announcements 

The instructor will post announcements on the “Instructor Announcements” page in Canvas throughout the semester. Canvas notifies students according to their preferred  Notification Preferences  as soon as the instructor creates an Announcement. 

Q&A Forum

• A “Q&A Forum” is located in Module 0. This forum is for you to ask for assistance of your classmates or of the instructor. You can also reply to the most recent Announcement which may be seen faster and by more people in the class.

Study the history and development of cult films and the integral role cannabis and drug culture has and continues to play in their creation, production and reception. Considering the social, cultural and political subversion of films screened; reception and ritual practices of cult audiences; analyze the transgressive nature of midnight movies, questions of taste, film aesthetics, and the influence of cult films and cannabis culture on mainstream cinema and branding.

Prerequisites/corequisites/advisories

ADVISORY: ENGL 88 or ESL 188 or readiness for college-level English

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Analyze cult cinema in relation to a range of film texts.
2. Evaluate cult films with regard to their form, production, and ideologies.
3. Investigate specific aspects of cult cinema and cannabis culture.

Class Meetings

There are no face-to-face class meetings for this course. The course is entirely on Canvas.

Course Web Site

Students will use the Canvas Learning Management system  [for assignment instructions, submitting assignments, viewing classmates' work, sharing resources, and viewing grades].  I can help with the course material and with some Canvas issues. But, if you need help uploading an assignment or with the mechanics of Canvas, Canvas help is the number to call.

For 24/7 help with Canvas call: 1-844-592-2198.

Required Textbook

• Cult Cinema An Introduction, Ernest Mathijs and Xavier Mendik, Wiley-Blackwell, 2011
• Other readings may be provided in modules or as links to articles, chapters available via the CCSF Library with your RAM ID

Films

All films for the class are embedded in Canvas via 3CMedia or streaming resources provided by the CCSF Library such as Films on Demand and UC Berkeley's Lumière. Once you use your RAM ID to access Canvas you will be able to stream the films directly in each Module. You do not need to rent or purchase films for this class.

Canvas

Students will use the Canvas Learning Management system  [for assignment instructions, submitting assignments, viewing classmates' work, sharing resources, and viewing grades].  I can help with the course material and with some Canvas issues. But, if you need help uploading an assignment or with the mechanics of Canvas, Canvas help is the number to call.

For 24/7 help with Canvas call: 1-844-592-2198.

Zoom Video Conferencing

If you wish to meet with me send me a message and we can meet in my Zoom room. 

Required Software

• Adobe Reader (Links to an external site.) Links to an external site.
• Update your browser (Links to an external site.) Links to an external site.

Important Dates

• Day Class Begins: August 30 
• Day Class Ends:  December 17
• Last Day to Drop with refund: September 9
• Last Day to Drop without a 'W' symbol: September 17
• Last Day to Opt for Pass/No Pass: December 8
• Last Day to Drop with a EW or apply for leave of absence: December 8
• Grades Posted via MyRam: January 10
• Final Project Due:

Dropping the Class

If you decide to discontinue this course, it is your responsibility to officially drop it  to avoid getting no refund (after 10% of course length), a W symbol (after 20%), or a grade (after 60%). Also, for failing to complete assignments or log into Canvas regularly, the instructor may drop a student. The course drop policy is outlined below under Attendance.

Pass‐NoPass (P/NP)

You may take this class P/NP. You must decide before the deadline, and add the option online with WEB4 or file the P/NP form with Admissions and Records. With a grade of C or better, you will get P.

You must file for the P/NP option by date listed above. Once you decide to go for P/NP, you cannot change back to a letter grade. If you are taking this course as part of a certificate program, you can probably still take the class P/NP. Check with a counselor to be sure.

Attendance

Students must login and complete work on Canvas in order to stay in the class. Students who do not login and/or complete all work from the first week by Sunday September 5th at 11:59pm may be dropped from the class. 

I will maintain Gradebook records via Canvas and will do my best to let you know if you are not completing assignments. Students who do not log into the class for more than one week or do not complete more than two consecutive weeks of assignments may be dropped from the class at any point. Any student whose grade drops below 60% after Module 4 will be dropped.

I will make my best effort to contact students at least once before dropping them from the course. I will contact students via Canvas Inbox. Please make sure that you check your Canvas Inbox or link Canvas messaging to your CCSF email or preferred email address.

Late Policy

All assignments are due at 11:59 p.m. PST on the due date. Submissions more than one week late are not accepted without prior arrangement. 

Methods of Evaluation

The class covers one Module each week. You will be able to read material, watch films, and complete assignments for each week beginning each Monday at 8am. All assignments and/or quizzes from assigned Modules must be completed by 11:59pm on Sundays. Most Modules will require completion of a discussion/reflection post, a response post, and/or a quiz.

The class requires a minimum of about 8 hours of work per week. You will fall behind if you do not plan ahead and complete the work throughout each week. You will not be able to watch feature films, complete the reading (and take quiz(zes) on the reading) and write a discussion post/response post for each Module if you wait until the weekend to complete the work. Discussion assignments make up the majority of the final grade and they require time to receive full points. I cannot open Modules before their scheduled time to accommodate travel plans, vacation etc.

Discussions

All students will be separated into two discussion groups for each discussion assignment. The discussion groups allow you to engage with fewer posts in more detail as opposed to reading 50-70 posts each week. The people in your discussion group may change as I try to maintain even numbers in each group as the semester progresses.  When you enter a discussion assignment, your discussion group will be visible to you at the top of the page.

I have provided detailed grading rubrics in each discussion assignment that outline how posts are graded. The discussions are graded from 0 points to 3 points. You must meet word count requirements, include embedded media (image/YouTube clip) in your initial post, and respond to at least one classmate to earn full points for each discussion assignment.

Quizzes

All quizzes contain five questions. You will have ten minutes for each quiz. The questions will ask you about the reading, Module content, and details about the feature films in each Module. IMPORTANT: You have to watch the feature film AND clips in each Module.

Correct answers will not be revealed to you until everyone has taken a particular quiz. Please take quizzes via an Ethernet connected device (desktop/laptop computers). I cannot reset quizzes because your Wi-Fi was disconnected. I cannot reschedule quizzes. You have one attempt for each quiz in the course.

Grading Policy

Visit the “Grades” in Canvas to keep track of your grades. I grade work within 1-2 weeks  and post grades and comments on the online Canvas gradebook.

 How do I view my grades, teacher comments, and an assignment rubric as a student?

Grades will be assigned as follows: 

Discussion Post & Response Post(s) (50% of Final Grade)

Quizzes (15% of Final Grade)

Midterm (15% of Final Grade)

Project/Paper (20% of Final Grade)

If taking Pass/No Pass you need at least  70%  of the total class points and complete the midterm exam and the final exam to pass the class.

An “F” grade indicates that a student attended, participated and completed the course but failed to master the course curriculum.

An “FW” grade indicates the student stopped attending a course after the “last day to withdraw” deadline and subsequently did not submit any work or participate in any exams. Please check with your counselor and financial aid advisor for possible implications of the FW grade on residency and financial aid status.

If you need classroom or testing accommodations because of a disability, or have emergency medical information to share with me, or need special arrangements in case the building needs to be evacuated, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible. My office hours are by appointment either on the Ocean Campus (9-4 p.m., Monday through Friday) or by Zoom video-conferencing.

Students seeking disability related accommodations are encouraged to also register with Disabled Students Programs and Services located in Room 323 of the Rosenberg Library (415) 452-5481. Please see the  DSPS website  for more information and alternate locations.

Students who register in CCSF classes are required to abide by the  CCSF Student Code of Conduct. Violation of the code is basis for referral to the Student Conduct Coordinator or dismissal from class or from the College. See the Office of Student Affairs.

Collaborating on or copying of tests or homework in whole or in part will be considered an act of academic dishonesty and result in a grade of 0 for that test or assignment. I encourage students to share information and ideas, but not their work. See these links on Plagiarism:

Encourage Academic Integrity and Prevent Plagiarism

Citing Information Sources

Student Expectations 

You will succeed in this course if you meet the following expectations:

• Complete the discussion assignments by their deadlines and participate early in the week. Our discussions are much more vibrant when we all participate. Waiting until Sunday night to post your contributions to the discussions virtually guarantees that no one will read your posts besides me.
  
• Complete the quizzes, the midterm, and submit your project on time.
• Do your own and your best work. Do not cut and paste from web articles and insert copyrighted material into your work.

Instructor Expectations 

Here is what you can expect of me:

• I will respond to your inquiries within 48 hours during the week, unless I inform you otherwise.
• I will treat you and your ideas with respect. I learn much from my students every semester and I treat my students as peers.
  
• I will grade your discussion posts and quizzes most often within 2 weeks.
  
• You will see your grades in the Canvas Gradebook.
• I will work hard to make this a great class.