I. ASCRC General Education Form (revised 2/8/13)
Use to propose new general education courses (except writing courses), to change or
renew existing gen ed courses and to remove designations for existing gen ed courses.
Note: One-time-only general education designation may be requested for experimental courses
(X91-previously X95), granted only for the semester taught. A NEW request must be
submitted for the course to receive subsequent general education status.
Group
II. Mathematics
VII: Social Sciences
(submit
III. Language
VIII: Ethics & Human Values
separate forms
III Exception: Symbolic Systems * IX: American & European
if requesting
IV: Expressive Arts
X: Indigenous & Global
more than one
X V: Literary & Artistic Studies
XI: Natural Sciences
general
w/ lab  w/out lab 
education
VI: Historical & Cultural Studies
group
*Courses proposed for this designation must be standing requirements of
designation)
majors that qualify for exceptions to the modern and classical language
requirement
Dept/Program English
Course #
LIT 191
Course Title
Prerequisite
Crossing Boundaries: Film, Literature, and Adaptation
-Credits
II. Endorsement/Approvals
Complete the form and obtain signatures before submitting to Faculty Senate Office
Please type / print name Signature
3
Date
Instructor
John Glendening/Sean O’Brien
Phone / Email 5266/5791
Program Chair John Hunt
Dean
Chris Comer
III. Type of request
New X
One-time Only X
Renew
Change
Remove
Reason for Gen Ed inclusion, change or deletion
Falls under Group V
Description of change -IV. Description and purpose of the general education course: General Education courses
must be introductory and foundational within the offering department or within the General
Education Group. They must emphasize breadth, context, and connectedness; and relate course
content to students’ future lives: See Preamble:
http://umt.edu/facultysenate/archives/minutes/gened/GE_preamble.aspx
LIT 191, which has been approved as a GLI course for fall 2014, has an international as well as
a philosophic focus, as we have chosen a variety of films and works of literature from various
parts of the world that explore how crossing national, ethnic, and/or psychological borders
gives shape to fundamental philosophical questions (see syllabus) and their possible answers.
The goals of this part of the course are two-fold: (1) learning what is involved in adapting
literature to film, and (2) writing clearly about the core questions raised by the course and
prompted by works of literature. During final part of the course students will learn basic
production skills (shooting and editing) and then be assigned to groups, each of which will
produce two videos based on two scripts adapted from short stories that have not previously
been made into films.
Note: ideally this course would be called “FILM 191/LIT 191,” but because of cross-listing
problems we’ve been advised to choose only one designation, hence the title LIT 191.
V. Criteria: Briefly explain how this course meets the criteria for the group. See:
http://umt.edu/facultysenate/documents/forms/GE_Criteria5-1-08.aspx
This course addresses two forms of artistic
expression, fiction and film, and entails writing
specifically about these two media and
generally about philosophic issues connected to
the idea of “crossing boundaries” into new
cultural and psychological spaces. Students
will engage in their own artistic expression by
adapting fiction into short scripts and filming
them.
VI. Student Learning Goals: Briefly explain how this course will meet the applicable learning
goals. See: http://umt.edu/facultysenate/documents/forms/GE_Criteria5-1-08.aspx
1. To learn about different cultural and
philosophical ways of engaging the world.
2. To learn basic approaches to literature and
film, including relevant terminology.
3. To write effectively, both in literary criticism
and creatively in producing movie scripts.
VII. Justification: Normally, general education courses will not carry pre-requisites, will carry
at least 3 credits, and will be numbered at the 100-200 level. If the course has more than one
pre-requisite, carries fewer than three credits, or is upper division (numbered above the 200
level), provide rationale for exception(s).
--VIII. Syllabus: Paste syllabus below or attach and send digital copy with form.  The syllabus
should clearly describe how the above criteria are satisfied. For assistance on syllabus
preparation see: http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/syllabus.html
SYLLABUS
LIT 191: CROSSING BOUNDARIES
Instructors: Sean O'Brien and John Glendening
Texts: The Barebones Camera Course for Film and Video
Readings on e-reserve
Requirements:
- three review essays
- view films at home
- two film scripts adapted from literature (for students' long term portfolio)
- three team produced video shorts
- comprehensive in-class final exam
Course Themes
This course will draw upon works of literature and film that expose students to some of the big
questions central to the core of the liberal arts tradition: What is the good life, and who might
we characterize as the "good" man or woman? Is there an objective moral structure, or are we,
as Jean Paul Sartre suggested, condemned to create our own morality? What is behind our
experience of "self and other," and is this a valid or fundamentally illusory construct? Can we
ever access the truth of a situation, or is our experience of reality hopelessly perspectival?
This course has an international as well as a philosophic focus, as we have chosen a variety of
films and works of literature from various parts of the world that explore how crossing national,
ethnic, and/or psychological borders gives shape to these fundamental philosophical questions
and their possible answers.
Skills - Goals and Outcomes
The goals of this course are to deepen students' philosophic sophistication and to leave them
with a valuable set of academic and practical skills:
During the first part of the course students will read philosophically rich works of literature and
watch their film adaptations. Students will learn what is involved in adapting literature to film
and will be required to write clearly about the core questions raised by the course.
In the second part of the course students will read a number of short stories that have not been
adapted to film. During this part of the course students will study the art of literary character
development and practice translating the written word into filmic dialogue and images.
During the final part of the course students will learn basic video production skills (shooting
and editing) and then be assigned to production groups, each of which will produce a video of a
particular scene adapted from one of the short stories read in the second part of the course.
Students will work in groups of three, deciding collectively what scene most effectively asks
(and perhaps answers) one of the “big questions” foundational to the course.
Course Schedule
I. Film, Lit and Adaptation
Week 1: Introduction to the Big Questions - A Filmic Approach
The Big Questions
Philosophy in Film: form and content
Week 2: Introduction to the Big Questions - Film vs. Literature
Readings: Philosophy in Lit reading on e-reserve
Assignment: watch Babel
Essay Question on crossing boundaries in Babel
Week 3: The Big Questions: From Lit to Film - Adaptation
Reading: Adaptation reading on e-reserve
Week 4: Adaptation - Heart of Darkness
Assignment: Read Heart of Darkness
Watch Film: Heart of Darkness
Write essay on this adaptation from lit to film
Week 5: Adaptation
Assignment: Read “Rashomon”
Watch Film: Rashomon
Write essay on this adaptation from lit to film
II: Adapting the Short Story
Week 6: Production Basics
Reading: first half of Bare Bones
Week 7: Production Workshop
Readings: second half of Bare Bones
Due: 2-minute video short
Week 8: The Short Story: character and plot
Readings on ERes: Chinua Achebe's “Civil Peace”
Ernest Hemingway's “In Another Country”
Gish Jen's “Who's Irish”
Raymond Carter's “Cathedral”
Week 9: The Short Story: character and plot
Readings on e-reserve: Sherman Alexie's “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in
Heaven”
Jhumba Lahiri's “The Interpreter of Maladies”
Salmon Rushdie's “The Prophet's Hair”
Bharati Mukherjee's “The Management of Grief”
Week 10: Workshop: Adapting the short story
III. Producing the Adaptation
Week 11: Production Workshop
Due: first adapted script
Week 12: Production Workshop
Video of scene #1 due
Week 13: Production Workshop
Due: second adapted script
Week 14: Production Workshop
Video of Scene #2 due
Week 15: Summary and Review
Please note: Approved general education changes will take effect next fall.
General education instructors will be expected to provide sample assessment items and
corresponding responses to the Assessment Advisory Committee.