Cartoons In Class? Well, Now You Can.

Drawing of Mickey Mouse by Walt Disney
Mickey Mouse

Have you ever wanted to watch Looney Tunes for credit? What about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs? The Simpsons?

Boy, do I have the solution for you!

Communication Arts 357: History of Animated Film

CA 357 is a 3 credit course that is taught by Lea Jacobs and Casey Long. The classes are usually about 75 minutes long with an additional screening.

You might think that it is just a constant cycle of taking notes, but that’s where you are wrong. Professor Jacobs uses a lot of different shorts as examples which makes learning the material a lot more fun!

Scene from Requiem For A Tuesday; Ben Wyatt's attempt at stop-motion animation.
Requiem For A Tuesday

Animation?

Yes! The course covers a lot of material and you get to look at animation from black and white drawings, to stop-motion, to modern-day CGI.

Okay, But What About Homework?

There are two textbooks for the class, but they are actually a lot of fun to read through! They are written in an engaging way, and since its about animation, every single page has pictures!

The course is graded mainly on the two papers that you have to write. But don’t get scared! The papers are literally analyzing a minute or two of an animated feature and writing solely YOUR opinions. Professor Jacobs doesn’t require any sources so it’s very open-ended.

Nausicaa standing with her arms out.
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

Is It Available Next Fall?

The course, unfortunately, is not offered during Fall 2020, but it is usually offered during the Springtime. It also counts towards the Communication major which is an awesome program to be a part of.

I highly recommend this class to any student interested in learning more about art and film. It’s a very easy class that teaches you a lot about something super fun!

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