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Week 10: Finishing Video and “Changing Over”

This week in ds106 we’ll be completing our video unit and beginning the “Changeover” that will take us through the final weeks of the course (don’t worry, we promise this won’t hurt.) Those of you who worked in groups for video during week 1 will be completing your group project; the rest of you will be completing individual video assignments. We have one last remaining video assignment everyone must do. Beyond that, you’ll all be choosing whether to organize into groups or work solo for the rest of the semester, and everyone will switch over to being their character from here on out.

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Noir106 Tips & Tricks with Maggie Black: Week 3

A winter night at a university campus that knows how to use its digital tools, one DKC tutor is still trying to find the answers to Noir106’s persistent questions… Maggie Black. I know I’ve been quiet for a while now. Too long in the world of the internet. Burtis has me out on the field…

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Noir106 Tips & Tricks with Maggie Black: Week 2

A winter night at a university campus that knows how to use its digital tools, one DKC tutor is still trying to find the answers to Noir106’s persistent questions… Maggie Black. I looked out my window today and thought “a storm’s brewing.” Regardless of what storms, meteorological or otherwise lie ahead, I knew that Noir106…

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Week Two: Writing & Noir

For the second week of class we’ll be diving right into creating. This week will be a combination of reading and writing, because as Burtis always says, “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”

You’ll be choosing some examples of noir across a number of genres to read, i.e. novellas, film scripts, radio scripts, and short stories. We want to be upfront about one thing: these texts are not always easy to read (and we’re not talking about comprehension). Works like Ernest Hemingway’s “The Killers” and James M. Caine’s “The Postman Always RIngs Twice” are products of the times in which they were written (the 1920s and 30s respectively), and the language and attitudes can be racist, sexist, and xenophobic. You may feel uncomfortable with some of the language and ideas, and we encourage an open dialog about this aspect of noir and our reactions to it. It shouldn’t need to be said (but we will say it): our own work in this genre needs to be situated in OUR time — when we have a better understanding of why these attitudes are inappropriate and outdated.

You’ll also be beginning to customize your blog and make it your own.

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