Seminar: 3.02.140 S Communicating Science - Engaging (with) Nature: Film & Television Documentaries and the Environment - Details

Seminar: 3.02.140 S Communicating Science - Engaging (with) Nature: Film & Television Documentaries and the Environment - Details

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General information

Course name Seminar: 3.02.140 S Communicating Science - Engaging (with) Nature: Film & Television Documentaries and the Environment
Subtitle
Course number 3.02.140
Semester SoSe2025
Current number of participants 22
maximum number of participants 20
Home institute Institute of English and American Studies
Courses type Seminar in category Teaching
Next date Thursday, 24.04.2025 10:00 - 12:00, Room: A01 0-009
Type/Form
Lehrsprache englisch
ECTS points 6

Rooms and times

A01 0-009
Thursday: 10:00 - 12:00, weekly (12x)

Module assignments

Comment/Description

Some of the earliest documentary films, such as In the Land of the Head Hunters (1914) and Nanook of the North (1922), explore the relationship between human beings and their natural environments. Both Head Hunters and Nanook are also (pseudo-)scientific films, (purported) ethnographic studies of "primitive" peoples. As such, they demonstrate the close interconnection between science and motion pictures--indeed, motion pictures became important tools of scientific observation and inquiry practically as soon as they were discovered.

In this seminar, we will explore ways in which documentary films frame (scientific) knowledge about nature, the environment, and humankind's varied relationships and entanglements with the natural world. In so doing, we will soon discover that films that seem to center on nature often say more about humans than the natural world they purport to represent.


Films likely to be discussed (selection):
Nanook of the North (1922)
The Living Desert (1953)
The Vanishing Prairie (1954)
Life on Earth (1979)
An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
The National Parks: America's Best Idea (2009)
Life (2009)
Racing Extinction (2015)
Anthropocene: The Human Epoch (2017)

Admission settings

The course is part of admission "ang612-615 Aufbau Lit/Cult".
The following rules apply for the admission:
  • A defined number of seats will be assigned to these courses.
    The seats in the affected courses have been assigned at 21.03.2025 on 08:00. Additional seats may be available via a wait list.
  • This setting is active from 17.03.2025 06:00 to 31.05.2025 23:59.
    At least one of these conditions must be fulfilled for enrolment:
    • Degree is Anpassungslehrgang
    • Subject is Gender Studies
    • Subject is Anglistik
    • Subject is English Studies
    • Degree is Erw.fach Gymnasium
    • Subject is Englisch
  • The enrolment is possible from 17.03.2025, 06:00 to 31.05.2025, 23:59.
  • This setting is active from 17.03.2025 06:00 to 21.03.2025 08:10.
    Enrolment is allowed for up to 1 courses of the admission set.
Assignment of courses: