Beyond Representation: Film as a Pedagogical Tool in Urban Geography

Abstract

This article evaluates the learning outcomes of a month-long cities in film course offered during an intensive, four-week semester at a liberal arts college in the United States. The course was divided into four shorter units that explored specific cities and subregions in detail through multiple, and often conflicting, perspectives. It begins with an overview of the scholarly perspectives on the use of film within geography. Based on evidence from 142 student reaction papers, the course's actual learning outcomes against its purported learning outcomes was evaluated. This analysis offers critical and empirical best practices for future geographic instruction through film.

Key Words:

• urban geography
• film studies
• media geographies
• pedagogy
• course design

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Bob Douglas, Anna Versluis, Judy Helmeke, Barbara Kaiser, and many others at Gustavus Adolphus College for their support for the design and implementation of this course. We would also like to thank Deryck Holdsworth for being such a great mentor to both of us, and the three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.

Notes

1. Inspiration for the course was drawn from a series of e-mails circulated on the URBGEOG listserv in August of 2010. The URBGEOG listserv is an open-access e-mail list through which information relevant to urban geographers can be disseminated. This includes job adverts, fellowship opportunities, and—as in this case—open calls for assistance and/or feedback in discipline-specific matters. The complete conversation thread is archived online at http://listserv.arizona.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind1008&L=urbgeog&T=0&P=4646.

2. Far more insight was gained from these assignments than from class discussion, as students who were reluctant to share a strong opinion in class were able to formulate insightful and critical responses on paper.

3. Institutional Review Board approval #1112-0065 at Gustavus Adolphus College. Student participation was solicited after course had ended, so that students would not fear grade retribution for negative reactions to course material. Students whose work has been included in this article were contacted by e-mail and each individually approved the reproduction of their work.

4. There was no apparent predilection for one over the other, and films were not necessarily strictly Hollywood or not. Elite Squad, for example, a Brazilian action film that chronicles the daily lives of members of Rio's special weapons and tactics (SWAT) unit, was filmed on location in Portuguese with a Brazilian cast, yet was distributed widely by U.S.-based Universal, Touchstone, and The Weinstein Company.

5. The terms first world and third world are applied in the context of their relevance within academic and popular discourses of the 1980s.