To aid in the selection of video's for your class and research needs, we've created a large number of filmographies on many subject areas. If you'd like to suggest a new filmography or ask that an existing one be updated, please contact mediaservices@american.edu.
Anthropology and American Studies
Art and Art History
Business and Public Administration
Communications and Journalism
Economics
Education
Film Studies, Film Genres and National Cinema
Foreign Languages and Area and Regional Studies
Health and Fitness
History
International Service, US Foreign Policy and Peace and Conflict
Jewish Studies
Justice and Law
Literature
Math, Statistics and Computer Science
Performing Arts
Philosophy and Religion
Physical Sciences and Environmental Science
Political Science
Psychology
Sociology
Women's and Gender Studies
Titles available on DVD and streaming video as of April 2011.
Most streaming videos listed are available exclusively to AU students, staff and faculty after an online authentications by AUID#.
Filmographies are created by doing multiple keyword searches in the ALADIN catalog to capture as many titles on a topic as possible. For complete up-to-date holdings (including VHS tapes) please refer to the library ALADIN catalog (www.catalog.wrlc.org).
Note: Vietnam War and War on Terror (in Afghanistan) are addressed in specific filmographies on those topics. Feature films are also excluded from this list with the exception of a few that depict important historical events that aren’t well covered by documentaries (e.g. The Killing Fields).
Be Prepared for Global Warming. 2003. 1 streaming video (51 min.). According to many scientists, global warming is irreversible-but its progress can be slowed, its impact managed. This program examines strategies, many of them in operation, designed to protect land and populations made vulnerable by rapidly rising worldwide temperatures. From life-saving weather forecast methods in Mozambique to fishery replenishment systems in Vietnam, a range of innovations are studied-but the focus is not only on the developing world. Detailing struggles against drought and violent climate in the United States, Australia, and the Netherlands, Be Prepared clearly shows that global warming recognizes no national boundaries. Original title: The Heat Is On: Better Be Prepared. Streaming video Cane toads: an unnatural history. 2001. 1 videodisc (65 min.). Documents the history of the Cane toad in Australia. The cane toad - Bufo marinus - was imported to Australia in 1935 in an attempt to rid the country of the greyback beetle, which was devouring the sugarcane crop. Problem was, the beetle could fly, and the cane toad couldn't. What the cane toad was unusually proficient at, however, was making more cane toads. A humorous look at a serious problem. DVD 3247 Climate Change: Our Responsibility. 2008. 1 streaming video (25 min.). If global warming cycles are natural phenomena, why should humans alter their consumption habits and behavior? Have we really accelerated climate change? This program studies the causes of ozone depletion and the buildup of greenhouse gases-examining both sides of the highly politicized issue while making the case that current warming trends are in fact human-caused. Outlining the importance of the greenhouse effect for life on Earth, the video looks at recent, measurable changes in sub-climates like Bangladesh and Australia; illustrates the roles played by agriculture, deforestation, and pollution; and features interviews with proponents and skeptics of mainstream arguments. Viewable/printable educational resources are available online. Streaming video Ethics and Responsibility in Management. 2008. 1 streaming video (28 min.). What does it mean to be an industry leader in the 21st century? Having the greatest market share is no longer enough-a successful business must now set an example as a good corporate citizen. This program examines key policies and practices that integrate ethics and responsible management into all aspects of business operations. Viewers are introduced to Australia's Corporate Responsibility Index, or CRI-a useful model for systems designed to measure and reinforce ethical and environmentally friendly commerce. Case studies of two companies, Toyota Australia and Energy Australia, illustrate how the CRI and its guidelines play out in real-world situations. Viewable/printable educational resources are available online. Streaming video A Fatal Impact: Eugenics, Social Darwinism, and Genocide. 2007. 1 streaming video (53 min.). During the 19th century, racial categorization took on a pseudoscientific stance. This program shows how the academic racism of the period helped to spread imperialist policies across the globe. Sifting through the science of eugenics and its link to social Darwinism, the film juxtaposes the racial hygiene theories of Robert Knox, Francis Galton, and Eugen Fischer with racial warfare in Tasmania, Victorian apathy in famine-wracked India, and-prefacing the Holocaust-horrific German colonization tactics in Namibia. Expert commentary comes from author David Dabydeen, Dr. Maria Misra of Oxford University, and Professor Catherine Hall of University College London. Contains graphic footage from concentration camps. Original BBC broadcast title: A Fatal Impact. Streaming video The Future Makers: Pioneering Sustainable Energy. 2009. 1 streaming video (46 min.). While its fossil fuel exports are sizeable, Australia is also becoming a gigantic laboratory for developing renewable energy systems. This program examines the work of engineering trailblazers who have made the country a world leader in green technology design. Dr. Tim Finnigan uses bio-mimicry to create flexible sea-floor structures that transform ocean currents into power. Likewise, Dr. Robert Dane's Solar Sailor boat incorporates insect wing forms. Designs from Dr. Prame Chopra and Dr. Doone Wyborn hint at the shape of geothermal systems to come, while the Sydney-based activities of SunTech and its Chinese owner, Dr. Zhengrong Shi, evoke the global nature of the sustainable energy movement. Several other case studies are included. Streaming video The great barrier reef. 1999. 1 videodisc (38 min.). "Viewers will experience not only the beauty of the reef, but will learn of its complex ecosystem, symbiotic relationships and the extreme fragility of its environment" -- Container. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 3186 Human Resource Function. 2008. 1 streaming video (31 min.). Shell of Australia is a part of one of the world's largest oil and gas companies. Australia-based Intrepid Travel is a medium-size adventure vacation company. In this program, human resource professionals from these two companies discuss the processes of recruitment, performance appraisal, and termination; explore the dynamic relationship between employees and employers; and describe the methods used by organizations to manage people and maintain a motivated and productive workforce. Viewable/printable educational resources are available online. Streaming video John Pilger. 2006. 1 videodiscs (204 min.). The Quiet Mutiny: John Pilger reveals the shifting morale and open rebellion of Western troops serving in Vietnam. Death of a nation: Pilger uncovers the shocking complicity of the US and Great Britain governments in the East Timor genocide the same governments who were willing to go to war with Saddam Hussein for his invasion of Kuwait, but who stood aside as Indonesia broke the exact same UN regulations to rape and pillage East Timor using Western arms. Inside Burma: John Pilger and David Munro go undercover in one of the world's most isolated, and extraordinary countries, Burma, which Amnesty International calls a prison without bars. They discover slave labour preparing for tourism and foreign investment.Welcome to Australia: With the run-up to the Sydney olympics, John Pilger and Alan Lowery take a studied look behind the hype and glamour surrounding the games. Australia's Aborigines remain excluded, impoverished and mistreated while their part in the brilliant history of Australia's sporting success disgracefully goes virtually unrecognized. DVD 6692 Managing Change in a Large Organization. 2008. 1 streaming video (30 min.). Large organizations can only survive in a highly competitive environment if they have the resilience to effectively deal with change, whether coming from within the company or from the outside. The impact of nonsmoking legislation on places of business is used as an example of such change as this program explains how Club Med on Lindeman Island, Australia, effectively retooled itself to comply with the law. Topics covered include driving forces and restraining forces, the importance of strong leadership and open communication during a period of change, potential resistance from employees and external stakeholders, the benefits of hiring a change agent, and the use of key performance indicators to help define and evaluate progress during a change. Viewable/printable educational resources are available online. Streaming video The Murdochs: Building an Empire. 2002. 1 streaming video (57 min.). With operations in Australia, Britain, and the U.S., the Murdoch media conglomerate occupies leading positions in the world of print and broadcast news. This program traces the story of the three-generation Murdoch media dynasty through interviews with a rich cast of family members and their associates, including Ed Koch, former mayor of New York City, and Andrew Neil, former editor for The Sunday Times (London). News clips and home video footage of the Murdochs at work and at play offer powerful insights into what it takes to build a business empire from scratch-and to keep it on top. Contains brief glimpses of tabloid cover nudity. Streaming video The Muvver Tongue. 1986. 1 streaming video (59 min.). In the 19th century, English spread throughout the British Empire-but which English? This classic PBS program traces the roots of white Commonwealth English to Cockney, the language of London's working class. Explaining the influence of Cockney on modern, standardized speech, the program shows how, in fact, the accents of BBC English are gradually becoming modified by Cockney speech characteristics like the glottal stop. Resemblances between the accents of New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and the Falkland Islands are also explored, highlighting major aspects of the colonial language-along with traces of aboriginal tongues nearly eclipsed by English. Streaming video Mysteries of the Landscape. 2005. 1 streaming video (53 min.). The Earth's surface gave shape to the early cosmologies of almost every culture. This program explores that universal phenomenon, traveling across the globe to examine the role of geology in religion and myth. From the revered Uluru/Ayers Rock in Australia to Crete's Diktaeon cave-according to tradition, the birthplace of Zeus-the video explains the spiritual significance of numerous sites while connecting them with historical events and scientific concepts. Sacred, monumental additions to the landscape are also featured, including the Mayan pyramids, the stone dolmens of Europe, the dragon trees of Tenerife, and the Meteora monasteries atop the Pindus Mountains. Streaming video The Mythic Camera of Frank Hurley. 2004. 1 streaming video (53 min.). One of the last of the renowned imperial adventurers, Frank Hurley captured the first images ever seen of some of the world's most inhospitable and uncharted territories. But historians now know that some of Captain Hurley'sphotos were elaborate concoctions-and a few were outright fakes. This stimulating program follows Hurley's footsteps in the early 1900s to the Antarctic, Belgium, Papua New Guinea, Israel, and Australia to see if he was a giant of photography or a conjurer with a camera. His snapshots of Antarctic heroes, world wars, and mysterious natives in faraway jungles seized the imagination of all who saw them. But were those images transformed in the darkroom to the level of myth? Streaming video Not quite Hollywood. 2009. 1 videodisc (100 min.). Experience the wild and wonderful untold story of 'Ozploitation' films as you take a journey through the Australian genre cinema of the late '70s and '80s - the years when Australia got into gear and blew the world away with what they had to offer. DVD 6528 Passing the Bug: The End of Antibiotics? 1998. 1 streaming video (28 min.). Today's antibiotics are quickly losing their ability to combat bacterial infections. What has caused this pharmacological disaster? This program examines the link between the use of antibiotics in livestock as growth promoters and the rise of resistance to their effectiveness in humans. Although certain classes of antibiotics have already been banned in agricultural use, some authorities are fighting further bans because they deny the food chain link to people. In Japan, Australia, and the United States, a strain of golden staph has appeared that is resistant even to vancomycin. If antibiotics-the wonder drugs that brought tuberculosis and pneumonia under control-have lost their potency, how vulnerable is society? How many will die as a result? Streaming video Renewable Fuels. 2008. 1 streaming video (24 min.). Besides the well-documented ecological harm that fossil fuels inflict, they have another drawback: our planet is running out of them. What will we use in their place to heat our homes, power our vehicles, and light our cities? This program studies the problem of energy resource depletion and explores potential solutions appearing around the world. Graphically illustrating the deadlinesat which coal, oil, and natural gas supplies are expected to vanish, the video then examines advances in wind, geothermal, and solar power technologies-presenting the pros and cons of each. Real-world examples in Australia, England, Kenya, and other countries are shown. Hydroelectric and nuclear power sources are also discussed. Viewable/printable educational resources are available online. Streaming video Selling Australia: Branding a Country. 2001. 1 streaming video (26 min.). Nearly two decades after Paul Hogan first put that extra shrimp on the barbie,he is still on camera selling Australia to tourists and Aussies alike. Focusing on the phenomenally successful Brand Australiacampaign, this program questions whether travelers' expectations should be allowed to drive a country's image-especially when that image relies on simplistic, nostalgia-laden stereotypes. Interviews with Paul Hogan, the Australian Tourist Commission's John Morse, and others, as well as footage of vacationers living out their vision of the land down under, provide telling insights into the relationship between marketing, tourism, and national identity in the first country to ever promote itself as a brand. Streaming video Six degrees could change the world. 2008. 1 videodisc and 1 streaming video (90 min.). By the year 2100, many scientists believe that the Earth's average temperature could rise by as much as six degrees Celsius. A compelling investigation explores what each rising, and critical, degree could mean for the future of our people and planet. Illustrates how global warming has already affected the reefs of Australia, the ice fields of Greenland, and the Amazonian rain forest. Explains what's real, what's still controversial, and how existing technologies and remedies could help dial back the global thermometer. DVD 4338. Streaming video http://proxyau.wrlc.org/login?url=http://digital.films.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=8604&xtid=40824 Slow food revolution. 2003. 1 videodisc (52 min.). This film visits Italy, Mexico, and Australia to record the growing international eco-gastronomic movement known as "slow food movement". In opposition to the "fast food" world, the goal of the movement is to encourage people to slow down and enjoy food, protect traditional culture and the environment, encourage regional food production, and food education. DVD 4769 The stolen eye. 2004. 1 videodisc (52 min.). Jane Elliott performs her famous blue-eyed/brown-eyed experiment on a group of white and aborigine adults in Australia. Considering how the government forcibly removed children of aboriginal parents in order to make the whole race extinct, the video illustrates what happens when the tables are turned, and the whites become the victim of this blatant discrimination. DVD 4037 Voices of the World: The Extinction of Language and Linguistic Diversity. 2005. 1 streaming video (60 min.). The world is a mosaic of visions, and each vision is encapsulated by a language.Yet every two weeks, one of the world's approximately 6,500 languages dies out. What is the significance of this loss to those who speak the language as well as for the rest of humankind? Why do some languages become global while others disappear? And how are language and identity connected? In this program, linguists David Crystal, Peter Austin, and Jorgen Rischel search for the answers to those and other pressing questions as they investigate the state-and fate-of Livonian, in Latvia; Dogon, in Mali; Mlabri, in Thailand; Changsha Hua and Naqxi, in China; Pitjantjatjara and Pintupi, in Australia; and Tutunaku, in Mexico. (Portions in other languages with English subtitles). Streaming video Walk in Our Shoes: Speaking Out about Sterilization. 2003. 1 streaming video (46 min.). This emotionally charged program filmed in Australia explores the ethics of whether, and in what circumstances, women and men with severe mental or physical disabilities should ever be sterilized. All parties involved desire a better quality of life for people who it is believed are incapable of fully comprehending and then acting on the issues for themselves. But is sterilization, performed in a person's perceived best interests, a humane or an inhuman way to try to achieve it? Candid interviews with parents, caregivers, members of the judiciary, and individuals with disabilities provide numerous angles on a topic that is as compelling as it is controversial. Streaming video Who's Afraid of Designer Babies? The Ethics of Genetic Screening. 2004. 1 videodisc and 1 streaming video (54 min.). PGD, or pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, allows doctors and parents to screen brand-new embryos for genetic diseases. This program illustrates the PGD process and what it implies-from lifesaving medical solutions to what many see as the Nazi-esque disposal of life. The experiences of couples considering or undergoing PGD are featured-including the story of Leanne and Stephen, who ignited controversy in Australia by screening for a son who could donate blood to his ailing older brother. Interviews with bioethics experts, including Oxford professor Julian Savulescu and Dr. Francis Fukuyama of Johns Hopkins University, elucidate both sides of the debate. DVD 2308. Streaming video
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