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Teaching Materials
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The Social Documentary: Bibliography, Radio-Television-Film 345
Instructor: Dr. Laura Stein
University of Texas at Austin; Spring 2004
Compiled by Dr. Laura Stein, University of Texas at Austin, for her course The Social Documentary, this bibliography serves as a comprehensive reading guide for anyone interested in learning more about the genre.
Center for Social Media Hosts Panel at AMLA[PDF]
By Pat Aufderheide
How do social change and advocacy materials fit into a classroom standing in the shadow of standardized testing?
A Teacher’s Guide to Use of Personal Essay Films
Personal essay films have been widely diffused to teachers and community organizations, because they so powerfully evoke responses from and make connections for audiences. They are also favorites of film scholars, who use them to demonstrate with all the drama of the personal voice, the formal structures in filmmaking. For a complete guide to personal essay filmmaking, click here.
Using Video to Create Social Change[PDF]
Developed by The Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, this handbook aggregates information on creating socially motivated work. The document is available free in PDF format or in print at low cost.
Course Syllabi
Documentary Research[PDF]
Syllabus by Prof. Lora Taub-Pervizpour, Muhlenberg College
Students in this course have the general topic of “identity” to ground their inquiry into documentary production.
Media and Social Change: CTCS 585
Instructors: Profs. Curtis Marez and Doe Mayer
University of Southern California, Spring 2005
Spring 2005 version of the course previously taught by Michael Renov and Doe Mayer. New reading and viewing, providing alternate perspectives on how media affects social change.
Video Activism[PDF]
Syllabus by Prof. Lydia Foester, New School University
Like other courses here, Video Activism combines production with theory on the various uses of video and how it is employed strategically.
Social Documentary, COMM 512.001
Syllabus by Prof. Pat Aufderheide, American University
This is a course designed to familiarize students with audio-visual production for social action, including nonprofit, advocacy, institutional, and museum display. The assignments include analyzing case studies of successful work, mapping the economic and social environment for media, meeting professional media producers, and developing proposals.
Video Activism: History, Theory, Politics and Practice
Instructor: River Branch
University of Iowa; Fall 2004
Like other courses here, Video Activism combines production with theory on the various uses of video and how it is employed strategically.
Survey of Gay and Lesbian Documentary, COMM 516-001
Syllabus by Prof. Bob Connelly, American University
This course will follow the evolution of gay and lesbian-themed documentary within the historical context of the gay and lesbian movement.
The Social Documentary (Radio, Television, Film 345)
Syllabus by Prof. Laura Stein, University of Texas at Austin
This course offers a conceptual overview of the forms, strategies, structures and conventions of documentary film and video. The course focuses on social documentary, or documentary that aims to construct arguments about the social world.
TV Practicum: Documentary and Social Change, RTV 4467-02
Syllabus by Prof. Andy Opel, Florida State University
This course explores the contemporary world of documentary video production with an overview of the history and major trends in documentary production. It combines critical viewing skills with practical instruction in documentary production.
Non-Fiction Film Theory, 222-301
Syllabus by Prof. P. R. Zimmerman, Ithaca College
This course deals with the intersection of film theory and history; it employs a wide range of films and books to ground students. Lectures, discussions and screenings expand, develop, and criticize texts and films.
Images: Women/Men/Media, 222-303
Syllabus by Prof. P. R. Zimmerman, Ithaca College
This course is a survey of contemporary feminist cultural theory: it interrogates and assesses the construction of women within diverse representational systems. It also investigates film, photography, video art, and digital forms as contested, fluid sites articulating discourses on women, men, sexuality, difference, and nation.