War, Peace and the Media (American University Syllabus)
War and Peace in Films
Spring Semester 2012
American University
Prof. Colman McCarthy
Whether they are film makers working for the corporate media or going it along as independents, or whether they are print or broadcast reporters, or whether they are newspaper columnists or television analysts, the media are deeply involved in the issues of war and peace. The course examines both the quality of the coverage and the relationship of the media to those who wage war or wage peace. The wars to be examined are not only military wars but also the war zones found in domestic violence, racial violence, violence toward the environment and animals, and state sanctioned violence in the death penalty.
The course is discussion-based. Dissent is welcomed, as are minority views, eccentricities and the occasional digression. Let’s be good listeners. Listening to other is an act of caring.
COURSE FILMS
Bridge on the River Kwai
War Made Easy
Born on the Fourth of July
Vietnam: Long time Coming
A Force More Powerful
To Love or To Kill
From Fury To Forgiveness
An Act of Conscience
COURSE TEXTS
Solutions to Violence
Bonus peace book (free)
Strength Through Peace
We Who Dared Say No to War
REQUIREMENTS
A paper and a film. The paper should be between 1,000 and 1,200 words. Due date: the eighth week of class. Imagine a film-maker came to you with an offer to make a film based on you. But first the film-maker asks that you write a proposal on what part of your life the film would cover: perhaps your experiences with violence or nonviolence, some ordeals you have gone through, what you have done to become a better person, some event or idea that transformed your thinking. The ideal paper would be a mix of personal reflection, analysis and fact-based commentary. It should not be a conventional research paper, tilled from the depleted soil of term paper dullness. Write a paper that is uniquely and creatively your own that no one else could produce. It’s fine to use the first person pronoun. In fact, it’s often better that way. It’s a matter of expertise. You’re the expert on you. Or should be.
The film: make a documentary that tells a story on how people deal with war and peace in their lives. Some suggestions: interview an Iraq or Afghanistan war veteran. Interview a peacemaker and what choices her or she made. Go the A.U. track and film the joggers and runners and interviewing them on whether their activity makes them more peaceful people. Interview some doctors and nurses at Sibley Hospitals emergency room who treat A.U. students brought in after blacking out from binge drinking. Interview women who have been cat-called. And the men who did the cat-calling. Interview one of your professors and his or her views on American education. Interview the university workers who cook your food, mow the grass, heat the buildings and scrub the dorms floors. Next to last class. Students can pair or team up: two or more working on the same film. Choose your partners wisely, egos being what they are these days. Length: minimum 15 minutes, maximum 30 minutes. Include music, graphics, voiceovers if desired and helpful.
Papers or films that are exceptionally creative and unique earn As. Ones that are above average, flow with well hewn prose and have occasional flashes of creativity earn Bs. Papers or films that show only an ordinary command of language and aren’t especially noteworthy in either style or intelligence, earn Cs. Ones that are plodding or cause the professor to fall asleep after t a few minutes earn a D—or F, depending how long the sleep lasts.
FINAL EXAM AND GRADES
Based on the course texts and handouts, the exam will list between 15 and 20 quotes as well as a list of their authors. Students are expected to match the quotes with the authors.
Only those quotes which were read aloud in class will be on the exam. Final grades are based on thirds: one third the paper, one third the film, one third the exam.
The best reason for an absence is a death: mine or yours.
If you miss a class, check with a fellow student on what was covered or read aloud.
AVAILABILITY
I’m reachable at the Center for Teaching Peace, 4501 Van Ness St., Washington DC 20016. Phone 202 537-1372. Email: cmccarthy@starpower.net
What follows is a week by week plan of what’s ahead, and like all plans may be altered when necessary.
An examination of the relationship between film-makers and their audiences and what each want by making the films or watching them. “New Shoots for Peace,” a documentary on peace education made by a former A.U. student in the first peace class taught at the university in 1985 will be shown.
What exactly is meant by war? And peace? The film “Gallipoli” will be shown and discussed.
What happens when wars end and soldier-survivors go home, whether to bury their experiences, be proud of them or be haunted by them? “Vietnam: a Long Time Coming” a film that explores all three reactions, will be shown and discussed.
With the U.S. military encamped in Iraq and Afghanistan, plus bases in more than 100 countries, what have documentary film-makers been offering? The Sean Penn narrated “War Made Easy” will be shown.
Film-makers and the death penalty. An exploration of the coverage given to executions and legal cases involving capital punishment. “From Fury to Forgiveness,” a documentary examining three death penalty cases will be shown and discussed.
How did journalists fare during the Vietnam War? Of the dozens of quality films on Vietnam, the only one which relies solely on the words of soldiers is “Letters Home From Vietnam.”
Where has nonviolence worked? An examination of how films have covered successful resistance movements in Denmark, Poland, Chile and elsewhere. “A Force More Powerful” will be shown.
How are films portraying the war on animals--as waged in the nation’s slaughterhouses, hunting grounds, laboratories, circuses, race tracks. “To Love or To Kill” supplies some answers.
Time now for Gandhi, the Indian peacemaker. Readings: chapter three in “Solutions to Violence” and chapter five in “Strength Through Peace.” The documentary, “Gandhi and His Times” will be shown.
The 1956, “The Bridge on the River,” which tells the story of British soldiers in a Japanese prison camp, endures as a classic World War II film on the madness of war.
Week Eleven
How do the film media portray women victimized by violence? “War Zone,” a documentary about women being victimized by catcalling on cit streets, will be shown and discussed war?
Week Twelve
What exactly is patriotism? Ron Kovic’s “Born on the Fourth of July” offers one veteran’s definition of patriotism, one that is akin to Tolstoy’s views in “Patriotism or Peace” in “Solutions to Violence.”
Week Thirteen
What about those who not only say no to war but refuse to pay federal income taxes to pay others to wage war. The documentary “An Act of Conscience” will be shown.
Week Fourteen
A final summing up, including “The Language of War.”