Thursday Thirteen #11: Classes

Thirteen Classes I've enjoyed in my 5 semesters at The University of Michigan (and 2 half semesters)

1. Theatre Pedagogy
The wonderful Dr. EJ Westlake led this 4 person class on teaching theatre, and using theatre as a teaching tool. I learned so much and had a lot of fun. With only 4 people in the whole class, we had some very good discussions on how theatre should be taught and what we've learned through observation.

2. History of American Film
The film department no longer offers this class, but I thought it was awesome. We went from Edison's black mariah films all the way up to today's industry. I got to see movies like The Gold Rush, Night of the Living Dead, Shaft, It Happened One Night, and Shampoo up on the big screen and talk about film history---a subject I personally love.

3. Set Design 3
Considering I was the only person who showed up for every class (and on time too!) I enjoyed this class. I feel like I'm really growing as a designer, and it's fun to see my class mates improve so much also.

4. Intro to Stage Management
Considering there's no Advanced Stage Management class at UMich, I'd have to list this one. I loved learning about the field hands on and in the classroom. No one can teach a class like Nancy Uffner.

5. The Screenplay as Literature
I took this class during the spring half-term. It kicked my butt, since I was working part-time too, but I kept up with the reading. I learned that the Godfather's script is much different than the movie, that the screenplay of Star Wars sucked, and that Harold and Maude is amazing.

6. Intro to Design
This is the class where all the freshman designers get their feet wet. Featuring projects like: pasting macaroni to paper, painting a hat, making shoe box models (aka diaramas), drawing/painting characters from The Snow Queen....wait, was that College or Second Grade?

7. Theatre History 2
After suffering through a semester of theatre history I didn't care about, I finally got to the real meat of what interested me in theatre history. We read some great plays, and the professor led some good discussions. Mostly, I liked my group's final project, where we presented 2 minutes from Twilight Los Angeles: 1992 as a battle rap.

8. Communications 101
Another spring half-term class, this one was pretty cool. Basically, we talked about media, and how the world interacts with it, how technology has changed everyday life and how media is created, etc. The professor was a little crazy, but she was super nice and understood that all of us were working and taking other classes at the same time, so she was really flexible.

9. Intro to Technical Theatre
The best part of this class was the professor, because Gary Decker is amazing.

10. Rendering
This class taught me to draw, paint, and approach design well. The projects were challenging, but I enjoyed doing them. My portfolio is awesome now!

11. Intro to Information Science
From the name, it looks boring, right? And I admit, that I took this class purely to fulfill my Social Science graduation requirement, but I will also admit that this class was really interesting. The flow of information is complex and confusing, but I understand it now. Also, how we gather and store information has evolved a lot over the last few decades. The lectures were amazing, so I always showed up...even though the Professor podcasted the lectures. I've been pleasantly surprised by most of my non-theatre classes, and this one takes the cake for the most surprising.

12. Scenic Painting Lab
I spent 45 hours in the paint shop for this One Credit practicum, but I'd rather spend it there than anywhere else.

13. Musicology
I love music history, so studying music from Bach to the Beatles was right up my alley.

Pics are of projects I did in some of my classes. First is my Waiting Room set design, second is my Snow Queen scene, and last is my rendering final project