Undergraduate Education Overview

Courses Offered for the Upcoming Semester

Current and Past Semester Courses

Instructors

Undergraduate Certificate

Documentary Studies Courses and Cross-Listed Courses

Lehman Brady Visiting Joint Chair Professor in Documentary Studies and American Studies

Student Opportunities at CDS




Past Semester Courses

Spring 2009

DOCST 100S.01 Children and the Experience of Illness
Instructor: Moses
W 10:05 a.m.–12:35 p.m. (CDS, Bridges 201)
An exploration of how children cope with illness, incorporating the tools of documentary photography and writing. Students will work outside class with children who are ill and teach them how to use a camera, working toward an exhibit of photographs at the end of the semester. Permission required. No prerequisites.
Cross list: PUBPOL 100S.01


DOCST 105S.01 Documentary Experience: A Video Approach
Instructor: Hawkins
W 10:05 a.m.–12:35 p.m. (CDS, Bridges 104)
F 10:05 a.m.–12:35 p.m. (CDS, Bridges 007)
A documentary approach to the study of local communities through video production projects assigned by the course instructor. Working closely with local groups, students will explore issues or topics of concern to the community. Each student will complete a ten-minute edited video as a final project. Consent of instructor required.
Cross list: CULANTH 134S.02; FVD 139S.02; HISTORY 150BS.02; POLISCI 156S.02; VISUALST 103CS.02; PUBPOL 105S.02


DOCST 111S.01 Documentary Writing
Instructor: Murrell
MW 2:50 p.m.– 4:05 p.m. (CDS, Bridges 001)
The art and practice of independent research, reporting, and writing in the long-form documentary tradition. Students will study the work of great narrative writers, engage with issues ranging from the ethics and techniques of close observation to writing as a humane art, as well as editing, interviewing styles, and getting work published. Class structured to inspire and support a semester-long writing project that is conceived and written with an eye to publication.
Cross list: ENGLISH 101ES.01


DOCST 112S Freedom Stories
Instructor: Tyson
W 11:40 a.m.– 2:10 p.m. (CDS, Bridges 113)
Documentary writing course focusing on race and “storytelling” in the South, using fiction, autobiography, and traditional history books. Students will produce narratives using documentary research, interviews, and personal memories. Focus on twentieth-century racial politics.
Cross list: AAAS 112S.01; HISTORY 150ES.01


DOCST 115.01 Introduction to Photography
Instructor: Hunter
Th 10:05 a.m.–12:35 p.m. (CDS, Bridges 201)
Foundation class in black-and-white photographic process as the basis for using photography as a visual language. Students learn to make a printable exposure using black-and-white film, a “proper proof,” and an 8-by-10 enlargement. Assignments include portraits, alternative techniques, landscape, and a final portfolio that embodies a single visual idea. Consent of instructor required.
Cross list: ARTSVIS 115.01


DOCST 118S.01 Alternative Photographic Process
Instructor: Hunter
Tu 10:05 a.m.–12:35 p.m. (CDS, Bridges 201)
Survey of historic photographic processes, including gum bichromate, cyanotype, calotype, and platinum/palladium printing. Consent of instructor required.
Cross list: ARTSVIS 122AS.01


DOCST 125S.01 Behind the Veil: Methods
Instructor: Krochmal
TTh 2:50 p.m.–4:05 p.m. (CDS, Bridges 113)
Oral history methodology and documentary techniques, centered on the Jim Crow South. Focus on the Behind the Veil oral history collection; video, audio, and secondary reading materials; theory and practice of oral history. This course moves out of the visible world of the white supremacist South and into the invisible interior life of the region's African Americans. The course allows students to see "firsthand" what the South looked like "behind the veil" of segregation. We will conduct a semester-long group oral history project in coordination with local community partners. Each student will conduct an interview and do follow-up research as needed. The course culminates in a community presentation of our research findings.
Cross list: AAAS 125S.01; HISTORY 129S.01


DOCST 129.1 Contemporary Documentary Films
Instructors: Abe, Rankin
Tu 1:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m. (Nasher 105)
Integrated with the films and filmmakers of the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. Course looks at the art form and technology of documentary films, and continuity and change in the style, issues, and politics of contemporary documentary filmmaking. Analysis of outstanding films from around the world. Presentations and discussions by filmmakers.
Cross list: FVD 103.1; POLSCI 156A.1; PUBPOL 171.1; VISUALST 117B.1


DOCST 132.01 The South in Black and White
Instructor: Tyson
Tu 7:15 p.m.–9:30 p.m. (CDS, Bridges 007)
Documentary traditions in the American South, with focus on the call and response between black and white cultures in a region where democracy has been envisioned and embattled with global consequences. History and culture as documented in spirituals, gospel, blues, and rock-and-roll; civil rights photography; Southern literature; and historical and autobiographical writing. Will include work by such historians as W.E.B. Du Bois, C. Vann Woodward, John Hope Franklin; literary achievements of Richard Wright, Zora Neal Hurston, and Ernest Gaines along with their white counterparts, William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Lillian Smith, and others. Includes lectures, music, poetry, film clips, discussion, and visitors.
Cross list: AAAS 131.01

Podcasts about "The South in Black and White"


DOCST 133S.1 Adapting Literature – Producing Film
Instructor: James
M 4:40 p.m.–7:40 p.m. (Carr 106)
Students will participate in the collaborative production of a short dramatic film adapted from a short story. Students will be exposed to every aspect of the filmmaking process. Utilizing on-campus and off-campus expertise, students will gain a better understanding of the interdisciplinary aspects of filmmaking.
Cross list: FVD 133S.1; ARTSVIS 138S.1


DOCST 144S.01 Literacy Through Photography
Instructor: Hyde
Tu 4:25– 6:55 p.m. (CDS, Bridges 113)
Children’s self-expression and education through writing, photography, and documentary work. Focus on the reading and critical interpretation of images. The history, philosophy, and methodology of Literacy Through Photography. Includes internship in elementary- or middle-school classrooms.
Cross list: EDUC 144S.01


DOCST 150S.01 Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking
Instructor: Hawkins
WF 2:50 p.m.– 4:05 p.m. (Friedl 103)
Intermediate to advanced filmmaking techniques. Presumes a working knowledge of Final Cut Pro and mini-DV camera, as well as some fieldwork experience with a camcorder. Topics include fieldwork in a variety of communities and work on pertinent social and cultural issues. Prerequisite: Documentary Studies 105S or equivalent experience and knowledge. Consent of instructor required.
Cross list: FVD 116S.01; PUBPOL 182S.01


DOCST 155S.01 Intermediate Audio Documentary
Instructor: Biewen
Tu 3:05 p.m.–5:35 p.m. (CDS, Bridges 104)
Intermediate to advanced audio documentary techniques. Includes instructor-supervised fieldwork with an audio recorder in a variety of cultural settings on a particular issue, as well as independent work on students’ own audio productions resulting in broadcast-quality pieces suitable for radio or podcasting. Prerequisite: Documentary Studies 135S or equivalent. Consent of instructor required.


DOCST 158S.01 Small Town USA
Instructor: Post-Rust
Th 1:30 p.m.– 4:00 p.m. (Smith Arts Warehouse)
Theory and practice of documentary photography in a small-town context. Students work in collaboration with each other to complete a documentary photographic study of Hillsborough, NC. Each student documents one person, community, or issue. Course of study includes an analysis of the documentary tradition, particularly as it relates to locally situated work and to select individual projects. The course addresses issues inherent in the documentary process, including building visual narratives, developing honest relationships with subjects, responsibility to subjects and their communities, and engaging with and portraying a community as an outsider. Students learn photo elicitation and editing techniques and use them to inform their projects during the semester. As part of their coursework, students will produce exhibition-quality work for presentation in Hillsborough. Students must have access to transportation (including shared rides) during the semester. Consent of instructor required. Email: susie@susiepostrust.com.
Cross list: PUBPOL 158S.01; ARTSVIS 158S.01


DOCST 181S.01 Our Culinary Cultures
Instructor: Alexander
F 10:20 a.m.–12:50 p.m. (CDS, Bridges 113)
This course applies a documentary approach to the world of food and its inhabitants, from the men who sling eggs at Las Vegas diners to the farmers who raise North Carolina hogs. Students will employ extensive fieldwork to show the ways in which understanding what a person eats establishes his or her cultural identity. We will examine, through deep personal stories, issues in food including how it is raised, prepared, and presented. Food-oriented research projects will reveal the key biographical, economic, religious, and other truths that connect what we eat to who we are. We will cook for each other in the kitchen lab as well.


DOCST 190S.01 Documenting Traditional Music
Instructor: Gerrard
Tu 3:05 p.m.–5:35 p.m. (CDS, Bridges 201)
Field documentation of traditional musicians in Durham and beyond. Students learn field recording techniques, write about traditional music, and experience live performances by old-time mountain, blues, and gospel musicians. Instructor has performed nationally for forty years and has a broad network of contacts in the music business. Students learn culture and history as told through music traditions.
Cross list: MUSIC 170S.01


DOCST 190S.03 Writing/Performing the Self
Instructor: Grant
W 10:05 a.m.–12:35 p.m. (CDS, Bridges 001)
This course explores the connections between narrative—the ability to tell one's own story—and self-determination, both individual and collective. Introduces students, through reading and practice, to nonfiction forms including the personal essay, political essay, lyric essay, and the monologue. Students will further their mastery by collaborating with Durham public school students to produce their own life stories, first as essays, then as monologues for performance. We will read the work of essayists James Baldwin, George Orwell, and Richard Rodriguez, as well as the nonfiction monologues of Anna Deavere Smith, to better understand the rich aesthetics of nonfiction forms and the transformative power of bearing witness to the self.
Cross list: EDUC 170S.01; THEATRST 139S.01; ENGLISH 173S.01


DOCST 190S.04 Documentary and South Africa
Instructor: Lucey
MF 11:40 a.m.–12:55 p.m. (CDS, Bridges 201)
Examines the manner in which the story of the South African struggle was told by competing media in the years leading up to the first democratic election. Students will look at the challenges faced by media and independent practitioners since that momentous change. Are there lessons to be learned from the ways the story was told? What are the implications of news coverage by different media? The course will also have a significant practical element, which will include an examination of how modern technological tools can be best used to construct and tell stories, particularly in an African environment. Students will view recent documentaries produced by the instructor and discuss how new modalities were used in the making of these films.
Cross list: HISTORY 106S.02


DOCST 190S.05 The Personal Documentary
Instructor: Ellis
Th 2:50 p.m.–5:20 p.m. (CDS, Bridges 201)
This production course will examine the personal documentary, a documentary approach that incorporates the experience of the filmmaker by acknowledging the filmmaker as observer and participant. Personal documentaries have enabled filmmakers to intimately address often marginalized questions of self, family structure, sexuality, gender, religion, race, class, culture, and more. Select readings and screenings of a diverse range of films will help students develop a critical and artistic approach to the genre. The course also serves as a workshop in which students develop and complete their own ten-minute personal documentary.
Cross list: FVD


DOCST 190.06 The Human Trafficking Project
Instructor: O'Berski
TuTh 1:15 p.m.–2:30 p.m. (Brody Theater 001)
There are more slaves now in the 21st century than during any other period in history. They are cheaper to buy, more expendable than ever and exist in almost every country. Why are there so many "disposable people"? This acting class will support the research and creation of a devised theater piece, with the possibility of production by the Department of Theater Studies in November 2009. With a concentration on performance, we'll use readings, improvisation and original creative writing to explore the causes, repercussions and eradication of modern day slavery. Guest lecturers will provide vital background and answer questions. No acting or playwriting experience necessary.
Cross list: THEATRST 149S


DOCST 193S.01 Documentary Engagement
Instructor: Sims
M 7:15 p.m.–9:45 p.m. (Smith Arts Warehouse)
Documentary photography as a tool for social engagement grounded in intensive field-based projects. Students study the work of a range of documentary photographers while planning and refining their own documentary projects in which they will address societal issues locally, nationally, and/or abroad. Students learn valuable technical skills such as Photoshop, inkjet printing, and Web-based methods in order to complete a preliminary documentary project by the end of the semester.
Cross list: PUBPOL 168S.01


DOCST 196S.01 Capstone Seminar
Instructor: Rankin
Th 10:05 a.m.–12:35 p.m. (CDS, Bridges 001)
Immersion in fieldwork-based inquiry and in-depth projects that serve as Certificate in Documentary Studies capstone experiences for students. Methods of documentary fieldwork, including participant observation, and modes of arts and humanities interpretation through a variety of mediums (including papers, film, photography exhibits, radio pieces, and performances). Consent of instructor required. Prerequisite: DOCST 101 and four DOCST electives.

See listing of required and elective certificate courses

Spring 2008

Fall 2007

Spring 2007

Fall 2006

Spring 2006

Fall 2005

Spring 2005

Fall 2004

Spring 2004







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Untitled, from the series Latino Pastimes—La Vida y el Fútbol. Photograph by William L. Plaxico, from the course "Documentary Photography and the Southern Cultural Landscape," taught by Professor Tom Rankin.