WAY OT! TEXT BOOKS
DEAR PHOTO EDUCATORS ON THIS LIST,
PLEASE reply to me off list on this one as I am certain that it
will be of little interest to most of the list.
Here in Barbados I have been drafted to teach a first year, first
semester course on Intro to Cinema, a survey course where we see 11 films
(the usual suspects; Kane, Caligari, Potemkin, etc.) and the students write
critiques. The syllabus (aka silly bus) was written and the texts chosen by
the previous instructor, approved by the University academic committee and,
therefore etched in stone. I have no problem with the silly bus and the
texts are rather good. What has me floored is the COST of the texts!!! I
was shocked! O.K., I haven’t bought a text book since the late 80s when I
studied film making at NYU (in my spare time while putting in 60 hours a
week running my photo studio). They seemed a bit steep then ($20 to $30)
but these books are WAY OTT price wise!
Bordwell and Thompson’s FILM ART-An Introduction $70 at Barnes &
Noble and $80 locally (imported)
Corrigan’s SHORT GUIDE TO WRITING ABOUT MOVIES (really a
pamphlet!!!) $35 at B&N and $40 locally.
I guess I am just out of the loop but if someone is taking 5 or 6
courses they are spending $600 to $720 just on books and I am certain that
law, medical and psych students have it worse!
Is this the way of the academic world now?
CHEERS!
BOB
Please check my website: http://www.bobkiss.com/ <http://www.bobkiss.com/>
"Live as if you are going to die tomorrow. Learn as if you are going to
live forever". Mahatma Gandhi