Videos and Film

Introduction

Many of us use videos and film clips in our classes -- rarely as expertly as we would like (after all, who receives training in such matters?), and often with some trepidation. Most of us struggle to locate good audio-visual resources, and to use them effectively in class. A typical question one hears at conferences is: "What's out there in video about [say] Islam in North America, how have you used it in your classes, what was the student reaction (remind me: what kind of students do you have at your institution and what level of course was this?), and where did you find it?"

This page addresses those concerns by providing links to relevant resources and to course syllabi on this site that are rich in information about videos and film, and by offering a space for teachers to comment on audio-visual resources they have used successfully.

Please send us your reflections to post. They need not be long. Please also send us links to other resources you've found useful in working with videos and film in the classroom.

Course Syllabi

Many syllabi on the Course Syllabi page of this site contain references to films or videos. They are now marked with a film icon. Those listed below are particularly relevant.

• The Bible in Contemporary American Film
  Nicola Denzey
• Eastern Religions Videos
  A selection of videos from Dale Cannon's syllabus Eastern Religions.
• Philosophy and Film
  Casey Haskins
• Religion and American Film
  Judith Weisenfeld
• Religion and Contemporary Film
  Tony Michael and Ken Derry
• Religion and Film
  Gail Hammer
• Religion and Film: Viewing Films Religiously
  Anne Moore and Kathleen O'Grady
• Western Religions Videos
  A selection of videos from Dale Cannon's syllabus Western Religions.
• Women and Religion; Web Resources
  This collection by Kathleen O'Grady includes many films.

Resources

New Testament Gateway: Jesus in Film
"This is a constantly expanding resource which at the moment provides a comprehensive, annotated series of links to good internet material on Jesus films...."

The Old Testament on Film
(edited by Tyler F. Williams)

The Text This Week: Movie Concordance
"Sometimes films help us understand interesting perspectives on Biblical themes. These perspectives can give us new insight to contemporary interpretations of those themes, and open up new avenues for understanding, preaching, and living the text within our culture. Have you ever tried to remember what scene it was from what movie that illustrated a particular Biblical or spiritual theme? Have you ever wanted a list of cultural perspectives on spiritual themes? This project is a "concordance" of a kind - an attempt to gather together scenes in movies which serve as "comparative texts" in relationship to Biblical/spiritual themes and passages."

Films for the Humanities and Sciences Home Page
This site lists educational videos for the humanities and sciences. Videos are for purchase only.

Duke University Film & Video Links Page
A good selection of film and television pages (commerical and academic).

Journal of Religion and Film
(edited by William L. Blizek and Ronald R. Burke)

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
An excerpt from this site: "The IMDb is the ultimate movie reference source and covers everything you could ever possibly want to know about movies. It's fully hyperlinked both within the database and to thousands of external sites and is updated continuously . . . . It currently covers over 170,479 titles with over 2,462,516 filmography entries and is expanding continuously."