Teaching (With) Videographic Criticism
The Video Essay Thesis Project
In my Television & American Culture capstone seminar {download syllabus}, students have the opportunity to create their thesis in the form of a video essay. I use the following assignment sequence to structure their work on the project:
- Thesis Proposal
- Vid {download assignment}
- Literature Review
- Drafts
- Final Draft
Download the thesis project assignment guidelines here (link opens PDF).
Student Work
The following list highlights work done by my students over the last few years. I often include these video essays in my classes to introduce a specific concept or to provide supplementary content.
I also use these video essays as examples for students who are creating their own video essays.
Some Key Concepts in Media Theory:
Video Essays on TV and Film:
Television:
Five-minute analyses:
Fifteen-minute Analyses:
Comedy/Sitcoms:
- Old Media Adopt New Media’s Format: Late Night Television, YouTube, and Post-Network Television
- What Are You Laughing At? Mockumentary Form as a Tool for Creating Queer Spaces in Popular Sitcoms [Friends and The Office]
Drama:
- We’ll Be Right Back: Contemporary Television’s Revisionist Love Affair with 1980s Culture
- Homeland: Terrorism and Capitalism in the Cultural Form
Reality TV:
- Bachelor So White: A Critical Race Analysis of Bachelor Industry
- Legitimization and Representation: Atlanta and The Real Housewives of Atlanta
Animation:
- The Power of Storytelling Through Costumes
- You Can Get Away With a Lot More: Marriage, Motherhood, and Fatherhood in Adult Animation
- Steven Universe: Deconstructing Gender and Sexuality
Film:
Five-minute Analyses:
- Queers of the Golden Age: Slasher Films (1978-1984)
- Do We Really Know All About Eve?
15min Analyses:
- It’s About Friendship: The Queer Femme Friendships of Tangerine and Frances Ha
- Queer American Dreams in My Own Private Idaho
- Some Like it Hot: Challenging Heteronormativity Through Comedy
Melanie E.S. Kohnen 