ENGL 6650-7650
Special Topics in Popular Culture: Joss Whedon
Spring 2013 | Room: PH 322
Monday 600-900 pm
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ENGL 6650-7650 Special Topics in Popular Culture: Joss Whedon Spring 2013 | Room: PH 322 Monday 600-900 pm
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Basics: Agenda | Class Members [Specialties/School of Whedon] | Course Policies and Procedures | Course Requirements | Dr. David Lavery | Power Points | Texts | Whedon Books in Lavery's Library | Whedon Influences | Whedon Signatures | Whedonverses Topics
Extras: Course Blog | School of Whedon | Websites and Links | Whedon Glossary | Whedon Interviews | Whedon Timeline | Whedon Photo Gallery | Whedon's Occasional Writings | Whedon's Series and Movies
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Office: PH 372 Office Hours: M 500-600 pm; T-Th 230-330 pm E-mail: david.lavery@mtsu.edu | david.lavery@gmail.com Office Phone/Voice-Mail: 615-898-5648 Home Page: http://davidlavery.net
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Dr. David Lavery is Professor of English at MTSU (1993- ), where he won the University's 2006 Distinguished Research Award. The author of over one hundred and fifty published essays, chapters, and reviews, he is author / co-author / editor / co-editor of over twenty books, including Joss Whedon, A Creative Portrait: From Buffy the Vampire Slayer to The Avengers, TV Goes to Hell: An Unofficial Road Map of Supernatural, The Essential Cult Television Reader, and The Essential Sopranos Reader. The co-convener of international conferences on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the work of Joss Whedon and on The Sopranos, co-founder of the Whedon Studies Association, and founding co-editor of the journals Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies, Critical Studies in Television, and Series/Season/Show, he has lectured around the world on the subject of television (Australia, Turkey, the UK, Portugal, New Zealand, Ireland, Germany) and has been a guest/source for the BBC, NPR, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, The New York Times, A Folha de Sao Paulo (Brazil), Publica (Portugal), Information (Netherlands), AP, The Toronto Star, USA Today. From 2006-2008, he taught at Brunel University in London. In the Fall of 2013, he will become the Director of Graduate Studies in English. |
All class members will also receive a Whedon Resource DVD [JWRDVD]. Go here for a guide to the JWRDVD.
Click on the images to go to the Amazon page for each book, or follow the link to the Whedonverses Boostore, or order online from any other seller. |
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Class Members [Specialty—School of Whedon Assignment] Daniel Copp [Alien Resurrection—Drew Goddard] | Tom Cruz [Astonishing X-Men—Jeph Loeb] | Sarah Gray-Panesi [Dollhouse—Fran Kranz] | Sara Hays [Firefly—James Marsters] | Lisa Jass [The Avengers—Clark Gregg] | Cori Mathis [Acting/Directing Other People's Shows—Neil Patrick Harris] | Luke Patton [The Cabin in the Woods—Summer Glau] | Dawn Schock [Angel—Ben Edlund] | Tori Warenik [Fray—Alyson Hannigan] |
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Course Policies and Procedures Submission of Assignments: All written assignments must be submitted by the assigned date as a Microsoft Word or Rich Text file via the appropriate D2L Drop Box. Please name the file with your own last name (for example: lavery.doc). Please name the file with your own last name (for example: lavery.doc). Participation & Involvement: Please come prepared for each night’s class. I encourage you to become an active participant in class discussion and to ask constructive and meaningful questions at all times--even when I appear to be "lecturing." Take note that 20% of your course grade is based on class participation. Attendance: Regular attendance is essential to the ongoing progress of the course. One absences will be permitted. A second absence may result in the loss of a letter grade. A third absence may result in failure of the course. Inclement Weather Policy: Go here. Students with Disabilities: Any student with a disability will be given all the rights and privileges guaranteed under the Americans with Disabilities Act if he/she is registered with Disabled Student Services (call/contact John Harris, KUC 120/2783). |
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1. Special Project: Either (A) A critical Essay: A 1500 (MA students)/2,000 (PhD students) word reading/analysis/interpretation of a Whedon written/directed episode(s), movie, comic; or (B) A pedagogical Whedon project: a course syllabus, website, power point presentation, annotated bibliography / filmography / videography or (C) A proposal to a publisher for a book on Whedon's work.—30% of course grade. 2. Major Paper: A source paper of not less than 3000 words (PhD students: 4,000 words) on some aspect of the Whedonverses approved by me.—50% of course grade. 3. Class Participation—20% of course grade based on:
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Angel | Buffy Goes to the Movies | The Cabin in the Woods | Collaborating | Dollhouse | Boy | Firefly/Serenity | From the Mind of Joss Whedon | "I think I was in heaven": Joss Whedon's Atheist Faith | "'I Wrote My Thesis on You': Buffy Studies as an Academic Cult" | Joss Kills People | Joss Whedon: Script Doctoring/Screen Writing | Joss Whedon and Comic Books | Marvel's The Avengers | Michael Bay vs. Joss Whedon | Not Making Wonder Woman | Syllabus | Television Son | Fan Boy | Film Studies Major |Television Writer | "We'd do the weird stuff": Joss Whedon's Naughty Side | What Whedon Learned at Wesleyan | Whedon Studies | Working Outside the System
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Week 1 | January 28
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Week 2 | February 4
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Week 3 | February 11
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Week 4 | February 18
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Week 5 | February 25
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Week 6 | March 4
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Week 7 | March 18
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March 11-17: Spring Break (No Class) |
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Week 8 | March 25
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Week 9 | April 1 [Special Project or Major Paper Due by this date]
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Week 10 | April 8
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Week 11 | April 15
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Week 12 | April 22
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Week 13 | April 29
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Week 14 | May 6 [Special Project or Major Paper Due by this date]
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