Seminar: 3.02.141 S Communicating Science - Engaging (with) Nature: Film & Television Documentaries and the Environment - Details

Seminar: 3.02.141 S Communicating Science - Engaging (with) Nature: Film & Television Documentaries and the Environment - Details

General information

Course name Seminar: 3.02.141 S Communicating Science - Engaging (with) Nature: Film & Television Documentaries and the Environment
Subtitle
Course number 3.02.141
Semester WiSe26/27
Current number of participants 0
maximum number of participants 36
Home institute Institute of English and American Studies
Courses type Seminar in category Teaching
Next date Thursday, 15.10.26, 14:00 - 16:00 o'clock A01 0-007
Type/Form
Lehrsprache englisch
ECTS points 6

Rooms and times

A01 0-007

  • Thursday, 14:00 - 16:00, Weekly (from 15.10.26)

No room

  • Friday, 16.10.26, 14:00 - 20:00 o'clock
  • Friday, 13.11.26, 14:00 - 20:00 o'clock
  • Friday, 18.12.26, 14:00 - 20:00 o'clock
  • Friday, 22.01.27, 14:00 - 20:00 o'clock
  • Friday, 19.02.27, 14:00 - 20:00 o'clock

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 these courses will be assigned at 18.09.2026, 08:00.
  • The enrolment is possible from 14.09.2026, 06:00 to 31.12.2026, 23:59.
  • This setting is active from 14.09.2026 06:00 to 18.09.2026 08:15.
    Enrolment is allowed for up to 1 courses of the admission set.
  • This setting is active from 14.09.2026 06:00 to 31.12.2026 23:59.
    At least one of these conditions must be fulfilled for enrolment:
    • Degree is Anpassungslehrgang
    • Field of study is Anglistik
    • Field of study is Gender Studies
    • Field of study is English Studies
    • Degree is Erw.fach Gymnasium
    • Field of study is Englisch
Assignment of courses: