Dear Gary, We completed a documentary in January about the restoration of a perennial desert stream and all of the many human elements that needed to fit together to bring about this successful human collaboration in spite of initial conflict. The film, /A River Reborn/, covers the story from the perspectives of the conservationists and the major utility corporation as well as the university researchers, resource managers, and regulatory agencies involved in the process. The film is produced by an Emmy Award-winning crew and narrated by Ted Danson. You can see more about it at www.RiverReborn.org.
If you want to include a broader piece about the function and value of biological diversity we produced a three part series called /Treasuring Our Natural Heritage/ in 2002. This series connected very well with non-environmentally (even anti-environmentally) oriented audiences and significantly changed their attitudes toward and understanding of biodiversity and ecology. The three parts are: /Understanding the Work of Nature/, /Appreciating Nature's Services/, and /Conserving the Diversity of Life/. It stars David Tilman, Gretchen Daily, Jim Brown, Peter Raven, Paul Ehrlich and many other ecologists speaking alongside ranchers, farmers, and others. It is produced by the same Emmy Award-winning crew and is narrated by Merlin Olsen. It is available through Idaho Public Television at (877) 224-7200. I love /Dersu Uzala/ and /Soylent Green/ too and /China Town/ about the eastern California water wars is also good, but these are less directly about ecology or the tools needed to address present environmental woes. I have used /A River Reborn/ and /Treasuring Our Natural Heritage/ in non-majors courses with very positive responses from students. All the Best! Stefan Dr. Stefan Sommer Executive Producer, /A River Reborn/, www.RiverReborn.org Director of Education, Merriam-Powell Center, www.mpcer.nau.edu Northern Arizona University Campus Box 5640 Flagstaff, AZ 86011 Office: (928) 523-4463 FAX: (928) 523-7500 E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dr. Gary Grossman wrote: > Dear Colleagues, > At some point in my career I'd like to teach a moderately, large non-majors > oriented course, delineating basic concepts in ecology and resource > management, via film, art and literature. One idea would be to have the > film, etc. illustrate the point which could then be reinforced via a book > chapter or edited journal article so that they would be understandable by > non-majors. Does anyone teach a course like this? If you do, would you > mind sharing your materials? If you don't but have ideas about specific > films, short stories, paintings, sculptures, etc. please let me know and > please also tell us why you would chose that work (i.e. what concept it > illustrates). I have a pretty good background in the visual arts, so help > with literature and film would be appreciated. As an example of what I'm > looking for, I would use the film Dersu Uzala by Kurasawa to illustrate the > role of humans relationship to nature. Thanks for your help. g2 > >
