Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Hello,

I am appealing to drop the course RELS 237 Religion and Film. Going into this year of school, finding a course schedule that worked for me was incredibly difficult because of changes made to my program by the department. I am a 3rd year Stage and Screen Major who has been forced into the new Media and Performance Production plan. The majority of classes required for this plan, as well as courses with a similar subject matter also offered by the Film and Media and Dan School of Drama departments are almost entirely scheduled on Mondays and Wednesdays leaving me with little options for the electives I need to be able to graduate, and with one 11 hour long day of class. Rels 237 looked like it would be a great option for me as it related to two of my interests and was on Tuesdays. However, the main reason I chose Queens for my education was that it has amazing opportunities to work on theatre shows during the year, which allows me to be able to gain the real hands-on experience that I will need in the future. I had the incredible opportunity to work on multiple shows this semester that have opened a lot of doors for me professionally as well as giving me an incredible amount of practical experience. However, because I needed to focus on my show commitments, something all drama students are expected to do, I wasn't able to spend as much time on my electives and film-related classes. Also, the nature of Rels 237 being a night class and a 3-hour long screening, meant that it conflicted with my show commitments in the evenings, ones that are mandatory. Because I had to miss some of these lectures, and because of a misunderstanding with the posted Syllabus (which I also believe may have been changed at some point during the semester) I had the wrong impression about an assignment worth 40 of the classes grade. The assignment was a reflection journal on the films we watched over the semester. I worked on this project throughout the semester but fell behind during the run of a show I was Technical Directing and believed I could catch up at the end of the term and submit the journal, possibly late. However, as I was unaware the journals were due on a weekly basis, the professor, Ellen Goldberg, when I met with her on December 1st refused to accept the work, meaning I would almost certainly fail the class. She understood my situation but wanted to remain fair to the other students and recommended I appeal to drop the course with her blessing instead of possibly fail it. For this reason, I am now attempting to drop the course.