With the fall semester winding to and end and many people knee deep in final projects and Christmas shopping it only makes sense that schools have you register for the following semester. Right?
After a few years of being in school I’ve learned that being a night student requires advanced planning for registration if you wanna get the classes you really want.
This year I swapped my degree plan from Public Administration to what I really like to do, which is Arts and Technology (ATEC). While I love this degree way more, it’s made finding classes extremely hard. The school has all the classes, but very few are offered in the evening.
For next semester, I’m doing two classes at my main college and one at the local community college (online). Keep in mind, these are actually required courses.
The Literature of Fantasy and Sci-fi:
The tradition of the fantastic narrative from classical through modern literature. Consideration of fantasy and/or science fiction as genres melding entertainment and speculation. Works of fantasy may include The Golden Ass, Dracula, and One Hundred Years of Solitude. Writers of science fiction may include Mary Shelley, Poe, Hawthorne, Wells, Clarke, Heinlein, and LeGuin.
Black & White Photography:
Investigation of the photographic process and an examination of the various levels on which meaning is constructed, including selection of subject matter, concern for aesthetics, and socio-cultural context. Instruction in camera techniques will emphasize 35mm photography. Darkroom processes may include traditional or experimental photographic printing methods.
Understanding Film:
Explores artistic, philosophical, political, and psychological dimensions of the motion-picture experience. This course analyzes visual language, cinematic codes, and the ways that films can embody or criticize popular ideas and attitudes. Emphasis may be on film analysis, film compared to the other arts, the functions of art, films as artifacts, the relationship between the filmmakers and the film, the filmmakers and society, or theories of film production and reception.
While the classes will be extremely fun and something that will keep my interest. I know that they will also be really hard.
My biggest issues is with the Black & White Photography class. It just feels incredibly wrong and dirty to pick up a 35mm camera again after shooting with a digital for 5 years now. Thankfully with everyone going digital, the prices on 35mm SLR’s have dropped dramatically. I just got me a Canon EOS Rebel 2000 w/28-200 Lens on eBay for around $100. We’ll see if I’m any good with a 35mm during the holidays. It’s gonna be hard to remember that I actually have to pay to get them developed.