Syllabus

By Joline

NMD499: Capstone II

Course Logistics

Requirements

NMD 498

Time and place

Wednesdays, 10 am – 12:30 am, 420 Chadbourne Hall; plus individual meetings with Instructor

Instructor

Joline Blais, 400 Chadbourne Hall, 581-4486
Office hours Wednesday  2-4 pm
3 credit hours

Course Objectives

  • Design and prototype a New Media project independently
  • Integrate technical, conceptual and perceptual skills learned in former New Media classes
  • Contextualize your project in a historical and cultural milieu
  • Assess most likely audience(s) for your project, work audience meds into project design
  • Assess the relevance and potential impact of your project on intended audience
  • Provide high quality feedback to peers on their projects
  • Learn any new skills or techniques required by your project
  • Plan digital and social media PR for your project
  • Contextualize your project within a conceptual New media framework, listing specific New Media tactics or strategies

Course Guidelines

Grading

Your grade will consist roughly of:

  • 70% Average of all milestone presentation grades.
  • 30% Final Presentation.

NOTE: Because of the grading structure of this class, procrastination will adversely affect your grade and progress.

Course Expectations

Completing work

  • Get your assignments done on time. Procrastination will cause you stress and will result in less enjoyable and lower quality project

Attendance

  • Don’t miss class. Attendance points:
    • 3 absences: 10 points off final grade
    • 4-5 absences: 20 points off final grade
  • Talk to me beforehand if you know you’ll have to miss time in class. We MAY be able to schedule remote make-ups IF we have enough lead-time. If you are responsible for making up work, I can help you when the unusual missed class occurs.

Behavior

  • Raise your hand to ask me a question at any time. (You’ll get equal participation credit for naïve or sophisticated questions!) But be prepared that I may choose to bracket your question in order to keep the discussion on-topic and on-time.
  • Respect the views of others. As in a good e-mail list, keep controversy to a maximum but flaming to a minimum.
  • Stand up and move around if the instructor gives you a break.
  • Respect your fellow students during oral discussion–pay attention, give quality feedback.

Equipment

  • Bring your laptop to every class. Your instructor will let you know exceptions to this rule.
  • Make use of the various labs on campus, including IMRC, and the Collaborative Media Lab in Fogler Library (features specialized audiovisual equipment and individual rooms) and any IMRC facilities you need.

Personal constraints

  • See if you qualify for financial aid for a new laptop.
  • See me if you have an especially difficult personal constraint–such as your own illness, or children or parents you need to care for. I may not be able to help, but I can probably direct you to someone who can. Students with disabilities can also do an end-run around me and go directly to the office of Ann Smith of Services for Students with Disabilities (581-2319). I do not hold any personal circumstance against you in terms of grading (though I cannot credit you for work not done) and will work with you to achieve your best work.
  • Don’t wait until these constraints affect your class work, however. By the time the dog ate your finals DVD, it may be too late to earn my sympathy.

Policies

Academic honesty

An instructor who has probable cause or reason to believe a student has cheated may act upon such evidence, and should report the case to the supervising faculty member or the Department Chair for appropriate action.

Disabilities

If you have a disability for which you may be requesting an accommodation, please contact Ann Smith, Director of Disabilities Services, 121 East Annex, 581-2319, as early as possible in the term.

Discriminatory language

The University of Maine’s non-sexist language policy may be viewed at:   http://www.umaine.edu/WIC/both/language.htm.

Sexual Discrimination Reporting

The University of Maine is committed to making campus a safe place for students. Because of this commitment, if you tell a teacher about an experience of sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking, relationship abuse (dating violence and domestic violence), sexual misconduct or any form of gender discrimination involving members of the campus, your teacher is required to report this information to the campus Office of Sexual Assault & Violence Prevention or the Office of Equal Opportunity.

If you want to talk in confidence to someone about an experience of sexual discrimination, contact:

For confidential resources on campus: Counseling Center: 207-581-1392 or Cutler Health Center: at 207-581-4000.

For confidential resources off campus:  Rape Response Services: 1-800-310-0000 or Spruce Run: 1-800-863-9909.

For non-confidential support services on campus (helpers may have to report the incident to others who can help):

Office of Sexual Assault & Violence Prevention: 207-581-1406

Office of Community Standards: 207-581-1409

University of Maine Police: 207-581-4040 or 911

Or see the OSAVP website for a complete list of services at http://www.umaine.edu/osavp/

Syllabus Disclaimer

In the event of an extended disruption of normal classroom activities,  the format for this course may be modified to enable its completion within its programmed time frame. In addition, student input may alter the content and direction of our work, and I will adjust to make the course as relevant to our mutual learning goals as possible. In either event, you will be provided an addendum to the syllabus that will supersede this version.