Biological Anthropology – Extra Credit Films
You may watch up to four (4) films for extra credit in this class. Each film will earn five (5) points of extra credit. Film reports should only be turned in with Exams (2 and/or 3 – no film reports will be accepted with the final exam). Be sure to answer the questions for each film—no credit will be awarded if you simply summarize the film!
What Are We Doing? – A selection of documentaries about the various impacts that we seven point three billion humans are having on the rest of the world (and on ourselves).
1) An Inconvenient Truth (2006; by Davis Guggenheim, with AL Gore). The classic that started the discussion.
What to do: Given the clear scientific consensus that human activity is a major contributor to global warming, and that significant climate change will occur during your lifetime, what steps are you considering for yourself with regard to: A) anticipating and coping with the coming changes? B) modifying your behavior to lessen your own personal impact upon the environment? And C) educating yourself about other ways that you unknowingly affect both the environment and people you have never met?
2) Chasing Ice (2012; by Jeff Orlowski). A documentary about the work of James Balog and the Extreme Ice Survey.
What to do: Contemplate your life in 2055, as you are watching your grandchildren grow up. When they (or other young’uns) ask you “Why didn’t you do more to prevent the problems associated with climate change,” how will you answer them?
3) Food, Inc. (2008; by Robert Kenner). A documentary that takes a closer look at the sources of several foods that Americans eat.
What to do: Which of the foods – and the methods of food production – do you think hold are most promise for the future? Would you be willing to change your eating habits if doing so would contribute to your own health and/or the health of the animals and plants concerned? If so, how far would you go?
4) Ice on Fire (2019; by Leila Conners – available on HBO). A documentary describing the current state of things.
What to do: In light of the evidence that humankind’s carbon usage since the Industrial Revolution is now creating feedback loops that is warming the arctic, releasing sequestered methane, and causing other changes to the ecosphere, what economic costs are you willing to bear to mitigate and attempt to reverse the changes? Would you support higher taxes on gasoline and other fossil fuels? Would you be willing to change your lifestyle, perhaps by eating less meat, flying less often, or waling or bicycling to get to some of your destinations? What other ideas do you have to deal with these uissues?
5) Manufactured Landscapes (2007, by Jennifer Baichal)
What to do: The rise of the modern consumer class is having global effects. This film explores how the manufacturing boom has changed China, and how the Chinese –and others – help us to deal with the things we no longer want or need. This film is not an attempt to determine what is “right” or “wrong,” but to make us aware of our impact. Your thoughts?
Ideas in Action – Films with content related to our class.
6) Contact (1997; with Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey). The first detection of extraterrestrial life provides the background for considering the relationship between science and religion.
What to do: Do you think that the discovery of extraterrestrial life would be a challenge to any religions? Which of the various reactions to the news of the signal from space is most like your own? Is there a way to overcome the perceived gap between science and religion?
7) Gattaca (1997; with Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke). Set in a near future in which a person’s destiny is controlled by their genes.
What to do: Do you think the scenario of the film is plausible? Are we technologically close to a society in which people are barred from certain positions because they are genetically “in-valid”? Do you think that American society would ever support such a system of filtering individuals?
8) Gorillas in the Mist (1988; with Sigourney Weaver and Bryan Brown). A Hollywood version of the career of Dr. Dian Fossey, who pioneered the study of mountain gorillas in the wild.
What to do: Discuss what you think can be done to stop the poaching of wild animals and/or plants.
9) Instinct (1999; with Anthony Hopkins and Cuba Gooding Jr.). An anthropologist “goes wild” as a result of his research with gorillas.
What to do: Can Ethan Powell’s actions be understood? Can they be condoned? What other realistic steps could he have taken to prevent harm to his friends?
10) Master and Commander. The Far Side of the World (2004; with Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany). An account of eighteenth century life on the high seas, with a stopover in the Galapagos Islands.
What to do: Why could the animals on the Galapagos Islands have turned out different from more familiar species found elsewhere?
Oh No! We’re All Gonna Die! – To Stoke Your Growing Interest in Epidemics. You may watch either one of these films for credit. You will not receive credit for both.
11) Contagion (2011). As a pandemic spreads across the world, officials and scientists attempt to understand its cause, and people cope in their own ways.
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12) Outbreak (1995). Scientists race to uncover the source of a virulent disease before it can spread.
What to do: How should governmental and other health agencies deal with an outbreak of a potentially lethal disease? What methods used to deal with the disease would you find appropriate? Too severe? Too mild? How would you cope with such an outbreak?