Krista DeJulio – Features Editor
One of the best things to do before a film comes to theaters is to read the novel the film is based on. Professor Catherine Zeek’s First Year Seminar class, Zombies, Aliens, and Revolutionaries, did just that. The first assignment of the class was to finish the Young Adult-dystopian novel, “The Maze Runner,” in hopes that the class could see the film together when it came out in mid-September.
This is a part of Lasell’s Connected Learning philosophy; learning and experiencing outside of the classroom. The class was able to read the book, then after seeing the film, engage in discussion about comparisons and changes to the film. The class was also able to see the visual of the film after reading the novel and that is different than the traditional classroom setting.
The film is set in an undisclosed, dystopian future where tens of teenage boys attempt and risk their lives to escape an enclosed area through a maze and figure out what lies beyond the maze. The group faces confusion, angst and rebellion throughout the movie. The FYS class was able to connect the film to not only the novel but also the class as a whole. The name of the class is Zombies, Aliens, and Revolutionaries and the class was able to give the title of zombie, alien, or revolutionary to an aspect of the film.
“Connected learning at Lasell is something that is very valuable, it allows students to connect what they learned in the classroom and transform that knowledge into something much more,” said freshman Geoff Sabotka on the outing. “[Here] they go the extra mile for the students to go from the classroom to real life experience [and] that is something that can’t be matched at another school…Going to see the movie was a great time.”