Today, many documentarians consider themselves working within a well-defined human rights framework where images and film are used to raise awareness and critical consciousness about social injustice. On the far edge of this movement, however, there are photographers and filmmakers whose work calls attention to the traditional documentary ethics of bearing witness but whose modes of representation break away from classical storytelling and linear narrative conventions. This body of work is more open-ended to interpretation and multiple readings than traditional documentary representation. And while their themes are just as serious as straight documentarians, their work engages different audiences in a variety of venues. The poetics course will study personal documentaries, essay films, assemblage techniques working with found materials, the diary and journal approach, the cine poem and other experimental forms. While not a production class per se, students usually create short poetic films for their final project.