Did the course cover the outlined scope, aims and
objectives?
a)
Completely 4
b)
To a large degree 3
c)
Not very
a)
Very 4
b)
Adequately 3
c)
Not very
Do you feel the
intellectual demands made on you were appropriate for the level of the course?
This was an open
question, allowing personal responses. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive.
Praise was given for the lectures and seminar work. Reading load and difficulty
was said to be demanding but satisfying. Typical response:
“The course was well balanced on the whole – the reading was generally very helpful, if sometimes a bit much. Not too much prior knowledge of the cinemas was assumed, which was good.”
Lectures and
provision or reading materials were singled out, as was the availability and
close study of difficult to view and rare films on video and DVD.
“In depth case studies were excellent, very useful
material. Haven’t seen most of the films screened before the course.”
Mostly the students
had no criticisms.
Those that did
respond criticised the wide coverage of regions throughout the course, and
suggested cutting down or focusing down the number and/or range of films,
although this was rather confused:
“I think the course tried to cover too much and I would have liked a more concentrated focus on a particular region. However I am undecided about this since I enjoyed the range of films chosen. Having said that, perhaps cutting down the films to let’s say 2-3 countries might be a better option.”
Which teaching
methods did you find most helpful to you? (this might include: class
presentations, feedback from essays, class discussions, lectures, videos, etc)
Lectures and class
presentations were singled out by several students. Several also cited the
usefulness of the videos and screenings:
“I liked the way it was grounded in the films we watched and discussed.”
Were you satisfied
with your own level of preparation and participation?
a) Very 4
b) Reasonably 2
c) Not
very 1
Do you have any
constructive suggestions to offer as to how the presentation of the material in
individual classes might be improved?
Most students did not
respond. A couple cited the desire for more films to give a deeper coverage of
the countries studied: “More films which related with individual courses
[sessions] should [be] available, such as Iranian and Third World cinema films.
One very useful observation/suggestion was to reverse the order of the two
5-week units of the course, so that the general survey of several countries
comes first and the specialist study of Brazil second. This makes good sense
and will be acted upon next year, not so much in a straight reversal of units,
but more in terms of offering direct comparison between two specialist cinemas,
one on Brazil and the other predominantly Japanese.
Several responses
mentioned the development of independent research through the overall framework
of the course and through availability of viewing materials in addition to
weekly screenings: “How to read a film”
Do you find that the
availability of reading materials listed in the bibliography was:
a)
Good 4
b)
Reasonable 2
c)
Poor
d)
No response 1
Are there any changes
you would wish to make that might prove useful to students taking the course in
subsequent years?
Most students did not
respond. Those that did suggested more videos on fewer countries, more practice
at reading films closely, and written reading to be given out pre-start of
course.
a) Very
much 6
b) Adequately
c) A
little
d) No
response 1
Do you find the accommodation, (audio) visual equipment and
other facilities were:
a)
More than adequate 2
b)
Adequate 4
c)
Less than adequate
d)
No response 1
Only two responses
1. “Both
Lucia and Laura put a lot into this course. I didn’t know much about Brazilian
cinema before I took this course but my interest in it has been aroused as a
result. But I found some of the films in Laura’s part of the course fascinating
and moving – especially the emphasis on women’s cinema. I was taking a course
that focused on Iranian cinema at SOAS and Laura’s parallel comment on the same led me to a lively
debate in both courses! I would highly recommend this course, though I feel
that the students taking it should be more prepared or have more of a
theoretical background. On the whole, I would say that I valued this course
most out of all that I took for my Masters degree [….] it was the best thing I
did all year.
2. “Thank
you very much!!”