Theatre History Orientation Page

Course Instructor: Dr. Patrick Finelli

Summer Session "A" 2011

Thanks for your interest in taking the online Theatre History course, THE 3110, reference number 53115, offered during Summer Session A 2011 through the University of South Florida. This note contains information about registration and orientation. It may help to answer some of your questions about the course, including how assignments are completed, how the course works and an overview of what we will cover during the semester. Caribbean Theatre meets the University of South Florida's Exit Requirements. It is certified for Fine Arts and Humanities and for the following dimensions: Critical Thinking, Inquiry-based Learning, Creative and Interpretive Processes and Experiences and Human and Cultural Diversity.

The first week of class begins May 16 and June 24 is the last day of class. We will not meet in a formal classroom. Instead, all of the assignments and assessments will be available online. Of course, you will have to purchase books, a customized Reader (or download it on Blackboard) and the CD-ROM or website subscription for the course. You must be able to use Blackboard through MyUSF. There is more information about these items below.

If you have major questions about taking an online course, it is very important that you contact me through e-mail and I will answer your questions, including how assignments are completed, how to participate in the online discussion groups and an overview of what we will cover during the semester. Otherwise, I will assume that you can access Blackboard and read the announcements, assignments, syllabus and access the discussion board. Students have successfully completed the class from North Carolina, New York, California, Arkansas, Maryland, Georgia, Washington, Europe (Norway, England and The Netherlands), Asia and other locations "at a distance" in counties throughout Florida.

Perhaps you have taken an online course before, or you may be apprehensive about what is required. As the instructor, I would like you to know that many students have successfully completed this course and enjoyed the process. The online format gives you the opportunity to decide when you want to participate in the learning process as long as you meet the deadlines for assignments. The readings and assessments are very similar to an on-campus class with a major difference being that you may use books and notes during the quizzes. You will also have three group assignments where you will develop a report on a subject using group discussion, Wiki pages and e-mail.

If you have any questions about registration, you may call or contact Merry Lynn Morris, CVPA Theatre advisor in Tampa, at (813) 974-1739 (e-mail: mmorris@arts.usf.edu).

If you need to contact me, you may send a note directly to me through the mail link at the top of this page.

All of the work is assigned and completed online in addition to the readings which you will do on your own as you do for an on-campus course.. There are also videotapes for viewing in the media center of each campus (Lakeland and Tampa). Unless there is a demand for "group viewing," I would expect that you may check the tapes out and watch them at home. If you are at a remote location and cannot get to the Tampa campus library, we will find alternate video programs for you to view that might be available in your local library or university media center. A few are available through streaming video online.

The books will be available in the Tampa bookstore and at Gray's. For "students at a distance," you may check prices and order the required textbooks and plays online at our Textbook link. There is also a customized "Reader" with essays and some hard-to-find plays which costs around $20. It will be available at Pro-Copy on Fowler Avenue in Tampa. Students who are at a distance may order the Reader through the Pro-Copy Website. The articles in the Reader will be available through e-Reserve for registered students. You can get there through MyUSF and I will place the instructions for accessing the readings on a discussion board. The Reader may be purchased directly from Pro-Copy by telephone (813-988-5900).

There are two websites with different passwords for this course:

1.) Connected Courseware
You actually have two options for access to this course material. You may register for access to these course pages using your own selected logon id and password by completing the Sign-up which costs $12 for the six week session. Another option is to purchase the CD-ROM for the course which will be available in the Tampa bookstore for about $13. The accuracy of the links on the CD-ROM may "go stale" during the semester. The links are checked and updated weekly on the website. The CD-ROM and web pages contain important material used in your assignments. This is where you’ll find most of the electronic content for the Theatre History course, including lecture notes, pictures, hyperlinks to relevant sites, syllabus and readings. There are also resources for research papers including suggested research topics, MLA style formats, research paper requirements, format and MLA style, virtual library resources and search tools.

2.) Blackboard (MyUSF)
Before you go to this site you must be registered for the class. To see if you are "officially" registered through the University of South Florida, you must obtain a NetID by going to this address: https://una.acomp.usf.edu, then you may log into the portal by going to https://my.usf.edu and clicking on the link to Theatre History.

Blackboard has announcements, reading assignments and other documents. This is where you will find online quizzes and grade reports. Discussion forums on specific topics may be found there along with other archives. This is where you will work together with other students in groups for three projects during the session.

Please don't be alarmed when you see the extensive list of lessons and reading assignments on the Connected Courseware website or CD-ROM. The course will only cover the material from the Greeks to Shakespeare. You will receive readings for each section of the course. You will complete the course work primarily through the web and e-mail. There are three quizzes you will take on Blackboard, three group projects and a research paper. You do most of the work as you would for a campus class (e.g., assigned readings, homework), but you will have web-based assignments as well with pictures, websites and notes to study. Exams are "open book, open notes," taken at your home computer workstation. You will complete the group projects using the tools on Blackboard, such as private group discussion, file exchange and virtual chat. I will select members for each group based on performance on the three exams so that each group has a wide range of student ability and level of achievement. Guidelines for the research paper are on the course website and CD-ROM, available at the bookstore during the first week of the semester.

Thanks for your participation.

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