Bret Werner
Social Studies Elective
“History through Film” Syllabus
What is history? It is a body of facts that have been accepted by historians as valid and significant. History is seeing the past through the eyes of today. The main task of the historian is not to record facts, but to interpret and evaluate them. History is the selection, arrangement, and interpretation of facts for the purpose of telling “how it really was.”
Like written history, contemporary Hollywood feature films are an interpretation of their society. They too may be considered historical evidence, for they share some properties with written history. Like traditional historical materials such as diaries and newspapers, contemporary films reflect the society that produced them.
They study appropriate sources, then select and arrange facts to tell their story. But neither a single movie, nor a single article or book can be considered the absolute authority on a topic, for both present biased interpretations. Therefore, film evidence, as well as primary documents and journal articles must be evaluated in conjunction with other information on the subject, if a more balanced and truthful interpretation of history is sought.
Many argue that film evidence is invalid because filmmakers are not historians. Their primary goal is to entertain and make money, rather than presenting the truth about the past. These elements are most obvious in historical dramas. Fictional films are complex industrial and social products and how they are made, distributed, exhibited, and received by audiences and critics will be investigated to fully evaluate their roles as historical evidence.
Nonetheless, it is the historian’s task to separate fantasy from fact. A major goal of this course is determining what is valid in contemporary films and historical dramas and what do these films say about the people who create them, the politics behind their creation, and how they reflect the values, ideas, and larger historical issues of the times in which they were created.
In addition, we will touch on the history of Hollywood and the motion picture industry itself and examine, from time to time, the changes in film technology, techniques, and/or in the “politics” of the business. A wide range of primary source materials will be used for this purpose. Therefore, this course examines Hollywood feature films and historical dramas as historical evidence. Students view movies on various topics and participate in Inner/outer Socratic seminar discussions, and write essays comparing that film evidence to information in more traditional sources, such as articles, film reviews and critical commentaries. The course is based around six broad questions:
1. Is film a legitimate historical source?
2. Is the film accurate?
3. To what extent is the film evidence accurate?
4. What determines the legitimacy of film evidence?
5. What is inaccurate about the film?
6. What determines the illegitimacy of film evidence?
7. Does the film capture the time period?
8. Is film evidence ever better than traditional historical sources?
9. Can Hollywood films be used to teach history?
ELEMENTS OF U. S. HISTORY THAT WILL BE STUDIED WITH A WORLD VIEW:
British Colonization/American Revolution
Constitution /Early Republic
Slavery & Civil War & Reconstruction
Western Expansion the Native American Experience and Manifest Destiny
World War I
The Immigrant Experience, Rise of Organized Crime, Prohibition, the Jazz Age
The Great Depression
World War II
the Cold War
Propaganda and Satire
The Civil Rights Movement
The Kennedy Administration
The Vietnam War
The 1960’s Counterculture
1970’s- Watergate, the Rise of Arab Nationalism
1980’s Reagan/Pop Culture/Consumerism
1990’s Clinton/Prosperity/End of Cold War/Changing Foreign Policy
2000’s War on Terror/Technology
COURSE GOALS:
1. To give students practical experience in critical analysis by evaluating full length feature films as historical evidence.
2. To motivate students in the interrogation of traditional historical sources by exposing them to relevant written material on past events.
3. To use film as a means of motivating students to study selected topics in United States history from both an American and foreign viewpoint.
4. To improve students’ research and writing skills through the assignment of critical essays on selected subjects that use film and traditional sources as evidence.
5. To impart an in-depth knowledge of major topics in U. S. history from both and American and foreign perspective.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
1. Do all assigned readings, pose your own questions [from the homework assignments] to bring to class for discussion, and to take good notes while viewing films.
2. View all films/shorts/clips, etc., either during the days they are shown in class, or rent them to view at home.
3. Keep a notebook with all notes taken while viewing a film or during class discussions, readings, and other materials handed out in class for you to read or use for Socratic seminar discussions. This notebook will be collected at the end of each Quarter and a grade will be given for general appearance and organization, general content, and quality of notes [including underlining and marginal notations of readings given]. This will be worth ____ points.
4) One additional film analysis paper can be done for extra credit [but permission must be given by me before any student can pursue this option].
5) Complete a film project in lieu of a final exam at the end of the course.
**Note: Syllabus was replicated from Ms. Pojer at ForestGreeleyHigh SchoolChappaqua, New York and adapted for BristolHigh School by Mr.Werner.