Filmography - Education

This is a selective list of video holdings in the American University Library. Filmographies are created by doing multiple keyword searches in the catalog to capture as many titles on a topic as possible. 

For complete, up-to-date holdings please search the library catalog search box on the Media Services homepage. (http://www.american.edu/library/mediaservices/) Finding Aids on the same page includes other subject oriented content.

For more information take a look at the Streaming Video Guides and Browsing Collections.

2 million minutes. 2007. 1 videodisc (54 min.). Examines the daily lives, pressures, and ambitions of six high school students the US, China, and India, and their future prospects in the global economy. DVD 4258

Brazil in Black and White: Skin Color and Higher Education. 2007. (58 min.). Am I black or am I white?New affirmative action quotas for higher education in Brazil-one of the world's most racially diverse nations-launch a controversial dialogue about race and identity as this Wide Angle report follows five college candidates from diverse backgrounds competing for a spot at the University of Brasilia. In addition, lawyers from the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund visit Brazilian civil rights leaders to discuss the legal challenges of affirmative action. With nationwide surveys identifying more than 130 different categories of skin color, who will be considered black enough to qualify for the new racial quotas? Streaming video.

Changing Schools: Damascus's Educational Melting Pot. 2009. (59 min.). Zaki al-Arsuzi School is a girls-only secondary school. Jaramana School is a boys-only middle school. Focusing on two new students-Du'aa, a teenage Muslim girl who has transferred to secular Zaki al-Arsuzi from a Sharia school, and Yusif, a teenage Christian boy from Iraq who is attending Jaramana as a war refugee-this program maps their experiences against the broader picture of Syrian society, modern Islam, and political instability in the Middle East. Topics include the observance of Ramadan and the Festival of the Cross, wearing the hijab, Baathism, the evolving role of women, the trauma of life in a war zone, Syria's growing entrepreneurialism, and matters of school governance. Produced by the Open University. (Portions in Syrian with English subtitles). Streaming video.

China Prep Shaping the Next Generation of Chinese Leadership. 2008. (57 min.). This Wide Angle report follows five Chinese students through their arduous final year at an elite public high school as they strive to become a part of the approximately three percent that will earn a coveted spot in one of Beijing's top two universities. Studying seven days a week, their futures depend on a strong performance on the national college entrance exam. The winners will be tomorrow's lawyers, corporate executives, and civil servants, who hope to make China's economy the largest in the world. In addition, Aaron Brown interviews Harvard University's Vanessa Fong, author of Only Hope: Coming of Age Under China's One-Child Policy. Original broadcast title: China Prep. Streaming video.

Courage & hope African teachers living positively with HIV = Courage et espoir des enseignants africains vivant positivement avec le VIH. 2007? 1 videodisc (ca. 85 min.). "The remarkable story of four teachers living positively with HIV. It is an insight into the lives of ordinary, courageous people. We hear, in their own voices, how they discovered their HIV status and how this has affected their lives with their families, their schools and their communities" -- DVD 12357

The Heart of the Nation. 1994. (58 min.). This program explores the central values of Japan, Germany, and the U.S. and focuses on what drives each of these societies. America's hallmark is individualism, Japan's the preeminence of the group; in America, freedom and diversity are primary values; in Japan, conformity and a powerful sense of nationalism prevail. Germany stands between the two, asserting individualism but striving, more than the U.S., for social harmony and consensus. The program shows how education is a metaphor for the contrasts in the three societies. Streaming video.

Japanese Education in Crisis. 2003. (20 min.). This documentary explores sobering developments linked to Japan's emphasis on intense academic pressure and conformity: 2,000 teen suicides per year, a 60 percent increase in crime since 1994, and the phenomenon of hikikomori children-those who have collapsed emotionally and withdrawn from society. Gritty footage shot in chaotic classrooms and dysfunctional homes, combined with commentary from counselors, parents, and dispirited young people, depicts a nation unprepared for radical social change and, in spite of recent educational reforms, lacking a consensus on whether to crack down or loosen up. (Portions in Japanese with English subtitles). Streaming video.

Japanese education in crisis. 2005. 1 videodisc (20 min.). "This documentary explores sobering developments linked to Japan's emphasis on intense academic pressure and conformity" -- Cover. DVD 5114

Part 1 Time for School-The Global Education Crisis. 2003. (57 min.). Over 100 million children worldwide have never spent a day in school. One in four does not complete even five years of basic education. Now, 182 nations have promised to provide access to free and compulsory education for every child in the world-by 2015. To test the reality of that sweeping commitment, this Wide Angle installment profiles children in Japan, Kenya, Benin, Brazil, Romania, Afghanistan, and India who have managed to enroll in the first year of primary school-in most cases despite great odds. Exploring cultural comparisons from viewpoints that are too often overlooked, this program offers an in-depth study of the lives of young people in widely differing circumstances, as each one takes a hopeful first step into an uncertain future. Original WNET broadcast title: Time for School. Part 1 of the series A Global Roll Call: The Need for Education Worldwide. Streaming video.

Testing hope: Grade 12 in the new South Africa. 2007? 1 videodisc (40 min.). Chronicles the lives of four young people in 12th grade in Nyanga township outside Cape Town, as they work toward their crucial Matric exams.  Even in the new South Africa, many vestiges of apartheid persist, and the students believe the Matric examination, which all students are required to take, will determine their future.  It explores what hangs in the balance if the students pass Matric and what awaits those who d\o not. DVD 8072