Presentation by Benicia D’sa, NISOD 2012

Assistant Professor, Bergen Community College

TCC presenter: Carol Chenoweth, Library Liaison to HSS

Social Studies in the Dark:

Using Docudramas to Teach History

Types of FilmsDocumentariesfilms that represent a real world, with performances by social actors rather than professional actors

Thin Blue Line, Bowling for Columbine

DocudramasAn interpretation of historical events that actually did occur – have a basis in truth

Glory, Shindler’s List, Thirteen Days, Argo

Historical FictionInvolve fictional plots that are situated in a historical context

Gone with the Wind, Lawrence of ArabiaTitanic, Abraham Lincoln – Vampire Hunter

Why Use Film?Visual and Auditory Senses Engaged

leads to greater retention and commitment of ideas and information to long term memoryarouses the emotions of the students

Serve as Historical NarrativeCapacity to provide a powerful reconstruction that tells how historical people witnessed, understood, and lived their lives

Students Achieve Historical FamiliarityDifficulty in understanding cultural differences – being able to visualize significant events changes their thoughts and attitude about various historical events – increases their comprehensibility

Alternative to LecturesMovies are popular!

Cautions in Using FilmDocudramas are subject to controversy regarding their presentation of historical information through story telling

1) Dramatic license (creation of materials not established as historical facts or even the violation of known facts)

2) Audience may not be able to distinguish between facts and speculation

3) Tendency toward simplification

Selection of Films

Define the concepts you want to teach

Identify possible films that could be used to enhance student’s understating of these concepts.

Watch the film prior to showing it for students to judge the appropriateness of the entire film or selected clips (more on this later)

Entire Films or Clips?Advantages of showing clips from the film: Allows instructor to use particular scenes, stop and

discuss them, and connect them conceptually – for example, using clips from Mississippi Burning to illustrate the civil rights era

Allows use of relevant scenes from films that may contain material that may be offensive to some viewers, i.e., clips from Amistad on the horrors of the slave trade

Allows use of film clips from more then one movie on the same theme

In showing entire movie, students may be distracted from the points you want them to discern by trivial elements of the film

Advantage of showing the entire film: if you must be absent and are loathe to cancel

class outright, showing an entire film may be an excellent alternative

The film may cover a number of topics relevant to your class and enhance students understanding of the subject

Clips can be difficult to manage

Home Viewing as an Option

Considerations for out-of-class assignment

Pro: Students can watch on their own time Can offer a choice of films on a topic – for

example, using a group assignment format, where several students watch the same film and then collaborate on presenting their observations to the rest of the class

Con: Teacher not in a position to direct the viewing

patterns of students Costs associated with renting/purchase of a video Ownership of necessary equipment (dvd

player/viewer)

Viewing equipment is available at the Library – both DVD players for single student use as well as small group viewing, and access to computers for online viewing

Before Showing the FilmAs mentioned earlier, it is absolutely necessary to view any films you intend to use before sharing it with students.

If the film is rated ‘R’, such as Schindler’s List, sensitivity to the audience is of utmost importance regardless of the age level of the students. Should a student have a legitimate reason to not view the film, an alternative assignment may be utilized.

Films shows for TCC classes should be legally acquired copies – those purchased by the library are purchased under educational use copyright guidelines and are acceptable for classroom viewing or assignments.

Issues of U.S. Copyright Law Relating to the use of Movies in the Classroom http://www.teachwithmovies.org/copyright.html

Film Databases @ the LibraryTCC Library provides over 100 databases accessible 24/7 for students and faculty. Several of the History databases include not only articles and photographs, but video and audio clips among the resources as well. http://www.linccweb.org/index.asp?screen=subject&CID=28

African American Experience (65) American History (350) Pop Culture (204) World History: the Modern Era (219) and History Reference Center (80 hours from the Video Encyclopedia of the 20th Century)Additionally, two of our databases provide extensive coverage of video materials

FMG - Films on Demand: Streaming video from large and small production companies covering a wide range of subjects to enhance college courses. These videos include public performance rights that allow them to be used in the educational setting. FMG Films Media Group, Films for the Humanities

American History in Video: Alexander Street Press: Rich collection of video available online for the study of American history, with 2,000 hours and more than 5,000 titles on completion. The collection allows students and researchers to analyze historical events, and the presentation of historical events over time, through commercial and governmental newsreels, archival footage, public affairs footage, and important documentaries.

Incorporating Library Resources in Blackboard: http://tcc.fl.libguides.com/content.php?pid=295685&sid=2518473

Resources at the TCC LibraryUpstaging the Cold War : American dissent and cultural diplomacy, 1940-1960, by Andrew Justin Falk, Univ of Massachusetts Press, Circulation PN 1993.5.U6 F34 2010 World War II on the big screen : 450+ films, 1938-2008, by Doris Milberg, McFarland & Co. Circulation D 743.23 .M55 2010

Medieval film, Manchester University Press, Circulation PN 1995.9.M52 M43 2009

History on film reader, Routledge, 2009. Circulation PN 1995.2 .H57 2009

History goes to the movies: studying history on film, Marnie Hughes-Warrington, Routledge, 2007. LINCC eResources eBooks

The Ancient World in the cinema, Yale Univ Press, LJ Circulation PN1995.9.H5 S6 2001

Why docudrama? : fact-fiction on film and TV, Southern Illinois University Press, Circulation PN 1995.9.H5 W58 1999

Historical Films - - History and Criticism http://www.linccweb.org/catalog?screen=keyword&lib_code=FLCC2800&index=WSU&query=Historical+films+History+and+criticism

Middle Ages in Motion Pictures - http://www.linccweb.org/catalog?screen=keyword&lib_code=FLCC2800&index=WSU&query=Middle+Ages+in+motion+pictures

Motion Pictures and History - Historical Films – United States – History and Criticism

WWW Resources

Teach with Movies: Lesson Plans Based on Movies & Film

http://www.teachwithmovies.org/ History & Government: Movies in the Classroom.org

http://www.classbrain.com/artmovies/publish/cat_index_8.shtml

PBS History Showshttp://www.pbs.org/topics/history/

History Channel Videoshttp://www.history.com/videos

Multimedia Seeds: Collections http://www.eduscapes.com/seeds/collections/digital.html IMDB: Internet Movie Database

http://www.imdb.com/genre/biography http://www.imdb.com/genre/documentaryhttp://www.imdb.com/genre http://www.imdb.com/genre/history http://www.imdb.com/genre/war

YouTube as a Resource

http://www.youtube.com/education LearnVisit YouTube EDU to find short lessons from top teachers around the world, full courses from the world’s leading universities, professional development material from fellow educators, and inspiring videos from global thought leaders. Learn more.TeachUse YouTube videos to enrich your classroom lessons. Spark a conversation. Make theoretical concepts come alive. Tap into the mind of the visual learner. See how educators like you are incorporating video into their lessons and join the YouTube Teachers community. Learn more.

ReferencesAllocco, Katherine. 2010. "

Five Good Reasons to Show "Great Guy" (1936) in Our U.S. History and American Studies Classes (and the Challenges We'll Face)." History Teacher 44, no. 1: 19-33. ERIC, EBSCOhost (accessed November 5, 2012).

D'Sa, B. (2005). Social Studies in the Dark: Using Docudramas to Teach History. Social Studies, 96(1), 9.

Kelly, T. Mills. 2011. "But Mine's Better": Teaching History in a Remix Culture." History Teacher 44, no. 3: 369-377. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed November 8, 2012).

Latz, M. (2009). Purposeful Use of Film within the Classroom: Encouraging Student Engagement. Retrieved Nov 6th, 2012 from http://nwi.ivytech.edu/web/lcc/presentations/Film.pdf

Neuhaus, Jessamyn. 2010. "Shake This Square World and Blast off for Kicksville": Teaching History with Post-WWII Prescriptive Classroom Films." History Teacher 44, no. 1: 35-50. ERIC, EBSCOhost (accessed November 5, 2012).

Stoddard, Jeremy D., and Alan S. Marcus. 2010. "More than "Showing What Happened": Exploring the Potential of Teaching History with Film." High School Journal 93, no. 2: 83-90. ERIC, EBSCOhost (accessed November 5, 2012).

Weinstein, P. B. (2001). Movies as the Gateway to History: The History and Film Project. History Teacher, 35(1), 27-48.

Further references can be found at http://tcc.fl.libguides.com/docudramas