Problems in writing for film and television are explored through
the writing of original material and analysis of existing works.
Various film genre, conventions, and styles, both fictional and
nonfictional are examined.

Many are called, few are chosen to envision the human condition
into screenplay form. Dom is one of the chosen; possessed of a
cinematic imagination that enables her convey meaning through
image and emotion through scarce dialogue. She set a standard for
the class that in its way surpassed any of my professional
lessons. The quality of her full, in-class participation did
wonders to enliven the surroundings. Dom left us all with memories
of her sensational talents.

Dominique Brassey's work in this course has was outstanding
throughout the quarter. An active contributor to class
discussions, she also wrote a series of first-rate essays.  Her
first essay offered a balanced and insightful appraisal of the
controversy surrounding the films of Leni Riefenstahl, the
brilliant documentary filmmaker of the Nazi era.  Dom's second
paper was also outstanding. Here she examined Pedro Almodovar's
films Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and All
About My Mother, comparing them to the films and plays they so
freely borrowed from: namely, A Streetcar Named Desire and
The Human Voice. Dom showed how the women in Almodovar's films
follow, and often mirror, the protagonists of those earlier
productions, with the notable exception that, unlike the
originals, they are taken only to the "verge" of a full collapse.
They are stronger than their predecessors, heroines rather than
victims.  Finally, Dom did excellent work on her final
examination, including a fine essay examining the evolution of
women's roles in cinema using the films of Pabst and Almodovar as
examples. This was in every way an outstanding performance.

This course explores the family in contemporary American society.
Themes include: the family in historical and cross-cultural
perspective;  institutionalized inequality in relation to gender,
class, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and age; the status and
experience of the child within the family today.  Enrollment: 115.

Both the Midterm and Final were in-class exams, with a combination
of short-answer and essay questions. Dom scored 255 of 300 points
on the Midterm, which was good work; and 270 of 300 points on the
Final exam, which was excellent work.

Dom's essays written throughout the quarter in response to the
assigned readings were insightful and articulate. In addition, Dom
did an optional Final project, and presented it to the class
during final presentations. This was an original work of poetry
related to class themes. It was very well received by the class. 

Dom attended one of the weekly discussion sections which
accompanied the class; she had no absences, and was an active
participant in group discussion.

This course surveys the political, social, economic, and cultural
history of Europe from the outbreak of the First World War to the
present. Requirements include two examinations, an essay drawing
on literary or autobiographical accounts from the period, and
participation in section discussions.

Dominique Brassey did very impressive work in this course on
twentieth-century European history. Her midterm essay was very
good on political murder as a tactic for both Hitler and Stalin,
though it lacked detail on the specific contexts that allowed
these men to prosper. She then wrote a very good paper on the
ideology and practice of communism, focusing on Eduard Dune's
memoir of the Bolshevik Revolution and Slavenka Drakulic's essays
on communism's decline. The paper provided excellent quotations
from both texts, but they were not always persuasively linked to
the discussion of why Soviet communism failed.  Her final
examination returned to the question of the failure of the Soviet
Union, highlighting the problems of initiative, poor management,
faulty information, and general disillusionment.  She regularly
attended lectures and sections, and frequently contributed to
class discussions.  Her overall performance was very strong, and
her enthusiasm in sections was greatly appreciated.

This course offers a survey of major movements in European
intellectual history from the early modernism of Nietzsche and his
successors to the structuralism of the 1960s.  It also illuminates
the role of the politically engaged intellectual during the crisis
years of the twentieth century, and the mainly urban contexts of
cultural innovation during this period.

Dominique Brassey was an excellent student in this course on
modern European intellectual history. She wrote three impressive
essays during the quarter, offering coherent analyses that
integrated ideas and evidence with eloquent reflections. Her paper
on the poetry of Brecht and Akhmatova was particularly thoughtful,
and she completed the course with a first-rate analysis of the
theme of waiting in short stories by Camus and Sartre. She
attended sections regularly and made very strong contributions to
class discussions. Overall her performance this quarter was
excellent.

Students were required to write two complete stories, six-plus and
eight-plus pages in length, and each story was read and critiqued
during class workshops; students submitted extensive written
critiques for each story workshopped.  Students were also required
to complete numerous written exercises in and out of class, and to
produce one significant revision as a final project.

Dom Brassey is an exceptionally talented writer; she has superb
intuitions about form, character, voice and language and a
unsettling wit that she brings to the darkest scenarios. Each of her
important stories investigated some tension in a family, unfolding
it deftly into a fresh and compelling narrative. Her first drafts
had a bit of awkwardness in their trajectory, but her revisions
always resolved this, allowing the echoes of the story to resonate.
Her characters are not at all endearing but they are most intriguing
in their obsessions and incapacities; one of the few undergraduates
to have control over interior monologue, she brings them to life
through their gestures and their interior syntax.

Ms. Brassey was a mainstay of the large workshops, always with
precise, perceptive comments to offer. When she submitted written
comments, they were often equally strong, with a vivid reading of
the story's purpose and effect. Too often, however, she did not
submit written comments, relying on her insights in class to convey
her responses.

Dominique's overall performance in the class was very good. Her
first paper, a sequence analysis of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer",
though submitted late, was very good and featured original
interpretations and a thorough shot log. Her score on the midterm
was 93/100, which was excellent. Her first viewing journal was
submitted late and she failed altogether to submit the second
assigned viewing journal. Her performance on the final exam was very
good (87/100). Dominique's final paper, an extended sequence
analysis, was an excellent discussion of masculine gender roles in
"The Lone Gunmen."

Brassey, Dom -- Pass Dom did solid work for this course, displaying
a sound grasp of the fundamentals of reading drama. She did well on
all of the reading quizzes, consistently attended lectures, and made
helpful contributions to section discussions. Both of her essays
demonstrated a thoughtful engagement with the texts. Her first paper
on Richard III made some excellent assertions about how Queen
Margaret's presence in the play serves as a mechanism for tying up
the play through her vengeance-seeking. Her second paper on
Endgame offered some excellent insights into the nature of the
play's themes, characters, language, and structure. The paper was
especially noteworthy for its characterization of the play as a
depiction of primal existential loneliness and the denial of
narrative resolution. On the whole, this was a quarter of sustained
effort by an intellectually engaged student.

Dominique's research paper, "The myth of the resilient child:
Psychosocial effects of child abuse and neglect, and the power of
communities to counteract them," was of satisfactory quality. The
paper included many interesting outside resources but lacked her
perspective. This paper did not include the required discussion on
effecting change on a personal, social and institutional level. 

Dominique's panel presentation that summarized myths,
intervention, treatment and prevention of childhood sexual abuse
was excellent. Her presentation demonstrated a concrete grasp of
the concepts presented in the readings. Dominique was an active
and conscientious participant in her group presentation and turned
in an excellent comment paper.

Dominique attended lecture and section consistently. Her
contributions included intriguing questions and comments. 

Dominique turned in seven of ten required reading responses. Her
reading responses ranged from good to excellent, expressing
critical thought related to the assigned readings. She
demonstrated a good grasp of the prevailing theories of family
violence and understanding of the types of violence in the home,
including child physical and sexual abuse, domestic violence,
sibling abuse, and elder abuse. 

Overall, Dominique's performance showed her to be a good student
who demonstrated promise.

This is a broad introduction to modern astronomy emphasizing
singular and catastrophic phenomena. Quantitative analysis of
astrophysical and geological phenomena and the use of scientific
evidence to evaluate a scientific theory are integral aspects of
the course. Evaluation is based on problem sets, quizzes, and a
final exam.  It is a large course, with limited opportunity for
direct faculty-student contact.

Dominique Brassey did acceptable work in this course.  Her
performance in all aspects of the course was near the class average.

Dominique Brassey completed a midterm, a final, four essays and
turned in ten class/reading responses. Her first paper was a very
well written essay on health care for migrant workers. In her
second essay, Dominique focused on bilingual education. This essay
lacked clarity thus making it difficult to read. She revised the
essay to improve her performance in the course. Her third essay
was an excellent discussion on Mother Nature. Unlike her second
essay, her third paper was clear and her arguments were well
supported. For her fourth essay Dominique wrote an excellent paper
on the economically stratified and racialized workforce.
Dominique's performance on the midterm and final exam was very
good. Overall, a very good performance.

An introduction to the psychology of religion for psychology and
non-psychology students. Theories of religion by Freud, Skinner,
James and Jung were covered in lectures and readings. Students
wrote a 10-15 page paper on the subject of spiritual journey.

The midterm exam covered the theories of James, Jung, Tart, Skinner,
and Freud on mystical experience, states of consciousness, and
religious knowledge and truth. On that exam, DOMINIQUE produced
excellent essays. Her spiritual journey essay was very good. It
demonstrated very good attention to the mechanics of writing and the
development of its major theme, and it was very creative in its
presentation.

Overall, DOMINIQUE did a very good job in Psychology and
Religion.