Videos and Films: Environmental
Planning, Ecology, and Environmental History
Compiled postings:
Various sources
April 1999-July 2002
Ashwani Vasishth <ashwani@csun.edu>
Date:
Fri, 2 Apr 1999 10:15:16 -0600
From: Stacey Swearingen White <slsweari@FALCON.CC.UKANS.EDU>
To: PLANET@LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU
Subject: environmental planning videos - follow-up
Dear PLANET Colleagues:
This is a follow-up to my recent request for suggestions of videos that might
be appropriate to show in an undergraduate environmental planning course. Many thanks to all of you who
responded. The following list is
divided into two sections: A)
specific titles of videos and as much information as I have about them; B)
sources of video collections
(ordering information and/or more title suggestions).
A. SPECIFIC VIDEOS:
1. "The Lorax," based on
the Dr. Seuss book.
2. "Cadillac Desert," the PBS series on the development of
the American West, can be ordered from <http://www.pbs.org/>
3. The "Seinfeld" episode where Jerry is dating the
Romanian gymnast.... George eats a
chocolate eclair he finds in the trash at his girlfriend's mother's home... the
episode contains a revealing vignette about what is waste...
4. "Ecological Design" (if anyone knows any more about this title,
please let me know)
5. "The Wilderness Idea", a
video about the conflict between
preservation and conservation (talks extensively about the ideas of John
Muir and Gifford Pinchot).
6. "The Wasting of a
Wetland", a video about the destruction of the Everglades but also a good
example of the conflict between urban development and water management. (available from
<http://www.bullfrogfilms.com>)
7. "Pointless Pollution", a video about non-point source pollution
8. "Silent Spring",
about Rachel Carson of course, but also good for a general discussion about the
threats of pesticides and the role of science in policy making.
9. "Green Plans", about
innovative approaches to environmental planning, mainly about comprehensive
environmental planning in the Netherlands and New Zealand.
10. "Yosemite, the fate of
heaven", about the conflict between preservation and recreation.
11. "Natural Details: Urban
Ecosystems," produced by "On the Ground" (1995). Contains 4 brief segments on urban
streams, volunteer restoration,
school construction, and an industrial corridor. $25 from On the Ground, 712 N. 34th St, Suite 213, Seattle,
WA 98103 (206-632-8841). (They have produced other videos as well, see web site
#2 below).
B. OTHER SOURCES (ordering
information and/or title lists)
1. The Tata Energy Research
Institute in New Delhi has a list of videos available from its web site:
<http://www.teriin.org/>
(click on "publications," then "audio-visuals")
2. The Center for Livable
Communities also has a list of videos, many of which are fairly
inexpensive
<http://www.lgc.org/clc/>
3. Another video producer/distributor
is at <http://bullfrogfilms.com/>.
This web site has sales and rental prices for an extensive video collection.
4. York University Libraries has
its collection listed on-line at
<http://info.library.yorku.ca/depts/smil/filmographies/films.htm/> This
site would be good for getting additional titles.
5. Other possible sites to check:
National Geogragphic, Smithsonian Institution, PBS/Nova, and the Nature
Company. Also, biology/ecology depts at Harvard, Berkeley, Penn, etc.
I hope this is of use to some of you.
Thanks again for your help.
Regards,
Stacey
*********************
Stacey Swearingen White
Assistant Professor
Graduate Program in Urban Planning
The University of Kansas
317 Marvin Hall
Lawrence, KS 66045
785-864-3530
785-864-5301 (fax)
slsweari@falcon.cc.ukans.edu
* * *
Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2000 20:26:41 -0700
From: Mary Culpin <msculpin@mho.net>
Subject: Re: Early National Park Films?
Try David Nathanson at the National Park Service Library, Harpers Ferry Center,
Harpers Ferry, West Virginia - (304) 535-6262. You might also
check with the archivist at some of the older parks. If you are interested in a specific park, get in touch and I
will provide details.
Marcy Culpin
National Park Service Historian (ret.)
* * *
Date: Fri, 05 May 2000 14:30:48 -0400
From: "Brown, Margaret" <mbrown@brevard.edu>
Subject: RE: Teaching videos/films?
Nina,
For insight into the coal region of Kentucky, Tennesse, and West Virginia, there are several excellent
films produced by Appalshop in Whitesburg, Kentucky. I would call Appalshop and
order a catalog! Margaret Brown Brevard, North Carolina
* * *
Date: Fri, 5 May 2000 13:40:24 -0700 (PDT)
From: Sara Pritchard <spritch@stanford.edu>
To: American Society for Environmental History
<H-Environment@h-net.msu.edu>
Subject: Re: teaching videos/films
Dear Nina,
I would recommend:
- "Stepan Chemical: the poisoning of a Mexican community" (1992, 18
minutes) on recent transnational pollution associated with the multinationals
located across the Mexican border. (I don't have the name of the producing
company).
- an EDF video regarding their legal case against the EPA in order to force the
closing of the Douglas copper smelter in Arizona in the 1980s as wealthy retirees pushed for closure
because of public health concerns
(Sorry, I don't have the title.
The above two films work well together though, as I recall, they both
give the "pro-environment/public interest/anti-industry perspective.).
- I bought a video, "Hoover Dam: American Construction Epic, 1931-1936," at the gift shop of
Hoover Dam several years ago. At
the time, I was under the impression that it was the movie produced during
construction about the project. (On a side note, they show the circa 1935
movie _unproblematically_ as the
"history of the dam" in their big movie room as part of the tour.)
Unfortunately, the video is not the original movie. It's a circa 1980s or 1990s video, which includes lengthy excerpts of the 1930s movie. I was disappointed, but it's still
useful to show because of these excerpts, to give a sense of the scale and the
sheer grandeur (the French term is apt!) of the construction site, and to talk
about narrative, memory, and (re)interpretation of history, particularly in
light of the use of the 1930s movie as an authoritative historical narrative.
Have fun with your budget and please email us a compilation of the suggestions.
Sara
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sara B. Pritchard, ABD
Department of History
Stanford University
spritch@leland.stanford.edu
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
* * *
Date: Fri, 05 May 2000 16:49:17 -0400
From: Greg Field <gbfield@umich.edu>
To: Nina E. Lerman <lermanne@whitman.edu>
Subject: Re: teaching videos/films
Nina,
I use the films "The River" and "The Plow that Broke the
Plains" by Pare Lorenz. Worster's _Dust Bowl_ meshes nicely with these--
esp the "The Plow..." I tend to use them in a play-stop-talk et seq
fashion, as both have great shots and messages, but I lose students when
playing them straight through. At one point, Brian Black (he is on the
envirotech list I believe) pointed me to some curricular material for "The
River" from the 1930s, but I don't have the cite handy.
I'd love to see the full list of responses to this query.
Greg F
--
Gregory Field
Assistant Professor of History
University of Michigan at Dearborn
Dearborn, MI 48128
gbfield@umich.edu
313.593.5284
* * *
Date: Sat, 6 May 2000 13:26:23 -0800
From: brian carroll <human@architexturez.com>
To: envirotech@lists.stanford.edu
Subject: Re: teaching videos/films
Following a request for more info regarding the movie Koyaanisqatsi, this is
what was listed in the Internet Movie Database: http://imdb.com/
Koyaanisqatsi (1983)
Directed by Godfrey Reggio
Writing credits Ron Fricke and Michael Hoenig
Tagline: Life out of balance
koy.aa.nis.qat.si (Hopi) [n] 1. crazy life 2. life out of balance 3. life
disintegrating 4. life in turmoil 5. a way of life that calls for another way
of living.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Plot Outline: A movie with no conventional plot: merely a collection of
expertly photographed scenes. Subject matter has a highly environmental theme.
Koyaanisqatsi is a documentary (of sorts). It is also a visual concert of
images set to the haunting music of Glass, Phillip. While there is no plot in
the traditional sense, there is a definate scenario. The film opens on ancient
native American cave drawings, while the soundtrack chants
"Koyaanisqatsi" which is a Hopi indian term for "life out of
balance". The film uses
extensive time lapse photography (which speeds images up) and slow motion photography
to make comparisons between different types of physical motion. In one of the
first examples, we see cloud formations moving (sped up) intercut with a
montage of ocean waves (slowed down) and in such a way we are able to see the
similarities of movement between
these natural forces. This technique of comparison exists throughout the
film, and through it we learn more about the world around us. The film progresses from purely natural
environments to nature as affected by man, and finally to man's own manmade environment, devoid of nature
yet still following the patterns
of natural flow as depicted in the beginning of the film, yet in chaos and
disarray. Through this the film conveys its key message, which is Koyaanisqatsi: life out of balance;
crazy life; life in turmoil; life disintegrating; a state of life that calls
for another way of living.
User Comments: A truly amazing film. (more)
User Rating: 7.4/10 (1652 votes)
Runtime: USA:87 / Sweden:86
Country: USA
Language: None
Color: Color
Sound Mix: Dolby
Certification: Finland:S / Sweden:7
User Comments:
******
Date: 1 August 1998
Summary: A truly amazing film.
I went to see a this film, for the first time, in a cinema (a brand new print )
out of curiosity, for two reasons.. to see A. How a film with no plot could be
waffled out to 87 minutes, and B. To see the reactions of people in the
audience to it..
I really didn't expect to be engaged by this film, but I was, and it truly surprised me. It starts slowly,
which had me looking at my watch a bit
for the first minute or so, and then it really started to engage me -
scenes of what I believe is
Monument Valley, site of many a western... The first 10 minutes or so
concentrates on the natural world, free of humans, and it really succeeds in
its aim, to make the viewer realise what a truly amazing and majestic planet we live on, and it also seems to
be suggesting some sort of interrelation of all things, comparing slowed down
shots of waves crashing onto a shore to accelerated footage of clouds flowing
over mountain ranges. After this, which moulds an image of the natural
world as a very ordered place, it
moves on to machines, and then mankind,
portraying our world as a very chaotic place, using vastly accelerated
footage of cities and people. This film rests on Phillip Glass's amazing score.
Some of it is inspiring and almost religious in style (especially the music at
the end - track 6 on the soundtrack), some of it chaotic, repetitive and almost
insane, but never disconcerting or boring. The most amazing thing to me was how quickly the 87 minutes
passed. The film's editing and pacing
was incredible, helped by the score, with a momentum which pulsed in
your head and was almost hypnotic
in places.
This film was never boring, never seemed waffled, and it engaged me from start
to finish. I was surprised at the number of families there, probably expecting something different
to what they saw, but I saw nobody leaving discontent with the film. I rate
this film as third on my top 5 films of all time, behind Citizen Kane and A Clockwork
Orange. If you can see this in a cinema, do it. If you can get your hands on a
widescreen laserdisc version, and you have a huge TV, get it. This is
definitely NOT a film to see on a small screen or pan & scan. This has to
be seen on a big screen.
Recommendations
If you like this title, we also recommend...
Powaqqatsi (1988)
* * *
Date: Mon, 8 May 2000 09:09:16 -0500
From: Mark Stoll <stoll@TTU.EDU>
Reply-To: H-NET List for Environmental History
<H-ENVIRONMENT@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Subject: Teaching videos/films (4 posts)
[Ed. note: Four messages follow.]
Date: Fri, 05 May 2000 19:57:22 -0400
From: Darlene Wilson <dgwils0@pop.uky.edu>
Subject: Re: Teaching videos/films
On Fri, 05 May 2000 14:30:48 -0400
"Brown, Margaret" <mbrown@brevard.edu> wrote:
>For insight into the coal region of Kentucky, Tennesse, and West Virginia,
>there are several excellent films produced by Appalshop in Whitesburg,
>Kentucky. I would call Appalshop and order a catalog!
Appalshop has a good website and online catalog of their documentaries:
http://www.appalshop.org
The latest by Anne Lewis, titled: To Save The Land And The People, debuted last month at the Appalachian
Studies Assn. to an enthusiastic audience. Reviews the history of opposition to
strip mining, the formation of
Kentucky grassroots organizations, has wonderful footage of Joe Begley
who died recently. Some of you may
remember the 'profile' of Joe by Studs Terkel (1980? or thereabouts).
Appalshop has some earlier films as well that are still useful on mining
issues. Anthony Slone's
documentary "AppleWise" looks at the 'death' of business for
once-thriving applegrowers in the Wise County, VA, area. I really like this one because it
examines several generations of one
family - some family members go over to the coal industry to try to
strike it rich while another tries to keep the family's orchards profitable and
wrestles with pesticide & profitability issues. In the meantime, valuable orchards are strip-mined away until the one family member
still trying to grow apples is
reduced to a single orchard that he leases from a coal company until the company informs him that he's in
the way of a spreading strip mine.
The documentary ends with a poignant, tragic scene of the orchard - as
the camera-angle widens and pulls back, the viewer sees the strip mining
equipment in the distance and hears the roar of machinery. Good stuff for those who want to delve into social & cultural
history as well.
Darlene Wilson
Director, Institutional Planning and Research
Southeast Community College
700 College Road, Cumberland, KY 40823
E-mail: dgwils0@pop.uky.edu
Phone/voice mail: 606 589-2145, ext. 2081
FAX: 606 589-5758
----------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 05 May 2000 22:25:57 -0400 (EDT)
From: BBReynolds@aol.com
Subject: Re: Teaching videos/films
In a message dated 5/5/2000 5:09:25 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
stoll@TTU.EDU
writes:
> <<SNIP>>
>
> - I bought a video,
"Hoover Dam: American Construction Epic,
> 1931-1936," at the gift
shop of Hoover Dam several years ago.
At the
> time, I was under the
impression that it was the movie produced during
> construction about the
project. (On a side note, they show the circa 1935
> movie _unproblematically_ as
the "history of the dam" in their big movie
> room as part of the tour.)
Unfortunately, the video is not the original
> movie. It's a circa 1980s or 1990s video,
which includes lengthy excerpts
> of the 1930s movie. I was disappointed, but it's still
useful to show
> because of these excerpts, to
give a sense of the scale and the sheer
> grandeur (the French term is
apt!) of the construction site, and to
> talk about narrative, memory,
and (re)interpretation of history,
> particularly in light of the
use of the 1930s movie as an authoritative
> historical narrative.
As an aside to the Hoover Dam construction, look for the movie "Silver
Streak" c. 1934, which uses the construction site as a plot element; lots
of construction film clips included; and the main feature, of course, is the
historical artifact of the "Pioneer Zephyr" train, which is now locked in the basement of the MSI in
Chicago.
Bruce B. Reynolds, Trailing Edge Technologies, Glenside PA
------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 05 May 2000 23:47:30 -0700
From: Lorne Hammond <lhammond@uvic.ca>
Subject: Re: Teaching videos/films?
I use a couple, depending on the year and my mood:
The Columbian Exchange is Crosby which I follow with a lecture based around Sauer on basically
genocide/black legend/white legend/Spanish Main-ish issues. Good at 1st year.
For 20th C. I love to drag out the 16 mm and show the Plow That Broke The
Plain, with all the wobbling sound etc.
I point out it gives the mood of showing what Malin felt was anti-farmer
propaganda, and the militarism of
the mid-1930s propoganda is unmistakable to modern students. It helps get students jolted into the
cultural debates of the past. A
video of it wouldn't be as good (Yes I know it is available).
I tried a Frederick Law Olmsted video but it was poor. I heard of another I have not seen yet.
The Idea of Wilderness, part 1 of a 2 parter is also good for giving Hetch Hetchy, but the second tape is
weak, although it has Aldo Leopold.
I don't use it. However Dick Sellars (US PArks
Historian) told me about Yosemite:
The Fate of Heaven, which is wonderful and a big hit with students. You can use it and then lecture about Muir, Pinchot and Hetch
Hetcy. It does not discuss Muir/Pinchot but is, as Dick said, the best film
ever made on parks issues. I
agree. $20 from the Yosemite Gift
shop online.
The narrator is reading the diary of the first US Calvary doctor into the
valley but it gets you up to issues of now.
I finally got a copy of Fire on The Mountain by Beth and George Gage but I have
not viewed it yet. It is sitting
on my desk for next year's course. The 10th Mountain Division trained to fight
Nazi mountain troops and after the war the veterans contributed massively to
the ski industry and wilderness
lobby so it gets you from WWII to the 1960s in a very odd fashion.
I think videos should confuse and challenge students, not replace lectures. I
might use 2-3 in a 4 month course.
Canadian or world material is something else again. Hope that helps.
Lorne Hammond
-------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 06 May 2000 09:56:02 -0300
From: Jose Drummond <jaldrummond@uol.com.br>
Subject: Teaching videos/films
> Nina E. Lerman
If you are including films of fiction in your list, consider the following
thoroughly "non-American" options (with respective descriptions and
warnings) thay may stretch the imagination of your students:
a - Quest for Fire (French-Canadian?) (dir by J. Annaud) - small band of
hominids travel in search of fire 80000 years ago, and learn how to make it (violence, nudity, no understandable
language spoken or captioned);
b- Aguirre (German) (dir by. W. Herzog) - small band of Spanish conquistadores
lose themselves and their minds going down the Amazon River in the 1500s, blown
away by too much water, too much trees and hostile natives (not particularly
violent, operistic, extreme)
c - How tasty was my Frenchman (Brazilian) (Dir by Nelson pereira dos Santos) -
French prisoner of Tupi natives on the Brazilian coast in the early 1500s sees
his time click away as he is prepared for execution and ingestion by his
captors - and has a great time (nudity, violence)
d - Fitzacarraldo (German) (dir by W. Herzog) - American dreamer and
entrepreneur tries to strike a fortune during the rubber boom in Peruvian
Amazon, with the secret intent of bringing Caruso to sing opera in the forest.
If your budget allows, I can give more suggestions.
Jose Drummond, Ph. D.
----------------------------------
Date: Sat, 06 May 2000 12:06:35 -0400
From: shill34@juno.com
Subject: Re: Teaching videos/films
the stepan chemical video was produced by day communications in san antonio,
texas, 1992.
On Fri, 5 May 2000 16:02:09 -0500 Mark Stoll <stoll@TTU.EDU> writes:
> - "Stepan Chemical: the poisoning of a Mexican community" (1992,
18
> minutes) on recent transnational pollution associated with the
> multinationals located across the Mexican border. (I don't have the
> name
> of the producing company).
Sarah Hill
Department of Anthropology
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD 21218
410.366.2864
* * *
Date: Mon, 8 May 2000 11:49:42 -0500
From: Mark Stoll <stoll@TTU.EDU>
Reply-To: H-NET List for Environmental History
<H-ENVIRONMENT@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Subject: Teaching videos/films
Date: Mon, 08 May 2000 12:47:56 -0400
From: "Geoffrey L. Buckley" <buckleg1@oak.cats.ohiou.edu>
Subject: Re: Teaching videos/films (4 posts)
On the subject of teaching videos, "On Our Own Land" (Appalshop 1988)
examines strip mining and the role of broad form deeds in eastern Kentucky.
Also, an April 1998 episode of Ted Koppel's "Nightline" called
"Digging Deep" can be purchased from ABC News. It has impressive footage of
mountain-top removal in southern West Virginia.
Geoff Buckley
Department of Geography
Ohio University
* * *
Date: Tue, 09 May 2000 12:59:00 PDT
From: Betsy Mendelsohn <b_mendelsohn@hotmail.com>
To: envirotech@lists.stanford.edu
Subject: teaching films: Koyaanisqatsi
I've seen Koyaanisqatsi (and have read some reviews of it...) and prefer it as a piece of cinema rather than as
an environmentalist statement. The
Environmental Center showed it at U of Chicago on Earth Day several years ago, and in the post-film discussion
people had very mixed comments - it
was pro-nature, pro-human, anti-human, anti-nature, pro-both, etc. I walked away from the discussion so confused that I believe the film
does not work as an environmentalist teaching film, although it can be
discussed as an artistic
expression of our culture's various reactions to nature and technology. And I think it's interesting that one
film can portray many attitudes
about nature and technology.
The several filmmakers who made Koyaanisqatsi were primarily artists and
craftsmen who busted technological and financial barriers to make the
film. It took a long time for them
to make it, and if there is an environmentalist statement somewhere in it, I
believe it dates to the late 1970s rather than to the late 1980s; perhaps it
even dates to the late 1960s when the filmmakers came of age. I believe it should also be understood
that there is no one author of Koyaanisqatsi, but several, and therefore
several attitudes presented to the audience (unlike "Mindwalk" which
explicitly presents divergent points of view in order to win the audience to
one, successful line of argument).
I believe Koyaanisqatsi's images of nature, technology and human crowds provide
basically aesthetic contrasts rather than coherent commentary on the order of
nature and the chaos of human societies.
Please recall the beautiful image of the moon's reflection rising on a
tall glass office tower and popping out the top, which I don't think can be
perceived as a condemnation of the chaos of human technology; I find it hard to
glean meaning from this except to appreciate the filmmakers' craft (how did he
do it?), and also to laugh - the image is beautiful/funny to me.
I like the score by Philip Glass because it combines chant with very colorful
music (it is programmatic music, very fanciful, much more like Mishima than
like The Photographer or like Einstein on the Beach). I've
listened to it a couple hundred times but have seen the film only once. I believe the score adds continuity to
a film which otherwise might be perceived as a montage of contrasting images -
peaceful, frantic, slow, fast, dark, light, saturated and bleached color,
nature and culture. The most
memorable passage - the deep organ - actually sounds like a real church organ
rather than like a synthesizer, which may be a Glass statement on technology.
So, I believe Koyaanisqatsi is a film that gives us what each of us looks for
in it, because of its weird editing, the product of a decade of creation and
many cooks stirring the pot.
Perhaps this characteristic is its flaw as film - that it has no clear
message. Perhaps, also, this
characteristic is what makes the film more a piece of art cinema than a regular
film.
I think Koyaanisqatsi would be really interesting as an environmental teaching
film if students each wrote an essay about the film's environmentalist message,
then the teacher grouped them and presented the results back to the class. Talk about opportunities for
deconstruction!
Regards, Betsy
*********
Betsy Mendelsohn
6104 3rd St, NW
Washington DC 20011-1304
202-882-8207
b_mendelsohn@hotmail.com
Koyaanisquatsi is *completely* different from Baraka, by the way, which is
often spoken of as its successor.
Baraka is depressing and not as visually interesting; it looks like a
montage of news magazine footage.
It reveals a lot that is worth noting about human society (like Peter
Menzel's books do), but it isn't a pair with K.
* * *
Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 15:24:33 -0500
From: Mark Stoll <stoll@TTU.EDU>
Reply-To: H-NET List for Environmental History
<H-ENVIRONMENT@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Subject: Teaching videos/films
Date: Tue, 09 May 2000 15:47:31 -0400
From: Marc Poirier <poiriema@shu.edu>
Subject: Re: Teaching videos/films
The description of the sci-fi movie Them (which I haven't seen in a long long
time) suggested to me a useful conjunction. There's an hour long made for TV special on Rachel Carson
and Silent Spring (don't know how it's available offhand -- I saw it at the
Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge Visitors Center last January). The pro-pesticide propaganda footage in
the film was amazing -- absolutely verbatim use of the war with the insects
story, and cartoons of mosquitoes and ants with Asian faces (the war with the
insects as the continuation of World War II). The chemical companies' war with Miss Carson was no less
illuminating -- she's attacked as a Communist and a spinster.
Marc Poirier
Professor of Law
Seton Hall Law School
973-642-8478
poiriema@shu.edu
* * *
Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 16:27:26 -0500
From: Mark Stoll <stoll@TTU.EDU>
Reply-To: H-NET List for Environmental History
<H-ENVIRONMENT@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Subject: Teaching videos/films
Date: Tue, 09 May 2000 17:16:35 -0400 (EDT)
From: Astrosfan1@aol.com
Subject: Re: Teaching videos/films
Folks,
I believe the
video that Marc Poirier referred to is the American Experience documentary
titled Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. Meryl Streep does the readings. It is well-done and I use it in my
survey courses as well as my Western Civ courses.
Cheers,
Jay Antle
University of Kansas
* * *
Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 16:43:45 -0500
From: Mark Stoll <stoll@TTU.EDU>
Reply-To: H-NET List for Environmental History
<H-ENVIRONMENT@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Subject: Teaching videos/films
Date: Tue, 09 May 2000 17:37:31 -0400 (EDT)
From: douglas sackman <douglas.sackman@oberlin.edu>
Subject: Re: Teaching videos/films
The Carson film is called _Rachel Carson's Silent Spring_, and was aired as
part of the American Experience series on PBS.
I agree with the assessment of the two part documentary, The Wilderness Idea
and Wild By Law. I use the first one, which I think is quite well-done, though
by comparison the second is weak.
For Pare Lorentz's New Deal films, Kino Video based in NY, NY has a video
available called Power and the Land. It has both the Plow that Broke the Plains
and the 1937 film The River (on the Mississippi and the TVA). I love them both:
students, though, have tended to find the River in toto unbearable, but they do
much better with the Plow (I'm sure they'd get into more if I had the actual
16mm!). The last part of the River can be used quite well to set up discussion
of New Deal approaches to nature, especially damming. Unfortunately, Lorentz's
planned film on the Columbia
(which John Steinbeck was going to help out on and which was to be
entitled Ecce Homo) was never made...funding was pulled.
John Else is the maker of the quite wonderful Yosemite: the Fate of Heavan,
which takes a kind of anthropological look at various users of the valley. He
also made the four-part _Cadillac Desert_. I've shown the second segment, _An
American Nile_, which compliments well the Worster reading I have them do an technocracy
and the arid West.
On Them!: sounds intriguing. Along with some Carson, I give students some
excerpts from the Department of Agriculture's 1952 Yearbook in Agriculture,
which was devoted to Insects, and has all the rhetoric of a war on insects and
annihilation. And I've always thought that that quintessential Red Scare
allegory _Invasion of the Body Snatchers_ could be read literally, as a warning
about the perils of agribusiness and its devastating effects on community and
agrarian individuality :)...
douglas c sackman
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
visiting assistant professor of history
department of history
oberlin college
oberlin ohio 44074-1095
http://www.oberlin.edu/~dsackman/
douglas.sackman@oberlin.edu //tele: 440 775 8191 // fax: 440.775.6910
* * *
Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 09:38:31 -0500
From: Mark Stoll <stoll@TTU.EDU>
Reply-To: H-NET List for Environmental History
<H-ENVIRONMENT@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Subject: Teaching videos/films (3 posts)
[Ed.: Three messages follow.]
Date: Tue, 09 May 2000 15:02:56 -0700
From: Peter Walker <pwalker@OREGON.UOREGON.EDU>
Subject: Re: Teaching videos/films--Carson
Thanks, Marc and Jay. For those
interested--
Rachel Carson's Silent spring [videorecording] / Peace River Films production,
WGBH/Boston, WNET/New York and KCET/Los Angeles ; producer, Neil Goodwin,
executive producer, Judy Crichton Publisher [Alexandria, VA]: distributed by
PBS Video, c1993
http://shop2.pbs.org/pbsvideo/group.asp?group_cd=AMEX033
(includes useful abstract)
Peter
Peter Walker
University of Oregon
-----------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 09:40:36 +0100
From: Gregg Mitman <mitman@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de>
Subject: Re: Teaching videos/films
I believe you are referring to "Rachel Carson's Silent Spring," which
first aired on The American Experience and is available for purchase through
PBS. It is a very compelling film
and one that my students are always deeply touched by.
Gregg Mitman
**************************************
Gregg Mitman
Visting Scholar
Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte
(MPI for the History of Science)
Wilhelmstr. 44
D-10117 Berlin
tel ++49-(0)30-22667-207
fax ++49-(0)30-22667-299
---------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 10:13:33 -0400
From: Mark Finlay <finlayma@mail.armstrong.edu>
Subject: Re: Teaching videos/films
Here's a related question for this thread:
I would like to use a video to accompany the use of Richard White's _Organic
Machine_ in a course for undergraduates.
I think my students would benefit some visual imagery of the Columbia
River, the Bonneville Dam, the western landscape, etc. My librarian has turned up the
following possibilities:
Hydro: The Story of Columbia River Power (orig. 1939, reproduced 1998), 34 min.
The Columbia, (PBS, 1978) 29 min.
(apparently out of print)
The Columbia River Gorge: A Chasm of Mystery, (Encounter Video, 199?) 60 min.
Columbia; The Story of the River (Educational Video, 1990) 33 min
Does anyone have a recommendation?
If the consensus is for the second one, does anyone know how to obtain a
copy?
Thank you very much.
Mark Finlay
Armstrong Atlantic State University
Savannah, GA
* * *
Date: Sun, 21 May 2000 23:29:47 +1000
From: Nicholas Brunton <nbrunton@microtechlab.com>
To: Envirotech list <envirotech@lists.stanford.edu>
Subject: Fw: teaching videos/films
Hello out there,
I would suggest the more recent film 'Baraka'. Its been doing the rounds for a
few years now, but is of superior
editing and visual quality to K.
Like K there is no dialogue, but the imagery is stunning and the directors
intent, through various visual and aural justapositions, is a little more
forward. Moreso than K, B is a big screen must, a visual feast.
Hope that helps someone out there. By the way, Baraka is playing at the Astor
Theatre in Melbourne (Australia) for about 4 days in late June.
Regards, Nick
* * *
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 20:50:28 -0600
From: H-Environment <dwied@ionet.net>
Reply-To: H-NET List for Environmental History
<H-ENVIRONMENT@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Subject: films
From: "Mark Harvey" <Mark_Harvey@ndsu.nodak.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2001 1:36 PM
Subject: films
An outstanding film for an environmental history course is "Silent
Spring" which was part of the American Experience series that airs on
PBS. It was first broadcast
several years ago and should be available in most university film
libraries. The film provides
biographical treatment of Rachel Carson and a fine analysis of the rising
controversy over pesticides in the 1950s and early 1960s.
Mark Harvey
Book Review Editor, Environmental History
Associate Professor, Department of History
P. O. Box 5075
North Dakota State University
Fargo, ND 58l05
Phone: 701-231-8828
FAX: 701-231-1047
e-mail: Mark_Harvey@ndsu.nodak.edu
* * *
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 20:54:48 -0600
From: H-Environment <dwied@ionet.net>
Reply-To: H-NET List for Environmental History
<H-ENVIRONMENT@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Subject: films for EH course
From: "Kerstetter, Todd" <T.Kerstetter@tcu.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2001 8:46 AM
Subject: RE: films for EH course
These films might work for your purposes:
"Blade Runner"
PBS has run documentaries about Rachel Carson and the Wilderness battle between
Muir and Pinchot.
"Yosemite: The Fate of
Heaven" examines the use and overuse of that park.
Good luck!
Todd Kerstetter
Texas Christian University
* * *
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 20:55:56 -0600
From: H-Environment <dwied@ionet.net>
Reply-To: H-NET List for Environmental History
<H-ENVIRONMENT@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Subject: films for EH course
From: Peggie Highsmith<phighsmith@infosearchsmiths.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2001 8:22 AM
Subject: Re: films for EH course
The Library of Congress may be a source for specific archives and suggestions
on films with environmental content: http://lcweb.loc.gov/film/arch.html . Their researchers may be able to assist
you with your request.
Peggie Highsmith
Info SearchSmiths, Inc.
environmental research services
PO Box 221136
West Palm Beach, Fl 33422-1136
Voice: 561-688-0056
Fax: 561-688-9303
email: info@infosearchsmiths.com
www.infosearchsmiths.com
* * *
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 20:58:21 -0600
From: H-Environment <dwied@ionet.net>
Reply-To: H-NET List for Environmental History
<H-ENVIRONMENT@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Subject: films for EH course
From: "kbrosnan" <kbrosnan@utk.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2001 7:35 AM
Subject: RE: films for EH course
I used an old documentary on Love Canal which the students really seem to take
to heart and from which they learned some valuable lessons about who bears the
burdens of environmental degradation, toxic dumping, etc. It was called "In Our Own
Backyard: The First Love
Canal."
Kathy Brosnan
kbrosnan@utk.edu
Kathleen A. Brosnan
Assistant Professor
Department of History
University of Tennessee
(865)974-7091
kbrosnan@utk.edu
* * *
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 21:01:47 -0600
From: H-Environment <dwied@ionet.net>
Reply-To: H-NET List for Environmental History
<H-ENVIRONMENT@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Subject: films for EH course
From: "Julia Hobson" <hobsonja@montana.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2001 11:07 AM
Subject: Re: films for EH course
The 30 minute film, "Wind River" is an excellent documentary on
Native American water rights and more specifically, the battle for in-stream
flow in Wyoming.
The filmmaker is:
Dru Carr
High Plains Films
406 829-9927
Here's the info for ordering:
Bullfrog Films
PO Box 149
Oley, PA 19547
email:bullfrog@igc.apc.org
phone: 610 779 8226
fax 610 370 1978
* * *
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 21:02:21 -0600
From: H-Environment <dwied@ionet.net>
Reply-To: H-NET List for Environmental History
<H-ENVIRONMENT@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Subject: films for EH course
From: "Ahmad, Diana L." <ahmadd@umr.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2001 7:57 AM
Subject: RE: films for EH course
Dear Fa-Ti Fan,
Regarding sci-Fi films about environmental problems--here's one for you. It's
the 1954 film THEM with James Whitmore.
It's about an atomic blast that causes ants to grow to gigantic
proportions. The ants terrorize
the Arizona region and end up in the Los Angeles sewers. It's great fun, yet well shows the
attitudes towards atmoic energy at that time. I remember that it really frightened me as a child. It's frequently on the rerun channels as
well.
amazon.com offers the film for sale.
Diana L. Ahmad
Assistant Professor
University of Missouri-Rolla
ahmadd@umr.edu
* * *
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 21:02:48 -0600
From: H-Environment <dwied@ionet.net>
Reply-To: H-NET List for Environmental History
<H-ENVIRONMENT@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Subject: films for EH course
From: "Soma Bhadra" <bhadra@acsu.buffalo.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2001 7:41 AM
Subject: Re: films for EH course
Dear Fa-ti Fan,
I had seen a good film (documentary), read a few books and had attended a
presentation on Love canal and its related incidents in our Hazardous Waste
Management class (1999) in SUNY Buffalo. Dr. A Rabideau was our
instructor. You might want to
contact him for more details.
His contact address is:
ALAN J. RABIDEAU
Associate Professor
Department of Civil, Structural, and Environmental Engineering
State University of New York at Buffalo
Phone: (716) 645-2114 ext. 2327
Fax: (716) 645-3667
E-mail: rabideau@eng.buffalo.edu
Hope that helps. Also the SUNY Buffalo Library has a lot of documents and
information on Love Canal which you can ge through interlibrary loan.
Cheers
Soma
*************************************************************
Soma Bhadra
Project Engineer
Clark Patterson Associates
Rochester, NY 14604
www.clarkpatterson.com
Phone: 716 454 7600
Fax: 716 232 5836
Web: www.angelfire.com/ns/neela
*************************************************************
* * *
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 13:58:31 -0600
From: H-Environment <dwied@ionet.net>
Reply-To: H-NET List for Environmental History
<H-ENVIRONMENT@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Subject: films for EH course (multiple postings combined)
***********************************************************
From: "Thomas Wellock" <Wellock@cwu.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2001 10:27 AM
Subject: Re: films for EH course
I second the recommendations for the American experience episodes on Rachel
Carson and the fight between Muir and Pinchot (The Wilderness Idea). Both documentaries are excellent. There is also the four part series
based on Marc Reisner's book, Cadillac Desert. You might also try a useful documentary on strip mining in
Kentucky called "On our own land" put out by Appalshop Films. It was made back in the late 1980s, I
believe.
I do not recommend the American Experience episode on Three Mile Island. It is merely a blow by blow detailing
of the accident with virtually no effort at historic context.
Tom Wellock
Central Washington University
* * *
From: "Derek R. Larson" <drlarson@indiana.edu>
Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2001 9:42 AM
Subject: Re: films
I'll piggyback Mark's suggestion and share my own list. Over the past several years I've used
all of these films in either my upper-division US Environmental History
course,a lower division course called National Parks in American History, the
>1865 US survey, or in a course I teach on documentary film. In no particular order, they include:
Cadillac Desert (pt. 1: Mulholland's Dream, about the development of LA's water
system)
Influenza 1918 (PBS American Experience)
Rachel Carson's Silent Spring (Am. Exp.)
The Wilderness Idea (Muir vs. Pinchot, from PBS)
Wild By Law (Marshall, Leopold, Zahnizer, and the Wilderness Act, from PBS)
The China Syndrome (Three Mile Island)
Meltdown on Three Mile Island (American Experience/PBS)
Yosemite: The Fate of Heaven (Oscar-winning documentary contrasting the first
white exploration of the valley with the overrun park of the late 1980s)
Silent Running (sci-fi film w/Bruce Dern, about the last biological reserve in
space)
Edward Abbey: A Voice in the Wilderness (bio/tribute produced by Ed's family
& friends, which I usually pair with The Monkey Wrench Gang)
The Plow that Broke the Plains (Pare Lorenz documentary from 1930s)
Surviving the Dust Bowl (Am. Exp./PBS)
In Our Own Backyard: The First Love Canal (Bullfrog Films)
The Lorax (Dr. Suess, which I ended up showing in all three of my clases this
fall. I often show it the Teusday before Thanksgiving as a sort of break,
though it is great for discussion about development.)
Yellowstone's Burning Question (PBS/Nova, about fire management and the 1988
fires)
The Living Edens: Denali, Alaska's Great Wilderness (PBS, 1997)
I've used others but these come to mind right now as the most useful. In many
cases I'll use only segments of a longer film, or will spread one across
several class periods as an introduction to a topic. One that I've forgotten
the title of but also use frequently is a documentary on the CCC in Michigan,
produced by the state historical society I think, that is primarily interviews
with CCC alumni and footage of 2-3 camps in that state.
I hope these are helpful! I'd
particularly like to hear more suggestions about feature films, as I've only
found The China Syndrome to be really useful as a tool to drive discussion in
class.
Regards,
Derek Larson
History & Env. Studies
St. John's University
_____________________________________________________________
Derek R. Larson Department of
History St. John's
University
Collegeville, MN 56321
"Let our practice form our doctrine, thus assuring
precise theoretical
coherence." -Edward Abbey (1975)
_____________________________________________________________
* * *
From: "Ralph H. Lutts" <rhlutts@swva.net>
Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2001 9:26 AM
Subject: Re: films for EH course
For information about environmental films, see:
David Ingram. *Green Screen: Environmentalism and Hollywood Cinema*. Devon, UK:
University of Exeter Press, 2000.
-- Ralph
NEW ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER:
Ralph H. Lutts:
2889 Helms Road
Meadows of Dan, VA 24120
(540) 593-3637
rhlutts@swva.net
* * *
From: "Blake Gumprecht" <gumprecht@ou.edu>
Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2001 9:02 AM
Subject: Re: films for EH course
"Them" also features the Los Angeles River in all its paved glory.
The river is where the giant insects are first seen in Los Angeles. When
questioned by police, a vagrant who saw them there sarcastically remarks, in
comments so typical of local attitudes toward the river, "I remember it
once when it had water in it!"
Blake Gumprecht
Department of Geography
University of Oklahoma
* * *
Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2001 10:00 PM
Subject: Re: films for EH course
Dear Fa-ti:
I teach a course on the U.S. environmental movement, and use several films, in
addition to the previously mentioned one on Love Canal. Here is the list of films that I
recommend for different viewpoints on environmental history. You can access my course syllabus at:
http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~brullerj/course2.htm
Best
Bob Brulle
* * *
From: <shill34@juno.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2001 9:19 PM
Subject: Re: films
there's always "the day after" -- that made for t.v. movie (nbc i
think) about a nuclear holocaust.
Sarah Hill, Ph.D.
Department of Anthropology
Temple University
Philadelphia PA 19122
215.483.8038
* * *
From: "Klay Dyer" <kdyer@spartan.ac.BrockU.CA>
Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2001 9:17 PM
Subject: Re: films for EH course
teaching a senior undergraduate seminar in ecological philosophy, i use a
number of episodes of the television series "northern exposure" as
very popular lecture supplements, notably "old vicki" (about an old
cottonwood) and "singing trees" (poststructuralist explorations of
language and environment).
Dr. Klay Dyer Telephone:
905-688-5550, X4034
Brock University Facsimile:
905-934-3301
Department of English E-mail: kdyer@spartan.ac.brocku.ca
Dissonance
(if you're interested)
leads to discovery
William Carlos Williams
* * *
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2001 11:26:51 -0600
From: H-Environment <dwied@ionet.net>
Reply-To: H-NET List for Environmental History
<H-ENVIRONMENT@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Subject: Environmental Films
From: "chad montrie" <montrie.1@osu.edu>
Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2001 9:01 PM
Subject: Environmental Films
In addition to "On Our Own Land," Appalshop has put out a number of other good 'environmental'
documentaries. For the latest go
to
http://www.appalshop.org/film/index.html.
Chad Montrie
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chad Montrie, ABD
Ohio State University
Department of History
106 Dulles Hall
230 W. 17th Avenue
Columbus, Ohio 43210
(614) 292-4638
montrie.1@osu.edu
* * *
Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2001 10:32:42 -0600
From: H-Environment <dwied@ionet.net>
Reply-To: H-NET List for Environmental History
<H-ENVIRONMENT@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Subject: films for EH course
From: "Lorne Hammond" <lhammond@UVic.CA>
Sent: Friday, January 19, 2001 1:08 PM
Subject: Re: films for EH course
In a 3rd year American Enviornmental History topics course I am like: A 21
minute tourist video and site guide from Head-Smashed-in-Buffalo-Jump.
(This year I am not using "The Columbian Exchange" for a change)
I would like to find something on Zuni soil erosion (thanks for the long ago
paper found Richard Hart)
This year I am not using the Plow that Broke the Plains for a change. My perfect fit would be something on
plains geology, human settlement
to horse culture, contact, "The West" dust bowl, Malin,
aquifers and Ted Turner's buffalo restoration. We are doing a module using Krech and Isenberg (freshly in
paperback) Ward Churchill and Winona LaDuke, ie each module has to follow
through to now.
For parks we are using Yosemite as a case study, Ah-wah-nee acorns, Muir,
camera politics, to the present. A
very rich place for a case study, wide literature to draw on, many, not all
issues present. Runte for text.
Films I am using:
The Idea of Wilderness, but not the sequel video and thanks to Dick Sellar's
advice, the superb Yosemite the Fate of Heaven. It achieves a connection beautifully from Bunnell to now and
keeps its eye on the valley, not Muir.
I also have Fire on the Mountain, about Nazi-fighting skiers, military veterans
and the rise of post-war recreation culture (Hays). Right now I am reading a copy of David Brower's 1942 Manual
of Ski Mountaineering. The most
important mountain he never got to the top of according is in BC, and that has
also been on my mind lately.
For the environmental justice module they are reading Carson and Bullard. I may
use silent spring (I think there are two films around) but I am looking for one
good film on Love Canal/Dumping in Dixie/the AFW and pesticides or Mothers of
East LA, something like that. A
Forcing the Spring sort of approach after Yosemite.
For Sci-Fi: I have a library of
that which i don't have time for anymore. For my out of date view the best
reference works are: Peter
Nicholls, The Science Fiction encyclopedia for a detailed specific earch, and
Hugo winner David Pringle's "The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Science
Fiction" (now there is a
marketing title to make you cringe, but it is very good). Pringle does film and tv in
chronological entries.
"Them" is excellent, great use of tension in the night desert
opening. Slightly differrent is Barry Malzberg's Phase IV, which reverses
species dominance (not so good).
Island of Lost Souls (1932) suits the bio-engineering debate from 1896 to the
present, although it is more heavily influenced by 1920s genetic
engineering. Wells hated according
to Pringle. I would only use it in
a graduate seminar as a document to be "read" outside class: Sealand,
Primate Visions, Lords of the Fly, Lysenko, that sort of thing.
Lorne Hammond
Canada
* * *
Date: Wed, 3 Jul 2002 08:39:25 -0400
From: Ted Mosquin <mosquin@superaje.com>
To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU
Subject: Re: Educational Videos - Plant Ecology/General Ecology Course
A favorite quadrilogy (30 minutes each) by ecologist Stan Rowe would meet the
above criteria. Information at my web site:
<http://www.ecospherics.net/pages/WaterhenHomPla.html>
Would appreciate receiving a list of the suggestions which you receive. Thanks,
Ted M.
--
Ted Mosquin, Ph.D.
Editor: Biodiversity (quarterly) <http://www.synapse.net/~tropical>
Editor: Literature on Ecocentric Ethics <http://www.ecospherics.net>
Box 279, Lanark, Ontario K0G 1K0 Canada
Tel: (613) 267-4899; Fax:
(613) 264-8469
* * *
Date: Wed, 3 Jul 2002 13:07:16 -0700
From: Smruti Damania <smruti_damania@YAHOO.COM>
To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU
Subject: Re: Educational Videos - Plant Ecology/General Ecology Course
I found the quadralogy of David Attenborough's "The Private Life of the
Plants" - A Dazzling Kaleidoscope of the Essence of Life on Earth, pretty
good for watching with regard to plant ecology. Its by BBC, and makes quite
interesting viewing.
Smruti
--------------------------
Ms. Smruti Damania
smruti_damania@yahoo.com
* * *
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2002 12:06:54 -0500
From: Mark Stoll <stoll@TTU.EDU>
Reply-To: H-NET List for Environmental History
<H-ENVIRONMENT@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Subject: Columbia River videos
Date: Tue, 09 Jul 2002 09:42:17 -0700
From: langw@pdx.edu
Subject: Re: Columbia River videos
There are superb videos addressing the question of Indian fishing rights on the
Columbia produced by the Columbia River Inter-tribal Fisheries Comm. in
Portland. Also check out videos by KCTS in Seattle and Wisconsin Public TV on
the history of the Columbia.
Bill Lang
Bill Lang
Professor of History
Director, Center for Columbia River History
Portland State University
* * *
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2002 15:31:33 -0500
From: Mark Stoll <stoll@TTU.EDU>
Reply-To: H-NET List for Environmental History <H-ENVIRONMENT@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Subject: Columbia River videos
Date: Tue, 09 Jul 2002 13:11:46 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Kevin R. Marsh" <kmarsh@wsu.edu>
Subject: Re: Columbia River videos
Another good film on Indian fishing on the Columbia River is "River
People: Behind the Case of David Sohappy" (1990). It is a very sympathetic, but well
documented, portrayal of Sohappy's claim that salmon fishing as a cultural
& religious tradition overruled state, federal, and tribal (Yakama) regulations. Although the Yakama tribal court
aquitted him, he served several months (or more?) in federal prison. Senator Daniel Inouye intervened to
secure his early release.
The film does a good job presenting historical context as well as divisions
within the Yakama tribe between reservation and non-reservation communities.
Kevin
Kevin R. Marsh, Ph.D.
Department of History
Washington State University
kmarsh@wsu.edu
* * *
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 11:43:40 -0500
From: Mark Stoll <stoll@TTU.EDU>
Reply-To: H-NET List for Environmental History <H-ENVIRONMENT@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Subject: American environmental history videos
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 06:58:22 -0400
From: poiriema@shu.edu
Subject: Re: American environmental history videos?
PBS has a terrific film on Rachel Carson in its "American Heroes"
series.
Marc R. Poirier
Professor of Law
Seton Hall University School of Law
One Newark Center
Newark, NJ 07102
973-642-8478
* * *
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 13:24:47 -0500
From: Mark Stoll <stoll@TTU.EDU>
Reply-To: H-NET List for Environmental History <H-ENVIRONMENT@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Subject: Environmental History videos
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 12:24:52 -0500
From: Kristin <kristin@geography.wisc.edu>
Subject: Environmental History Videos
In response to your query about 19th century conservation videos, I suggest the
following:
"Wild by Law," a documentary chronicling some of the key individuals
behind the wilderness movement;
"Battle for Wilderness," a PBS (I think) documentary on the
Muir/Pinchot angle of the Hetch Hetchy controversy.
Good luck.
K. Gunther
_______________________
Kristin Gunther
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Department of Geography
550 N. Park Street, 384 Science Hall
Madison, WI 53706-1492
tel: 608.262.6315 fax: 608.265.3991
kgunther@geography.wisc.edu
* * *
Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2002 09:46:32 -0500
From: Mark Stoll <stoll@TTU.EDU>
Reply-To: H-NET List for Environmental History
<H-ENVIRONMENT@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Subject: Video on Rachel Carson
Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2002 08:45:12 -0400
From: Linda Lear <ljlear@prodigy.net>
Subject: Video on Rachel Carson
The video on Rachel Carson that Marc Poirier referred to is "Rachel
Carson's Silent Spring" produced by Peace River Films for the American
Experience in 1993 and for which Bill Cronon, David Pimentel and I were
consultants. It includes scenes
from the 1963 CBS documentary on Silent Spring. Copies can be purchased from
WGBH-Boston, and from the talented producer Neil Goodwin at Peace River in
Cambridge.
Linda Lear
*************************************************************
Linda Lear,
Research Professor of Environmental History
George Washington University
Office address:
7000 Natelli Woods Lane, Bethesda, MD 20817
o)301-469-0152
fax)301-469-9501
ljlear@prodigy.net
************************************************
* * *
Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2002 08:47:34 -0500
From: Mark Stoll <stoll@TTU.EDU>
Reply-To: H-NET List for Environmental History
<H-ENVIRONMENT@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Subject: Columbia River videos -- summary
Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2002 00:43:03 -0400
From: George Vrtis <vrtisg@georgetown.edu>
Subject: Columbia River videos -- summary
Thanks to all who responded so generously to my request for documentary videos
on the Columbia River. I compiled
an annotated list of the responses and my web searches for anyone who is
interested.
Best wishes,
George Vrtis
Georgetown University
Columbia River documentary films:
Echo of Water Against Rocks: Remembering Celilo Falls. (2000). Produced by
Steve Mital and Ian McCluskey. Eugene, OR: Knight Library Media Services,
University of Oregon. [On March
10th, 1957, the newly constructed Dalles Dam closed its floodgates, backing the
Columbia River over Celilo Falls. Regional newspapers heralded an era of
hydropower, while upstream hundreds of people paid their final respects to the
passage of a 10,000-year-old way of life. The flooding of Celilo Falls was an
important day in Northwest history. It changed people personally, and
collectively. Two generations later, the memory of Celilo still resonates. No
other film has gathered the stories of eye-witnesses of the flooding, the
children of Celilo fishing families, and the local residents. Using
never-before-seen historic footage and original interviews, this 13-minute
documentary captures the enduring memory of Celilo Falls-one of the most sacred
and legendary places in the Pacific Northwest.]
Grand Coulee Dam. (1993). Produced by A&E Home Video. New York, NY: New
Video Group. [This is a video version of one of A&E's "Time
Machine" episodes hosted by Jack Perkins. The video begins with a brief
description of Columbia River Gorge and Grand Coulee geology. This is followed
by a review of the depression era and the conditions and the political climate
that existed at the time the dam was built. Much time is spent detailing the
construction of the dam itself with many good film shots and lots of
interesting narrative. There is also considerable information and film footage
of the construction of Hoover Dam. The video is laced with snippets of
interviews with L. Vaughn Downs, a key dam engineer.]
Hydro: The Story of Columbia River Power. (1939). Produced by the Bonneville
Power Administration. Portland, OR: Bonneville Power Administration. [A classic
promotional film, touting the benefits of damming the Columbia for hydropower.
Scenes of the construction of Bonneville and Grand Coulee Dams are dramatic and
informative and strongly argue for the social benefits associated with
hydropower. The comparatively low rates that public utility customers would pay
for hydropower are emphasized, but the costs of such development to salmon, river
ecosystems, and native people were either minimized or not understood.]
River People: Behind the Case of David Sohappy. (1990). Produced by Michal
Conford and Michele Zaccheo. New York, NY: Filmakers Library. [Film documents a
timely issue - the clash between an ancient culture and modern society. It is
the story of David Sohappy, a Native-American spiritual leader who was
sentenced to a five-year prison term for selling 317 salmon out of season. For
twenty years Sohappy has fished in open defiance of all state and federal
fishing laws. He claims he has an ancestral right to fish along Oregon's
Columbia River. As a result, he has become a symbol of resistance for
indigenous people of the Northwest United States and beyond.]
River of Power. (1987). Produced by the Bonneville Power Administration.
Portland, OR: Bonneville Power Administration. [Chronicles the development of
the Columbia River Power System. It combines aerial photography with historic
black and white film clips that tell the story of BPA from the 1930s to the
late 1980s. Sound track includes Woody Guthrie singing the songs he wrote for
BPA in 1941. Covers current issues such as the Canadian dams, nuclear power,
BPA's responsibility to fish and wildlife, transmission line construction using
helicopters, and the conversion of AC current to DC for long-distance
transmission.]
Roll on Columbia: Woody Guthrie and The Bonneville Power Administration.
(2000). Produced by Michael Majdic and Denise Matthews. Eugene, OR: Knight
Library Media Services, University of Oregon. [Deals with Woody Guthrie's commission by the Bonneville
Power Administration, and in some ways, is more about Guthrie than the
river. Archival footage includes
scenes from both Hydro and The Columbia, documentaries made by the BPA's public
information department in the late '30s and '40s. Images include the
forty-six-story Grand Coulee Dam, the wild and windward Columbia River, the
jagged cliffs of the Columbia Gorge and green pastures of plenty.]
The Columbia: America's Greatest Power Stream. (1949). Produced by Stephen B.
Kahn and the Bonneville Power Administration. Portland, OR: Bonneville Power
Administration. [Historic look at
the Columbia River and its development. Woody Guthrie was hired by BPA in 1941
to write the songs for this movie but its production was delayed by World War
II. Produced in black and white, this film contains rare footage of Grand
Coulee Dam construction, Indian fishing at Celilo Falls and the 1948 Vanport
flood. Use for historic interest. River of Power has more visual appeal and
provides more current overview.]
The Place of Falling Waters. (1991). Produced by Roy Digcrane and Thompson
Smith. Native Voices Public Television Workshop. [Telling the story of the people of the Flathead Reservation
in Montana from the perspective of those that live there, this powerful work
includes interviews with tribal elders, archival newsreel footage, stunning
aerial photography, and rare photographs dating to the 19th century. This film
focuses upon the conflicts surrounding the building of a hydroelectric dam on
the reservation. The story is told in three half-hour parts: Part 1 focuses on
traditional Salish and Kootanai culture and the deep spiritual relationship
they have with the environment; Part 2 takes viewers from the time of extreme
poverty brought by the Depression and the Allotment Act, through the
construction of the dam; Part 3 focuses on the tribe taking control of the dam
in the year 2015 and what that control will mean for the reservation and the
people.]
* * *
Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2002 15:07:21 -0500
From: Mark Stoll <stoll@TTU.EDU>
Reply-To: H-NET List for Environmental History
<H-ENVIRONMENT@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Subject: American environmental history videos? II
Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2002 13:54:49 -0400
From: Alesia Maltz <amaltz@antiochne.edu>
Subject: Re: American environmental history videos? II
:
My students have enjoyed the film, Atomic Cafe, which has snippets of original
footage from 1950s documentaries on atomic energy and atomic testing.
Alesia Maltz
Antioch New England Graduate School
* * *
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/aoc/cuyahoga.html
1994, The Cuyahoga: Portrait of a Crooked River, a video which she co-produced
received an award at the North American Environmental Education Film Festival.
Title The
Cuyahoga, Portrait of a Crooked River (505316) Physical
Color; Sound Produced 1993 Length 28 min Distributor
Friends of the Crooked River (FCROOK) Producer
Kent State Univ. Teleproductions (KSUTP)
Synopsis: Gives an overview of Ohio's Cuyahoga River, discussing its natural
and economic history. Discusses its use by the Native people for fishing and
travel, White settlement and the Erie Canal, and its use for industrialization
and commercial traffic. Covers the spoilage of the river by sewage and
industrial waste, and its reclamation. Shows the river's scenic areas,
wetlands, and wildlife. Follows the path of the river as it travels through
Kent, Cuyahoga Falls, the Cuyahoga Valley Nation Recreation Area, the heavy
shipping areas around Cleveland, and its eventual entrance into Lake Erie.
Subjects
Cuyahoga River (Ohio); CAT12B(CM); Geology/Geography(CM); Ohio(CM);
Parks and Recreation(CM); Pollution(CM); Water(CM)
CNN, on Cuyahoga
http://europe.cnn.com/NATURE/9906/22/saving.cuyahoga/
*****
Bullfrog Films
Affluenza (Home Video Version) John de Graaf and Vivia Boe
Escape from Affluenza (Home Video Version) John de Graaf and Vivia Boe Global
Gardener-Permaculture with Bill Mollison (Home Video Version) Julian Russell
and Tony Gailey
On the Edge of the Forest: E.F. Schumacher makes a plea for ecological balance
as he visits a virgin forest in Australia.
Small Is Beautiful: Impressions of Fritz Schumacher - Portrait of E.F.
Schumacher, the first to question unbridled economic growth.
E. F. Schumacher.... As If People Mattered. Summary of Schumacher's economic arguments referring to the
world energy situation.
* * *
http://www.electrifyingtimes.com/billmoyer.html
From: http://www.pbs.org/earthonedge
Bill Moyer's Earth on Edge Premiering on PBS June 19, 2001 at 8 p.m. EST (check
local listings)
Site launch date: June 1, 2001 Acclaimed journalist Bill Moyers and an
award-winning team of producers reveal recent scientific evidence that we are
approaching a key environmental threshold. Bill Moyers Reports: Earth on Edge
showcases new data depicting the scale of human impact on the planet's
life-support systems. The two-hour broadcast explores one of the the most
important questions of the new century: What is happening to Earth's capacity
to support nature and civilization?
The broadcast coincides with the launch of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment,
an international effort to gauge the health of the world's forests, grasslands,
coastal and freshwater areas. Preliminary findings were featured in the World
Resources Institute's World Resources 2000-2001: People and Ecosystems: The
Fraying Web of Life. The statistics from their preliminary findings are
staggering: half the world's wetlands lost in one century, half the world's
forests chopped down, 70 percent of the world's major marine fisheries
depleted, the world's reefs at risk. But the broadcast pushes well past the
numbers. Moyers and his team also take us on a journey of hope to meet people
from the American Midwest to Mongolia who are pioneering sustainable solutions
to ecological problems. Each story takes place in one of five major ecosystems:
forest, agriculture, coastal, grassland, and fresh water. Reports from Kansas,
British Columbia, Brazil, South Africa, and Mongolia illuminate the ways in
which human demands over the past century have been wearing holes in the fabric
of life.
This broadcast profiles individuals who are confronting the challenge head on,
people who understand how their lives depend on Earth's ecosystems and how
their own energy and dedication might help restore them.
Moyers tells individual stories, in far-flung locations, but in the end it is
strikingly clear that the program is about all of us-what we've done to the
Earth and what we can still do to turn things around, if we act quickly. Bill
Moyers Reports: Earth on Edge will be augmented by an extensive web site as
well as an education and outreach campaign directed by WRI. The site will
provide in-depth information about ecosystems as well as updates on their
status and information about how you can take action.
WRI is also organizing a series of live events and panel discussions promoting
public dialogue around the issues raised by Earth on Edge and the Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment. Funding for the production of Bill Moyers Reports: Earth
on Edge is provided by:
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Park Foundation, The Rockefeller
Brothers Fund, the Germeshausen Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation, The Surdna Foundation, The Herb Alpert Foundation, The
Kohlberg Foundation. Corporate funding provided by Mutual of America Life
Insurance Company.
Funding for the Bill Moyers Reports: Earth on Edge companion web site and
outreach activity is provided by The Ford Motor Company, The David and Lucile
Packard Foundation, the V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation, and the ARIA Foundation.
* * *
Amazon, The Flooded Forest. Produced by the National Geographic Society and
WQED, Pittsburgh. Distributed by the National Geographic Society, Washington,
DC. (VHS; col., sd.; 57 min.: 1990) The Amazon Basin is one of the last great
wetland frontiers with a vast variety of wildlife including many primate
species like the rare white bald uakari, howler monkey and pygmy marmoset. Much
of this video shows the lives of the peasants who survive from the abundance of
food provided by the Amazon River, and the interference of those who would
upset the Amazon ecosystem through the developmnent of farming land and the
construction of hydroelectric dams. Recommended for grades 9-12.
At Home... In The Rainforest. Produced by Robin James, Children's and
Educational TV, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Distributed by Landmark
Films, 3459 Slade Run Drive, Falls Church, VA 22042, (800) 342-4336 (VHS; col.,
sd.; 15 min.: 1989) In a program aimed at a young audience, forest ranger Tina
Dalton guides the viewer through the multilayers of the tropical rainforest,
examining the plant and animal life. Animal species shown include panda snail,
opossum, frog, python, various insect species, and the scrub turkey. Plants
include the strangler fig and stinging tree, with footage of plants in
competition for resources.
Baboon Ecology. Produced by the Dept. of Anthropology and Extension Media
Center, University of California - Berkeley. Distributed by the Extension Media
Center, UC - Berkeley, 2223 Fulton St., Berkeley, CA 94720.. (VHS; col. sd.; 21
min.: 1962) This video is based on early studies of savanna baboons in Africa.
It illustrates the daily life cycle of baboon groups and their interactions
with other species that share their habitat. Graphics are used to introduce the
concept of home range. Produced for college introductory classes, the program
can be used in grades 9-12.
The Environmental Tourist. Produced by the National Audubon Society.
Distributed by PBS Video, 1320 Braddock Place, Alexandria, VA 22314. (VHS;
col., sd.; 58 min.: 1992) This program looks at the problems caused when
tourists visit natural areas. It begins with the development of the U. S.
National Park System, and the early commercialization of Glacier Park. A look
at the Amboseli Park in Kenya shows what happens when the needs of animals,
tourists and native peoples clash. The final segment focuses on Belize where
eco-tourism is the national policy. A short section on the Community Baboon
Sanctuary describes it as an excellent example of how tourism and conservation
can go hand-in-hand in developing countries. Recommended for grades 9-12.
Keepers of the Forest. Distributed by Norman Lippman, 7745 Mohawk Pl., St.
Louis, MO 63105, (314) 725-3313 (VHS, Beta or 3/4" video; col., sd.; 28
min.: 1986) This film examines agriculture and forestry practices as well as
settlement patterns and how they affect the tropical rainforest. Using the
example of the farming done by people who live in the Lacondon jungle, the film
suggests ways in which people can live in and be supported by the rainforest
and establishes that this alternative method may prevent further loss of this ecosystem.
Korup: An African Rainforest. Produced by Phil C. Agland, Partridge Films Lts.,
38 Mill Lane, London NW6 1NR UK, and World Wildlife Fund. Distributed by
Anthony Morris London Ltd., 6 Goodwin's Court, St. Martin's Lane, London WC2N
4LL UK. (VHS, Beta, or 16mm film, col., sd.; 55 min.: 1981) This film documents
the life of an African rain forest in Cameroon and the escalating dangers to
its survival. Close-up photography shows primate feeding, as well as birds' and
insects' social behavior. The interrelationship of the multitude of life forms
making up the forest community are shown in detail. Recommended for grades 6
and up.
Saving the Gorilla. Produced and distributed by the National Geographic
Society, Washington DC (VHS; col., sd.; 23 min.: 1982) This video shows the
international conservation efforts of zoos and several individuals to prevent
the extinction of the lowland (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and mountain gorilla
(Gorilla gorilla beringei). It provides a look at the beginnings of the mountain
gorilla project described in the Conservation slide set.
Species Survival Plan. Produced by Bill Loessberg, Denver Zoological
Foundation. (VHS; col., sd.; 31 min.: 1988) The Species Survival Plan is a
national collaboration of zoos through the American Association of Zoos, Parks
and Aquariums to "build an ark" that will aid in the preservation of
500-1000 species, outlining the strategy and rationale for captive breeding
programs and the role of zoos in saving endangered species.
The Tropical Rainforest. Produced by FR3 and Elois Productions. Distributed by
the Films for the Humanities, Box 2053, Princeton, NJ 08540 (VHS; col., sd.; 27
min.: 1991) This program looks at the ecosystem of the rainforest: the height
of the trees and the adaptation of leaves to heavy rainfall; the richness and
variety of plant and animal life and their ecological roles; and the unique
insect life of the tropical forest.
The Vanishing Forest: The Crisis of Tropical Deforestation. Produced and
distributed by Knowledge Unlimited, PO Box 52, Madison, WI 53701, (800)
356-2303 (filmstrip, cassette, illustrated guide: 1987) Tropical rain forests
used to cover about 12 percent of the land surface of the earth. Today, the
figure is closer to 7 percent. Yet these forests contain more than half the
world's plant and animal species. Rain forests are rapidly falling before the
saws and bulldozers of logging companies, miners, farmers and ranchers. This
program tells the story of the rain forests, the threats they face, and the
efforts to save them. Recommended for grades 4 and up.
Wildlife Trade Education Kit. Written by Lynne C. Hardie. Produced and
distributed by TRAFFIC U.S.A., Washington D.C. (79 color slides, with text:
1981) This kit was developed to assist educators in raising awareness about
wildlife trade, to understand how trade endangers wildlife and why laws and law
enforcement alone cannot solve the problem, and to realize how they can help by
making wise purchasing selections Wilds of Madagascar. Produced by Partridge
Films for the National Geographic Society. Distributed by the National
Geographic Society, Washington DC. (VHS; col., sd.; 50 min.: 1989) Zoologist
Phil Chapman heads a conservation project to declare the Ankarena plateau in
northern Madagascar as a national park. Among the animals found in this region
are several species of lemurs, a family of primates found only in Madagascar.
The impact of slash-and-burn agriculture on the remaining forests of Madagascar
is shown.