Geology in the Movies - Fall 2012 Course Syllabus - UT Direct

Geology in the Movies
                        Fall 2012 Course Syllabus
Class Time: Mon/Wed 11-12p in JGB 2.218
Instructor: Dr. Ginny Catania
Office Location: EPS 3.128, gcatania@ig.utexas.edu; 512.471.0403
Office Hours: Thursdays 10-11a, or by appointment
Textbook: Natural Hazards (3rd Ed.), by: E.A. Keller and D.E. DeVecchio

Course Overview: Hollywood disaster movies are endlessly fun to watch but notorious
at getting the facts wrong. This leads to poor public understanding of how science gets
done and how the Earth works. This course provides students with a general
background in Earth science as well as the communication tools to debate complex
Earth science controversies with confidence. We will explore the realities of how the
Earth works versus the Hollywood interpretation and students will re-write movies to
make them more scientifically palatable.

Prerequisites: No prior knowledge of Earth science is expected but students should be
prepared to engage in class discussions. General writing and oral skills will be put to
use.

Course Format: We will meet twice a week for lectures and quizzes and then you will
meet with your TA once a week for a discussion section (on Fridays). In the discussion
sections you will watch and discuss movies and documentaries related to Earth
Sciences. Active participation in class discussion will also be an integral part of the
learning experience and accounts for 10% of your final grade. Class discussions will
require that you listen to the ideas of others, formulate and edit your own ideas and
present them in a cogent manner. ALL students are expected to watch the movies and
join these discussions.

Additional Course Requirements: Because this is a Signature Course we have
unique opportunities to take advantage of special UT resources. This includes making
use of information literacy to understand the sources we use for research, significant
writing assignments, a visit to the Texas Natural Science Center and the opportunity to
attend one of the UT lecture series.

           Important!    You must attend one of the lectures listed here:

Research that Changes the World Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. at Bass Concert Hall
Juan Dominguez, Ph.D.; Zachary Elkins, Ph.D.; Lori Holleran-Steiker, Ph.D.

Election 2012: History, Rhetoric, Politics Sept. 18, at 7pm at Bass Concert Hall
H.W. Brands, Ph.D.; Sharon Jarvis, Ph.D.; Daron Shaw, Ph.D.

Course Evaluation:         Class Project: 40%
                           Movie Summaries: 10%
                           Class discussions: 10%
                           Quizzes: 40% (5 of them)

This course carries the Writing Flag. Writing Flag courses are designed to give students
experience with writing in an academic discipline. In this class, you can expect to write
regularly during the semester, complete substantial writing projects, and receive
feedback from your instructor to help you improve your writing. You will also have the
opportunity to revise assignments, and to read and discuss your peers’ work. You
should expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from your written work.

Details on the class project are given at the end of the syllabus. Movie summaries are
due in the discussion period after the movie has been shown (see schedule). These
are a single paragraph summarizing the point of view in the movie and identifying any
possible mistakes or biases identified by you or in class discussions.

We will have 5 quizzes that will be administered during class time. Quizzes are a
mixture of true/false, multiple choice, and short essay. The best 4 of these quizzes will
count toward your final grade. Quizzes are non-cumulative, and may contain questions

about other class related activities (e.g. the visit to the Natural History Museum etc.).
You will have one week in which to make up missed assignments and quizzes and will
be penalized 10%. After a week, forget it. The final paper will not be accepted if late. If
you know you will be absent for an assignment deadline or a quiz please let me
AND your TA know in advance so we can make other arrangements for you.

Grades for this course will be assigned using the plus/minus grading system
(www.utexas.edu/provost/planning/plus-minus/). The university does not recognize the
grade of A+ so the following rubric will be used for determining grades:

                                 Letter GPA      %
                                 A         4 94-100
                                 A-     3.67 90-93.9
                                 B+     3.33 87-89.9
                                 B         3 84-86.9
                                 B-     2.67 80-83.9
                                 C+     2.33 77-79.9
                                 C         2 74-76.9
                                 C-     1.67 70-73.9
                                 D+     1.33 67-69.9
                                 D         1 64-66.9
                                 D-     0.67 60-63.9
                                 F         0

Class Project: As an expert in Geology, you have been asked by a famous Hollywood
producer to re-make a Hollywood disaster movie. This project involves a thorough critique
of the original movie and a description of how you would improve the movie using the
scientific knowledge you’ve gained in class. You can pick any movie or documentary that
involves natural disasters (ask me for suggestions) except for those watched in class. More
information will be given at a later date as to the exact nature of each assignment.

1. The first assignment is to produce an outline of your final paper. The outline will include
a brief description of the movie you wish to remake and a description of how you will carry
out the necessary research to understand when they get the science wrong. You will not
review the science here, just tell me how you will perform the research needed to critique it.
Due date Sept. 28; worth 5% of final grade.

2. The second assignment is to produce a rough draft of the final paper. This is a more
‘flushed out’ version of the outline. By now, I expect that you will have made the time to
watch your movie and examine where it goes awry. The rough draft can be a set of bullet
points but keep in mind that the final paper will be more polished if you put effort into your
rough draft. This rough draft will be graded by your peers. Due Oct. 17; worth 10% of
final grade.

3. The third assignment is to provide a thorough critique of a rough draft from one of your
peers. I expect you to correct spelling and grammatical errors and to outline where the
author can improve the paper (both generally and specifically). Due Nov. 2; worth 5% of
your final grade.

4. The fourth assignment is to produce a final paper (5-pages) that will be graded based
equally on scientific quality and writing ability. The final project will have 3 parts: 1) a short
description of the movie you have picked (general plot outline) and the Earth science topic
explored in the movie; 2) a description of the science that is not executed correctly in the
movie and; 3) revisions to the plot based on the real science you’ve learned in class (and
elsewhere). Due Nov. 30; worth 10% of final grade.

5. The fifth assignment is to present your ‘revised movie’ in class. This will be framed as a
pitch to a room full of movie producers (your TA and your peers). You need to convince us
why we should make your movie. The presentation should last just 6-7 minutes and can
involve visuals of any media. You are expected to attend the presentations of your
classmates. Presentations take place during the last few days of class; worth 8% of final
grade.

6. A final assignment will be to condense your entire paper down to 140 characters (the
length of a tweet). This is designed to help you extract out all of the important information
so that you can convey information effectively. This is due at the end of classes and is
worth 2% of your final grade.

If you need help writing your paper I suggest you come to me for help, read about writing on
the internet or visit the Undergraduate Writing Center (uwc.utexas.edu/) where you can
receive hands-on assistance with writing projects.

TENTATIVE CLASS SCHEDULE