Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

ENG 197: Course Overview & What to Expect 

Hi! I’m Melissa Manolas, and I’m really glad you’re here :-)

ENG 197: Film Studies is designed to help you develop a critical eye for how films tell stories, shape meaning, and reflect the world around us--all while having a great time watching and discussing movies together.

This page will help you get oriented and feel ready for the term. For full course policies and weekly details, please also check out the syllabus and course calendar.

How This Class Works

ENG 197 is a fully online course with no scheduled meetings.

That means:

• You’ll participate by logging in to our D2L Brightspace class site [LINK] at your own convenience. This is our classroom for the whole term.
• There are no required Zoom or Google Meet sessions, since everything happens asynchronously, meaning you can watch, post, and participate on your own schedule as long as you meet the posted deadlines.
• Reliable internet access is essential for this course.

If you’re new to D2L or online courses, please take some time to familiarize yourself with  these online tools and resources [LINK]. 

If you don’t currently have stable internet access, online classes may be more challenging. You may want to consider an in-person section or explore PCC’s online tools and technology support options [LINK].

What You’ll Do Each Week

Every week, you can expect to:

• read articles on a film term we’re exploring that week (Genre, Lighting, Narrative, Cinematography, Style, Mise en Scène, Sound, Editing, and Animation)
• watch the film we’re discussing that week (streamed online through the PCC library)
• fill out notes about the film
• participate in online discussions and small group projects in response to the films
• review brief lectures and informative videos I’ll post

The idea is to have fun discussing films and sharing ideas while we build up a technical vocabulary and bolster your film scholar chops.

You should plan to log in to our D2L Brightspace class site [LINK] at least 3-4 times a week (often more). D2L is where you’ll find:

• readings and course materials
• assignment instructions and submissions
• film streaming links
• announcements and updates

What You Need for This Course

• Reliable internet access
• Ability to log in to D2L Brightspace regularly
• Willingness to watch, discuss, and think critically about film

  No textbook required — all readings are provided online.

Attendance & Participation

Because this is a fully asynchronous course, “attendance” means staying active in D2L to keep up with films, readings, discussions, and group work each week.

This is a discussion-driven class. Your engagement with classmates’ ideas is a big part of the learning here. The discussions are often genuinely fun, and every term I notice that as students get more comfortable with the film vocabulary, the conversations get richer and more interesting.

Important: If you don't participate in the D2L class site during the first week (by posting an Introduction to the Discussion area by Wednesday and completing the Course Information Quiz by Friday)  this would be the same as not showing up to the first week of a face-to-face class, and you would risk being dropped from the course.

If something gets in the way of your success (academically or personally), you can always reach out so we can problem solve together. I hope to work with you this term!

Warmly,
Melissa

ENG 197 is a fully online course with no scheduled meetings.

That means:

• You’ll participate by logging in to our D2L Brightspace class site [LINK] at your own convenience. This is our classroom for the whole term.
• There are no required Zoom or Google Meet sessions, since everything happens asynchronously, meaning you can watch, post, and participate on your own schedule as long as you meet the posted deadlines.
• Reliable internet access is essential for this course.

If you’re new to D2L or online courses, please take some time to familiarize yourself with  these online tools and resources [LINK]. 

If you don’t currently have stable internet access, online classes may be more challenging. You may want to consider an in-person section or explore PCC’s online tools and technology support options [LINK].