At the Movies: A Continuing Dialogue on the Challenges of Teaching with Film

Abstract

As part of ISP’s ongoing effort to provide a scholarly venue for the exchange of ideas on a variety of topics, this issue’s ISP Forum presents one set of reactions to the February 2001 article by Lynn Kuzma and Patrick Haney titled “And Action . . . ! Using Film to Learn About Foreign Policy” (February 2001:33‐50). Vincent Pollard’s comments represent what we hope will be the first in a series of comments on teaching international studies with film. Profs. Kuzma and Haney in their rejoinder urge for an ongoing discussion of the topic, as they see the use of film growing in the field. More broadly, the Editors of ISP invite readers to submit their own comments and reactions on this and other pieces that appear within the pages of ISP. Please note that all submissions undergo a peer review process.

Movies to the Rescue: Keeping the Cold War Relevant for Twenty-First-Century Students

“…Using movies or other forms of active-learning techniques, including simulations, role-plays, and games, is not new to political science as others acknowledge (Boyer 2002;Engert and Spencer 2009;Gregg 1998;Kuzma and Haney 2001;Lindley 2001;Simpson and Kaussler 2009;Sunderland, Rothermel, and Lusk 2009;Webber 2005;Weber 2001Weber , 2009. What is important here, however, is to establish the reason educators find it beneficial to rely on these types of teaching techniques.…”

The International Relations of Middle-earth: Learning fromThe Lord of the Rings

“…As Julie Webber (2005) argues, “The present generation, in general, lives in fantasy and in order to reach them one must go to their fantasy first, then begin to exile them from it” (389). By connecting with popular culture, film can help students look forward to IR courses (Tierney 2007), get excited about politics (Dougherty 2002), and engage more because of increased stimulation, concretized abstractions, and effective learning (Kuzma and Haney 2001; Boyer, Kelly Pollard, Kuzma, and Haney 2002). 1 LOTR is particularly accessible, as since its publication in 1954–1955, it has achieved a degree of prominence rivaled by very few stories ever told—a cultural phenomenon (Chance 2001; Shippey 2001).…”

“…3 3 In terms of pedagogy, this includes using film in the classroom (see, e.g., Kuzma and Haney 2001; Weber 2001; Boyer et al. 2002; Waalkes 2003; Webber 2005; Rowley 2007) as well as other forms of media such as political cartoons (e.g., Dougherty 2002) and music (e.g., Tierney 2007).…”

Using Elements of Popular Culture to Teach Africa’s International Relations

“…A number of recent works have thus explored issues in politics and IR through the lens of popular fiction, from the Harry Potter book series to the American blockbuster Pearl Harbor to the television series The Wire (Bacqué et al, 2014;Nexon and Neumann, 2006;Weber, 2002). Likewise films and other forms of art have slowly entered the lecture theatre, with teachers using well-known films such as Lord of the Flies, The Truman Show, Wag the Dog or Syriana to teach IR theories and concepts or specific aspects of the discipline, such as foreign policy (Boyer, 2002;Kuzma and Haney, 2001;Simpson and Kaussler, 2009;Weber, 2005). In the great majority of cases, however, films were used in core first-and second-year modules in IR and I have found no example of the use of films in teaching the international relations of a specific part of the world.…”