film

Because so many instructors have found documentary films useful course resources for teaching everything from rhetorical analysis to use of sources to visual critique, in the fall ISUComm sponsors a documentary film series centered around cultural themes. In Fall 2006 there were four themes: artists, architects, science/technology, sports. Learning communities, thematic composition courses, and related courses in various disciplines may find one or more of these films useful as supplemental visual texts or as the central focus of a unit or assignment.

Teaching Resources for the Postville Documentary.

Sites for the Three faiths Mentioned in the Postville

Judaism: http://www.hebroots.com/judaism.html

Questions on Filming Techniques and Representation

1. Before you show the entire film, show a scene without sound. Then have students discuss what meaning they think they see in the scene. Next show the same scene with sound. Ask the class to discuss how the director used a narrator's script to shape the meaning of the scene.

2. Why does the discussion of "assimilation" occur with scenes of Jewish children attending school?

As a follow-up to the interview unit, students viewed the documentary film Postville (often shown twice by the instructors). The instructors used various approaches in teaching the film (choosing one or more of the following):

• analyzing film techniques and comparing a documentary to other film forms
• evaluating the use of multiple interviews/perspectives (connection to the interview unit)
• discussing diversity issues
• examining the vocabulary of different faiths