What can films teach us about ethical dilemmas? Are some of Hollywood's sci-fi hits scientifically plausible? Can Native American filmmakers effectively challenge the status quo? This summer, UM's Teaching with Film Institute is offering five short courses that will assess answers to these and other questions designed to effectively integrate film into the classroom.
The Institute's three-credit courses are ideal for students interested in films relating to their areas of interest, and for teachers who want to deepen students' interest in and understanding of course material through the introduction of film. All courses may be taken for undergraduate or graduate credit.
Who is the criminal, and why the turn to criminality? The cinema’s long-standing love affair with the underworld has provided rich and varied answers to these questions. In this course we will assess a diverse selection of films against the backdrop of certain psycho-philosophical accounts of criminality. Films to be shown include One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Pulp Fiction, Tsotsi, and Donnie Brasco.
This is a course that helps us to understand foreign cultures around the world. It all starts by being aware, curious, and interested in learning about the world and how it works. Investigate foreign cultures, weigh perspectives, communicate ideas, and apply cross-cultural expertise to solve problems. The course also dispels common myths about other cultures, examines the struggle of foreign cultures to maintain their identities, and provides insights into their way of life, customs and beliefs. Being culturally savvy is of tremendous importance to successfully engage in a multicultural and global world.
This course will prove valuable for teachers from a wide variety of disciplines who are interested in learning how to integrate a low-technology video project into their classrooms. It will cover the very basics of video production in a one-week intensive format, focusing on the fundamental principles involved in writing, directing, shooting, and editing a dramatic short (a short video drama.) Individuals taking the course will be required to produce such a short by the end of the week.
Is Harry Potter a good chemist? Could the Star Wars X-wings really turn on a dime? Are Superman's feats more plausible than we might think? While science fiction films let our imagination take flight, how much of what is portrayed in these fanciful settings a reasonable extrapolation of an established scientific principle? This course will scrutinize certain classic and contemporary films in order to determine how well the filmmakers knew their science. We will both laugh at and learn from some of the great scientific gaffes in film history.
When viewed with a critical eye, films on past and/or distant societies inform viewers about the culture portrayed as well as the culture that gave rise to the portrayal. In this course we will examine both dramatic and documentary films on Native Alaskans, Australian Aboriginees, and chimpanzee societies, learning to discern fact from fiction as we go.