Learning Beyond the Classics Program Tests Classroom Experience for Area Teens and Adults
In partnership with the University of Notre Dame’s Department of Film, Television, and Theatre (FTT), the Browning Cinema is hosting a new general education course, “1968: When the World Changed Movies and Movies Changed the World,” to help community participants integrate the film studies classroom experience into their current education or life-long learning goals. Under a new film series, Learning Beyond the Classics, the spring semester FTT course, taught by Susan Ohmer, associate professor and William T. Carey and Helen Kuhn Carey Chair in Modern Communication, focuses on 14 films from the watershed year ranging from Oliver! to Night of the Living Dead. “1968” will enroll up to 15 Notre Dame undergraduates joined by area high school students and adults who sign up for the course.
Community participants who sign up for the course by January 25 will receive class readings and recorded audio film introductions via email and have the opportunity to discuss the films after the screenings. No papers or exams are required for this non-credit, non-degree granting course, which significantly lowers barriers for those curious about developing an appreciation of major works of cinema. Additionally, “1968” participants will focus on a central question: what do the revolutions of 1968 mean to us today?
Ricky Herbst, cinema program director, noted the need and desire for this course. “I regularly hear from folks ranging from high school students to empty-nesters that they want to dig deeper into the films we show and really study them. It’s exciting to feed that hunger and reconfigure the Browning Cinema into a giant classroom where all are welcome and can receive a world-class arts education at a lower cost.” Herbst, whose past research and work have focused on how art is used to blend or segregate communities, is particularly excited to launch a project that actively aims to bring together film students of various backgrounds.
All screenings are open to the public regardless of enrollment in the film series, but one must enroll to have access to the class materials, which Herbst encourages. “Whether a good education enrichment resolution for the new year, a way to prepare for college, or an inexpensive night out every Wednesday, I hope people—especially those who rarely if ever visit Notre Dame—connect with this class and learn about a fascinating year in film and the world.”
The $28 course (up to $70 savings) is Wednesday evenings in the Browning at 7:30 p.m. beginning January 17 through April 24 at the University’s DeBartolo Performing Arts Center.
