Preparatory Information and Project Organization

 

This research was conducted in two introductory international relations courses during the same semester (Fall 2009).  Almost all students consented to participate in the project, thus there were a total of 30 students involved in section A and 25 in section B (55 total students).  In order to gauge the students film viewing habits and their initial assumptions about the potential political and social role of film, I conducted a pre-survey. See the attached Pre-Survey for Study on Film and International Relations.  I also asked students about their level of knowledge about some of the issues we would be studying in connection with film, such as the Rwandan genocide and the torture scandal in Iraq.

 

The students viewed five films, the first one during class and four others outside of class in the evening.  Each film was connected to a topic of the course, or a sub-field of international relations.  The films and topics (with trailers attached) were:

 

Lord of the Flies (1963)(Realism and Liberalism as International Relations theory)

 

Rashomon (Post-modernism as International Relations theory)

 

Wag the Dog (role of media in foreign policy making and war)

 

Sometimes in April (human rights – Rwandan genocide and humanitarian intervention)

Standard Operating Procedure (human rights – torture/detention in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq)

 

 

Errol Morris’ film on the role of photographs in the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal.

 

 

The film chosen will impact the results since some films may be stronger or weaker in illustrating the topic, helping students understand and interpret the wider concepts, and perhaps illuminating something about international relations for them.  These five were chosen because they had all been used in previous courses and I felt that had been relatively effective in helping students learn.  Aside from Rashomon (the only film not in English), previous classes had enjoyed these films and found them interesting and useful.

 

Data Collected

 

In order to answer my research questions, I collected and used multiple sources of data, all of which were regular course assignments that I would normally use in this class. 

 

Blackboard Responses

 
For each film, I posted a prompt, consisting usually of two questions, on Blackboard (prior to the screening).  Students had about 1-2 days to answer the questions.  The questions were meant to tap into how students connected the film to the related international relations concepts. 

 

For example, for Lord of the Flies, part (a) of the question was:

Lord of the Flies can be seen as an illustration of the two main approaches to international relations: realism and liberalism. Discuss the character(s) and/or events/scenes that represent each theory – that is, HOW do they represent each approach, for example, in terms of, for ex, worldview & personality, visuals, dialogue, and action.

 

The questions for Sometimes in April (results analyzed in the next section) were:

 

1. How did the personal, emotional, and tragic nature of the narrative/images of Sometimes in April affect you in terms of your connection to/interest in the topic and in your understanding of the Rwandan genocide and genocide/human rights in general?   Explain with specific reference to the film.
2. What did you get from the film about the reasons why states in the international community did not come to the aid of the Rwandan people during the genocide? To what extent does your answer to this question change after having read the 9-page reading by Mark Amstutz on the genocide? 

Writing Assignments/Essays

 
Each student completed three essays – one related to the first two films on the topic of theory, the second related to the third film on media and war, and the third essay related to human rights and the last two films.  The essays were not about the films, but instead were standard questions about the academic concepts.  Students were told to use ALL class material to aid them in answering the questions, including the films.  The idea behind this assignment was to see how useful the film was to them in helping them understand and then answer complicated questions in international relations.  Thus, the more a student made use of the film as evidence and the way in which they used it would be indicative of important learning through film.  See the attached document for the assignment for Essay 3 on Human Rights.

 

Class Discussions and Teaching Journal

The next class day after a film screening was devoted to an organized discussion of the film, including an analysis of the film in relation to the concepts (theory, media, war, human rights).  For most of the discussions, I gave them a list of questions, some were my own questions and some were taken from their Blackboard responses.  They chose from the list and they could come up with their own question.  They discussed in small groups of 3 or 4, and then we shared as a whole class.  On a few occasions, I would take notes after the class in a teaching journal recording any observations that seemed relevant to how the film was useful in their learning.  

 

Post-Survey

On the last day of class, students took another survey.  Some of the questions were similar to the pre-survey to see if their attitudes changed regarding the role of film; new questions asked them to what extent they felt that the films in general (and then each separate film) was useful in, for example, “becoming more interested in the topic at hand” or “illuminating or altering your perspective on this issue.” See the attached document Post Survey for Film and International Relations.