Re: Pedagogy and films

Dave Postles (pot@leicester.ac.uk)
Wed, 11 Oct 1995 16:59:11 +0100

I was struck by Luc Borot's reservations concerning the use of films in
teaching the medieval and early modern period. Of course not all films are
historically accurate, but I've noticed that the same can be said of texts
and monographs. Are you worried, Luc, that students will be seduced by the
apparent "reality" of film, and assume therefore that the films are telling
the truth, while on the other hand the difficulty of reading (as opposed to
watching) ensures that they maintain a critical detachment? I have found
that films can be valuable teaching tools, particularly if students already
know something of the period (which I sure hope they do, since I have been
teaching them). They can then think critically about the film's presentation
of the past in the same way I might ask them to think critically about a
contentious book.

Sure, film makers are not held to the same standards as historians, but some
of them obviously do go to great lengths to present the past as accurately as
possible.

Michael Graham
Assistant professor of history
University of Akron
r1mxg@vm1.cc.uakron.edu

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