Courses often change their designations while maintaining a more or less consistent syllabus, but never to my knowledge has a course maintained its designation while completely changing the course material. Until now, that is. Graduating literary and film students, as well as curious students like myself, signed up for VIC411: Postmodernist Approaches to Film and Literature during the summer. We looked forward to a course that was highly praised by those who had taken it in the past. Unbeknownst to us, and much to our dismay, someone had decided that VIC411: Postmodernist Approaches to Film and Literature was to be VIC411: Natures of Documentary. This someone made the change without notifying the students enrolled, telling departments cross-listing the course, or even updating the information on ROSI (not that ROSI is by any means reliable.) Today the course still appears under the designation, VIC411: Postmodernist Approaches to Film and Literature, on ROSI. Not even the slightest effort was made on behalf of graduating students, not to mention students taking the course to fulfill a program requirement.

The only alert to undergrads about the change was far from sufficient: an update to the one paragraph course description on the Victoria College website. It was as if the department had tried not to freak out students by announcing the sudden and rather drastic changes. The course was renamed Postmodernist Approaches to Film and Literature: Natures of Documentary, yet the syllabus makes no reference to either postmodernist theories or literature. Not only that, but no other department/program website where the course was cross-listed was updated, meaning that the departments partnered with Victoria College had not been notified of the change either. The Cinema Studies Institute has not recognized the change, despite the course being part of its Category D: Interdisciplinary Courses.

This lack of communication is not only disrespectful, it is incomprehensible. The matter was not discussed or negotiated with students, the major stakeholders. The administration covered their tracks with a disclaimer: “All course descriptions are subject to change”.

Part of our frustration is that we do not understand the reason for the changes. Students were told that the course was modified because Julian Patrick, the professor teaching Postmodernist Approaches to Film and Literature, is on sabbatical. According to the regularly updated Victoria College website, Julian Patrick is currently teaching courses both at Victoria College and in the English Department, which means he is not on sabbatical. If a professor is unavailable to teach a course, for whatever reason, the course should either be cancelled or a replacement professor should be recruited—to teach the same course. This is not only a matter of miscommunication, but deliberate misinformation.