Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts

Bringing fresh perspectives to the Freep Film Festival

stuxbury — Wed, 03 Apr 2024 13:34:11 +0000

Bringing fresh perspectives to the Freep Film Festival stuxbury Wed, 04/03/2024 - 09:34

Growing up queer in a conservative Kansas town, filmmaker Sav Rodgers didn’t realize that the 1997 indie hit “Chasing Amy” was controversial. He regarded the Kevin Smith film, with its lesbian lead character, as lifesaving. It played an important role in Rodgers’ coming out as a trans man.

Filmmaker Sav Rodgers, center, with actor Joey Lauren Adams, left, and director Kevin Smith, right. Photo courtesy/Freep Film Festival

Rodgers has turned his personal experiences with the film, along with some of the difficult feelings around and behind it, into a documentary, which was submitted for consideration for this year’s Freep Film Festival, an all-documentary festival produced by the Detroit Free Press. It was selected by a panel of first-time reviewers who festival organizers say bring a new and welcome perspective to the festival: ��-Dearborn students.

The partnership is part of Assistant Professor of Journalism and Media Production Adam Sekuler’s new “Film Festival Programming” course. Working closely with Freep Festival organizers, students reviewed numerous submissions, assessing each for its artistic merit, storytelling prowess and thematic relevance. In addition to “Chasing Chasing Amy,” the group selected “The Herricanes,” the story of the first women’s full tackle football league in the 1970s.

The effort was an exercise in consensus-building, says Natalie Albrecht, a senior majoring in journalism and screen studies. While “Chasing Chasing Amy” was a shoo-in for many students, sentiments about “The Herricanes” were a bit more varied. “It was on a lot of people’s lists, but it wasn't at the top,” Albrecht explains. But broad appeal is a key consideration in curation, so that made the film a strong contender. Also, both films got the students talking, which Albrecht sees as a harbinger of how festival audiences will respond. “I feel like the ones that we chose were ones that we felt we had the most dialogue about,” she says.

Kathy Kieliszewski, the festival’s artistic director and co-founder, says the students’ involvement brought viewpoints she and her colleagues have been seeking for some time. “We've had diversity in the programming pool as a mission, because obviously different people have different perspectives. And so (with the students) we had a different demographic. It was incredibly diverse,” she explains, noting that even the festival’s interns have been a bit older than Sekuler’s students and also that the ��-Dearborn crew brought a range of cultural backgrounds into the mix. The students “came at it with all of their own history and all of their own perspectives,” Kieliszewski observes.

That said, Kieliszewski says she’s thrilled that the two films selected by the students were two of her favorites as well: “Ultimately, a good film is a good film, you know? Is it relating to you on a very human basic level? And in this instance, ‘Chasing Chasing Amy,’ and ‘The Herricanes’ do that very well.”

As a part of a film course, ��-Dearborn student Aaron Vensko, left, records local rapper Esa Mighty for the documentary "Becoming Mighty." The short film was selected to be shown in the Freep Film Festival.

Curation is only one aspect of Sekuler’s course — the students are also learning about event planning, festival logistics, marketing and publicity, and fundraising. Through regular Zoom visits with film industry professionals and filmmakers, including Rodgers, the students are hearing firsthand about filmmaker experiences, compensation and other labor practices, organizational structures, and the often difficult realities of making a living as a film programmer, a job Sekuler himself held for many years.

Sekuler was intentional in exposing his students to the nitty gritty of the industry, even convincing a guest programmer to pull up her budget spreadsheet and share it with the class. Such practical skills have wide application, Sekuler points out. “I mean, the dream job is obviously going into film programming,” he says. “The immediate job is you could work in any sort of event production whatsoever. There are skills that you learn from this that are just about how does a cultural organization work, which is really different than, say, a corporate organization.”

While Albrecht has found much of what she has learned sobering, she is glad to have gained a realistic view of the arts industry as she prepares to enter the job market. Practice-based learning, after all, is not just about acquiring the skills related to a potential career choice, but discovering whether that choice aligns with a student’s goals, financial and otherwise.

As her graduation approaches, Albrecht — who has also been a teaching assistant for the Art & Agency project on campus as well as co-editor of the literary journal, Lyceum — says she is considering communications work, where she envisions stability while applying the skills she’s gained in her courses and extracurricular projects. She plans to continue to pursue her creative interests on the side. “What I think I'm figuring out is that I still feel more complete when I am involved in creative work,” she says. “But I am very much aware of the realism now that, like every creative industry, it is kind of a struggle.”

The Freep Film Festival runs April 10-14 at locations in Midtown Detroit and Birmingham, with some streaming options. In addition to the student-selected films, ��-Dearborn’s involvement includes a panel discussion following ‘Chasing Chasing Amy’ moderated by Associate Professor of Women's and Gender Studies Amy Brainard. “Becoming Mighty,” a short film produced by students in Sekuler’s "Arab American Perspectives" documentary filmmaking course last semester, screens as part of the festival’s Real Fresh University Showcase.

Story by Kristin Palm

Experiential Learning

College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters

Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts

Student Engagement

Off

Wed, 04/03/2024 - 13:22

Students in a new course designed by CASL Assistant Professor Adam Sekuler helped curate the all-documentary event, now in its 11th year.

Assistant Professor Adam Sekuler and his students discuss "Chasing Chasing Amy," one of their Freep Film Festival selections. Photo/Max Parham

��-Dearborn launches new engineering program for makers, creatives and designers

lblouin — Tue, 14 Jul 2020 12:18:42 +0000

��-Dearborn launches new engineering program for makers, creatives and designers lblouin Tue, 07/14/2020 - 08:18

A collage graphic showing a young woman working with a laptop surrounded by art supplies and imagery of graphs and mathematical equations.

Creative fields like art and design are generally stereotyped as being at odds with more technical fields like engineering. But Applied Arts Lecturer Sarah Nesbitt says many students often see the synergy. In recent years, she’s had more than a few engineering students show up in her drawing, photography and design courses looking for something they wish they had more of in their engineering programs. “They often feel a little conflicted about their majors because they want to do more creation, more building — and that’s not always the focus,” Nesbitt says. “Lately, when I’ve been telling students about this new program we have in the works, they’re just like, ‘where do I enroll? That’s totally for me.’”

That new program is a Bachelor of Science in Engineering in Human Centered Engineering Design (HCED), which launches this fall for current engineering students and makes its full debut for new students in Fall 2021. The HCED program will feature all the same technically rigorous coursework in science and math that engineering majors have to survive now. But on top of that, students get an equally extensive lineup of art, design, human factors and anthropology courses — the key interdisciplinary components of the Human Centered Design discipline that’s often seen as the future of the engineering field.

Assistant Professor of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering Georges Ayoub says the program grew out of a desire amongst faculty and university leadership to deeply rethink how ��-Dearborn approaches engineering education. “Currently, the majority of engineering education is knowledge-based and focuses on mathematical and scientific tools that the students apply to solve engineering problems. But there isn't always a lot of connection with real problems,” Ayoub says. “So we wanted this undergraduate program to be a problem-based design program, where every year, each cohort of students will be presented with real-life community or industry problems and will be challenged to create solutions.” Ayoub says through that process, they’ll learn crucial engineering intangibles like problem identification, rapid and low-fidelity prototyping, and collaboration and communication skills. They’re also getting a new design studio — filled with art supplies and engineering gear — that will serve as an instructional and maker space.

Assistant Professor of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering DeLean Tolbert says the program has the potential to expand the pool of people who may consider engineering as a discipline. “I think this will appeal to students who always felt like math was a barrier to engineering, in the sense that they have trouble connecting with the subject when they really just want to get in there and do some designing or solve a problem that would help people,” Tolbert says. “Some students have created this experience for themselves by dancing between art and engineering, and joining the competition teams. Now, we'll be able to provide that right out of the gate.”

Tolbert says the new program also has the potential to address the access and equity issues that still plague the engineering field. Tolbert, whose research focuses on such challenges, says when other university programs have made attempts to offer their curriculums in more “culturally and socially relevant” forms, it’s helped boost interest among groups currently underrepresented in engineering, like women and students of color.

“We’re hoping that by creating more opportunities to use engineering to meet social needs, more women and underrepresented minority student groups will begin to see that engineering makes sense to them,” Tolbert says. “We have students who really do struggle with the question of whether engineering is incompatible with caring about social issues. So I think this program will appeal to people who care about their communities and want to use engineering and design in really ethical ways.”

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Want to learn more about the new Bachelor of Science in Engineering in Human Centered Engineering Design? Send your questions directly to Sarah Nesbitt, DeLean Tolbert and Georges Ayoub.

Inclusion or Diversity

College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters

Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts

College of Engineering and Computer Science

Computer and Information Science

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering

Mechanical Engineering

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Tue, 07/14/2020 - 12:17

Could this be the future of engineering education?

Longtime Professor Maureen Linker named Mardigian Library director

stuxbury — Tue, 07 Jan 2020 14:08:10 +0000

Longtime Professor Maureen Linker named Mardigian Library director stuxbury Tue, 01/07/2020 - 09:08

Maureen Linker photo

To help students prepare for finals, Philosophy Professor Maureen Linker — along with other professors across campus — answered student questions and reviewed papers during the library’s The Finals Jam! To help teach logic, she had Monty Python skits ready to go. As a de-stressor, Play-Doh was on the table and a tongue-in-cheek nod to the Greek philosopher.

Linker, who had a role in creating the Finals Week initiative, says the goal of the library’s new programming is to let students know that the library — and the people within it — are there to give students the support, academic and otherwise, needed to pursue their goals. Students have taken notice. At “The Finals Jam!” described above, several hundred took part; nearly 40 students came to the philosophy session alone.

Settling back in for the Winter 2020 semester, Reporter recently spoke to Linker about the library’s focus in the new year, her latest reads and the difference a good librarian can make in your life.

This might be a predictable question for a library director, but what’s the last book you read? Where are the Women?

Why Expanding the Archive Makes Philosophy Better by author Sarah Tyson. When we think of philosophy in a general sense, if we think of it at all, our minds typically go to the ancient Greeks — you know, old guys in togas. This book goes back through history and talks about women in Western philosophy and their contributions. It also does a nice job explaining why including women writers in the canon of philosophy improves our understanding of the three main power areas in culture — education, economics and religion — both historically and today. I’m including it in my Winter 2020 Feminist Philosophy course.

Obviously you spend a lot of time in the library today. Did you as a child too?

Yes. I grew up in Brooklyn and my home library was in Grand Army Plaza. It’s a great library. But not just because of the place, but also because of the people. When I was young, I really liked astronomy. I remember telling that to a librarian there, who guided me to books on how the constellations got their names through Greek myths. I remember the librarian saying to me that time changes so much — but the sky we look at today is the same sky the ancient Greeks looked at. That statement made me feel a real connection to ancient history.

I also had a very good school librarian growing up, Brother Stanislav. When I was 8 or 9, I was curious about World War II. He guided me to The Diary of Anne Frank. Later, he recommended When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit. I was learning about World War II, but also about resistance efforts and heroic ethical actions people took. I have to believe those librarians guiding me to those books helped grow interests of mine that eventually led me to philosophy.

Do you visit libraries when you travel? If so, can you share a favorite one?

Yes, I do. The one that sticks out is George Washington’s personal library in Mount Vernon. My friend is a historian who was doing a special project at Mount Vernon and I was able to go and see it. The library is in the inner sanctum of his home — there was a special key needed to get into this interesting circular room. Many of the books were in the same order as they were when he died. I also learned that he had several copies of Don Quixote, a story about an optimistic fool, because it was his favorite book. There was a copy gifted to him from the King of Spain.

You’ve taught here for more than 20 years, so you’re familiar with campus. But what’s something about the library that you didn’t realize until you stepped into the director role?

How crowded the library is at night and on weekends. We have 400 students on weeknights and more on Sundays. We are traditionally a commuter campus, so I thought many of my students studied at home. But they are here. That’s what I want faculty to know — if you are ever looking for a student, the odds are good that you’ll find them in the library. If you have the time, please come by. It would mean so much for your students to see you here.

Now that you are officially the director, do you have any library goals you’d like to share?

It’s not a secret that we feel it’s time for the library to undergo a major renovation, but something we’ve learned from doing library field research is that you can make changes to culture and practices in preparation of a new space. You don’t need to wait and you shouldn’t. Even though libraries are an old idea, they are extremely relevant and needed today with all of the information we constantly have in front of us. Information literacy is important during this critical period in our history. We want students to feel comfortable in this space so they will continue to spend time here, have access to resources, and become confident and capable with managing information.

To do that, our focus is on making the library a place of scholarly belonging. Not that it wasn’t before, but we are now making a concerted effort. It’s also important to remember that just because it’s scholarly doesn’t mean we can’t have fun. That’s where the new programming, like the Finals Week events, comes in. We want students to feel the space is good for them and the work they are doing. We are moving toward creating a “learning commons,” where students want to go to gather in a way that goes beyond a traditional place to study. We want to be the place to go where students can collaborate, create, discuss, examine, express — these are all important in the learning process.

Faculty and Staff

Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts

Mardigian Library

Off

Tue, 01/07/2020 - 14:05

Maureen Linker stepped into her library director role officially last month. But she’s been working in the scholarly space for some time now and you probably have noticed her student-focused approach.

Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts

Bringing fresh perspectives to the Freep Film Festival

������-Dearborn launches new engineering program for makers, creatives and designers

Longtime Professor Maureen Linker named Mardigian Library director

This might be a predictable question for a library director, but what’s the last book you read? Where are the Women?

Obviously you spend a lot of time in the library today. Did you as a child too?

Do you visit libraries when you travel? If so, can you share a favorite one?

You’ve taught here for more than 20 years, so you’re familiar with campus. But what’s something about the library that you didn’t realize until you stepped into the director role?

Now that you are officially the director, do you have any library goals you’d like to share?

��-Dearborn launches new engineering program for makers, creatives and designers