December 11, 2008
New Digital Videos Covering the Environment, Literature, Social Sciences, Religion and More Now Available On Demand
Want to learn more about a particular subject or a future career? Need a video clip to show in class or during a presentation? OhioLINK's Educational Films and Documentaries collection offers more than 2,300 digital, educational videos that you can stream or download from your desktop to show in class, link to from course pages and utilize for research. New videos, on a wide variety of topics, are regularly added to this growing collection. The latest additions include:
- Alice Walker: "Everyday Use" (Series: Alice Walker: Everyday Use, Uncommon Art)
Maggie sees the old family quilt—an heirloom already promised to her—as something with practical utility as well as tradition. Her educated, social activist sister wants to hang it on the wall as folk art. With whom will their mother side? A study in class differences and the reclamation of Black history, Alice Walker's short story "Everyday Use" is beautifully realized in this dramatization. (26 minutes, 2003) - Haiti: Land of Tragedy, Land of Hope
The numbers alone are stunning: 8 million inhabitants, 70 percent of whom live below the poverty line; a life expectancy of 50 years; a 65 percent illiteracy rate; and a 70 percent unemployment rate. Such is the recent population in Haiti, which ironically had its origins cast in optimism: the Haitians were the first people to abolish slavery in 1797 and establish a black republic. Yet the following years have brought the island a succession of violence, chaotic politics, and the railroading of national sovereignty for the benefit of few. This thought-provoking documentary traces what Jean-Bertrand Aristide calls Haiti's "linear history" back to its discovery by Columbus in the late 15th century and the violent process of colonization to the present. (55 minutes, 2004) - Measuring Success in Treatment for Autism (Series: Finding the Words:
Case Studies in Autism Treatment)
Four years have gone by since the two preschool boys profiled in Autism and Applied Behavioral Analysis began intensive ABA therapy—formerly considered controversial, but now hailed as one of the few effective approaches to treating the disorder. This ABC News program brings viewers up to date on the boys and on the benefits of ABA in treating autism. But the program communicates a sense of frustration, as well—with the financial expense of ABA therapy, with the limited success of even this form of autism treatment, and with how much is simply still not understood about this mysterious disorder. (22 minutes, 2005) - Young, Muslim, and French: Stories of Assimilation and Defiance (Series:
The Wide Angle Collection: Human Stories, Global Issues)
Europe's Muslim population has doubled in the last decade, with the largest numbers settling in France. This Wide Angle documentary reveals the hopes, frustrations, and political aspirations of French-born Muslims and explores their potential to alter the landscape of France's national identity. Focusing on the recent decision to ban the wearing of traditional Muslim headscarves in public schools, the program shows how the controversy has played out in Dammarie-les-Lys, a racially diverse, working-class community on the outskirts of Paris. The result is an eye-opening depiction of Islamic Europe's increasingly vocal demand for integration on its own terms. In addition, Professor Fawaz Gerges discusses secularism in France with anchor Mishal Husain. (57 minutes, 2004) - Fear of Fat: Eight Stories of Eating and Weight
What is it like to eat around the clock? At 457 pounds, Wally knows. And Tammy, at 67 pounds, has experienced both anorexia and bulimia—at the same time. This haunting program introduces eight ordinary people who tell, in a chillingly matter-of-fact way, about their life-scarring—and even severely life-threatening—experiences with body weight and self-image. Bouts with eating disorders are described in detail, as well as deep feelings of hurt, anger, alienation, and utter hopelessness. Fear of Fat provides penetrating insights into society's unhealthy focus on thinness and the toll in mental and physical suffering that such cultural fixation exacts. (60 minutes, 2006) - Planet Earth: Seven Ways to Help Save the World
As the world wakes up to the need to protect the environment, ABC News continues to cover the most crucial ecological issues of today—and tomorrow. This unprecedented program, reported from all seven continents on the eve of Earth Day 2007, examines urgent problems unfolding in the natural world and offers some real solutions to them. From Australia's Great Barrier Reef to the Brazilian rain forest to an African game preserve to a massive solar power array in Arizona, these stories will open eyes, ears, and minds. Seven leading science and business experts share insights on water shortages, species extinction, loss of habitat, and runaway energy consumption. An additional report vividly illustrates simple lifestyle changes that can reduce humanity's collective environmental footprint. (41 minutes, 2007) - Chemical Conundrum
Consider the following irony: that we live twice as long as our ancient ancestors did, even though our bodies contain all manner of synthetic and sometimes toxic substances—an unpleasant requirement of life in our modern age. This program explores the health impact, wide variety, and alarming ubiquity of manufactured chemicals. Viewers will see how communities around the world—including Inuit seal hunters, Asian and African farmers, and residents of an industrial town in the United States—address the pervasiveness of molecular compounds found in pesticides, plastics, and other products. The benefits of these chemicals are weighed against their dangers. (24 minutes, 2005) - Green Architecture: Environmentally Friendly Housing
Combining aesthetics, sustainability, and function is the challenge of green architecture—and 20 teams of college students from North America and Europe brilliantly rise to that challenge as they compete to design, build, and demonstrate the operation of the most attractive and energy-efficient house at the 2007 Solar Decathlon held in Washington, D.C. This program tracks the teams from the University of Maryland, MIT, The University of Texas at Austin, and Lawrence Technological University as they seek out corporate sponsors, research available materials, and hone their construction skills to create appealing living spaces that require zero energy. A Films for the Humanities & Sciences Production. (31 minutes, 2008)
The Educational Films & Documentaries collection is available to all students, faculty members and staff at OhioLINK member institutions. The videos are available for viewing and downloading (for temporary storage only) from on or off campus. Free software from RealNetworks is needed to view these videos. The current version of this software, called "RealPlayer," is available.
Looking for more digital videos? Try these other OhioLINK resources:
- Foreign Language Videos (freely available to anyone worldwide)
- Encyclopedia of Physics Demonstrations