Course Syllabus

COGS 160: CINEMA AND COGNITIVE SCIENCE

Greetings COGS 160 students, 

This page has the basic information about the course, and our schedule, with specific guidance about included in each module or page related to parts of the course (getting started, discussion, lectures, assignments, etc.)

The course calendar, announcements and the modules posted are the best way to keep up with the coursework, which has the following components:

• Weekly films and discussion (40%):
  • Weekly films are posted in a module, accompanied by one or more lecture(s) to be viewed asynchronously. We may also post recommended or optional materials like discussion videos, readings, supporting activities or opportunities for extra credit.
  • For each film, discussion takes place a) on Canvas Discussion Board and b) "live" Zoom class, either the Monday or Wednesday class time, depending on holidays, and marked on the calendar. 
  • Films are not announced in advance, but revealed weekly so they can be viewed in context and also in timing with the rest of the class.
• Exams (30%): A midterm and a final exam. These will follow the material presented in lectures and any other required course material, whether or not related to specific films.
• Film reviews (25%): In addition to the films covered in class, students will perform and present more in depth analysis of additional movies as part of their coursework. They will have the opportunity to pick films they are interested in from a list. Depending on the films chosen, most students would be viewing and analyzing an additional 1-2 movies during the later part of the class. More information about film reviews and list will be announced around week 7. I will try to do my best to allow students to choose to do their analyses either in written, presentation or audiovisual format.
• Participation and Extra Credit (10%): You can think of 5% of this as part of the grade and 5% extra credit, assigned in various ways under the broad category of "participation". Since this is a discussion-based class, opportunities for earning extra credit focus on more than just attendance, but also on contributing to the week's discussion in class or online in more depth, or with particularly valuable insights, for helping each other, or for participating in the community. Film reviews also vary in source material difficulty, which gives some room for rewarding more challenging analyses or films. See Discussion and Community Challenge information pages for more detail.