FIL 520: Auteur Cinema
In addition to my involvement as a TA in Film History and teaching my own class of Experimental Animation, I have been a TA for two spring semesters of FIL 520: Auteur Cinema—first taught by Emma Piper-Burket, and second taught by Doorim Kim.
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My responsibilities for this course primarily consisted of writing personalized responses to student posts on Blackboard, managing grades, organizing online resources, and keeping track of student attendance. On a couple of occasions when the main professor was unable to come to class due to illness, I also stepped in as the main instructor to present the planned material.
Assisting with a class of seniors close to graduation was a different experience than helping the freshmen of Film History, granting me experience with the full age range of college students. When working with seniors, I found it helpful to connect the course material to their senior thesis projects, which occupied their main focus. When formulating prompts and providing responses on Blackboard, I would ask questions such as: after studying the film we screened in class, what technical and aesthetic choices made by this director can you consider applying to your own thesis film? I found that questions like this stimulate authentic curiosity by connecting course content to their own goals and personal filmmaking style. The discussion post is no longer perceived as a pointless task to complete in order to graduate, but rather, becomes an opportunity to think about something students care about at this stage: developing their own professional practice and artistic sensibilities as a filmmaker.
Summer Pre-College Film Academy
My time teaching at Syracuse has not been limited to the school year—in fact, I spent some of my most intensive and rewarding time as an educator over the past two summers. As a co-instructor for Syracuse University's Summer Pre-College program, I spent two weeks in Summer 2021 and a total of four weeks in Summer 2022 working with a team to teach high school students introductory principles of filmmaking and guide them in the process of creating multiple short films. Our summer course follows a rigorous, immersive 9am to 4pm daily schedule with additional nighttime lab hours. In this capacity, I had the opportunity to closely mentor, educate, and support young student filmmakers. Each session, it was incredibly meaningful to witness and facilitate their growth and development as filmmakers during the two weeks we spent together.
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My responsibilities included one-on-one help with many stages of the filmmaking process, including teaching complex editing software that was new for students, as well as prepared lessons delivered to the group as a whole (such as the sample slides to the right). After giving a talk about animation and sharing my work, I was excited to see that a larger number of the students were inspired to try animation of their own in their projects for the workshop.
Similar to the Homage Project Teasers I edited as a TA for Film History, I also edited multiple "teaser trailers" for final student showcases in the summer workshop. These short, minute-long videos honor the students' hard work and creativity, showcasing glimpses of the work they made in the class together. I invested the extra care, time, and effort to edit these teasers late at night, after long days of teaching, with a fast turnaround time between when students turned in their assignments and when we showcased them, often within 24 hours. In anticipation of their final celebratory showcase (an hour-long display of work, which I also helped produce, organize, and export), these brief teasers encouraged the high schoolers to take pride in looking back on their achievements, serving as a document of their time in the program to share with friends and family. I am proud of the way my artistic training as a filmmaker translated into my ability as an educator to provide students with a positive, meaningful experience.
Visiting Guest Artist / Speaker
Over the past year, I have enjoyed numerous opportunities to visit classrooms as a guest speaker to screen my work, discuss animation, and lead hands-on workshops, including in the following classes:
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Film Production Class at Cornell University, taught by Doorim Kim
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"Creating the Short Film" Class at DePauw University, taught by Dahee Yun
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Senior Film Production Class at Syracuse University, taught by Kara Herold
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"In Our Own Backyards" Film Class at Syracuse University, taught by Mišo Suchy
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Smartphone Filmmaking Class at Syracuse University, taught by Mišo Suchy
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After-School Songwriting at Ed Smith Elementary School, taught by Mia Stegner
Anyone Can Animate: Hands-On, Beginner-Friendly Animation Workshop
In November 2022, I volunteered to co-lead a free beginner-friendly animation workshop through an organization at Syracuse called GUT-C, which stands for Give Us The Camera, of which I am proud to be a founding member.
The student-run organization aims to foster inclusive, feminist film practices and provide a safe space for all students—particularly women, femmes, queer, trans, and nonbinary people—to learn from one another without fear of the type of judgment, condescension, and gatekeeping often experienced by marginalized groups in the male-dominated film industry and culture.
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I titled the workshop "Anyone can Animate" because while it may seem intimidating, animation is an artform that is possible for anyone to use to express themselves, regardless of prior artistic ability or technical skills. Students in attendance at the animation workshop expressed excitement and enthusiasm as they embraced the hands-on learning experience of trying animation for the first time.
The Creative Classroom: Education Training
In Fall 2022, I enrolled in an inspiring art education class at Syracuse called "The Creative Classroom" as an elective, in order to further develop my teaching skills. This course was taught by Dr. Laura Reeder, who has worked as an art educator for many years, as well as being a national Arts Education consultant and Founding Executive Director of Partners for Arts Education, among other distinguished achievements. This meaningful experience provided an in-depth exploration of pedagogical methodologies specific to the arts that greatly enriched my confidence as a teacher.
Assignments included the development of thoughtful lesson plans pertaining to our own creative practice, and practicing in-class teaching with feedback from peers. I designed and implemented the lesson plan above as part of The Creative Classroom, and later adapted a version of it for use in my own classroom.
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