My book, Documentary Film: A Very Short Introduction, has a very short section on ethnographic film that might give your student, if read with the introductory chapters (also very short!) a good handle on what the problem is. That might be a nice unforbidding overview for a business student. The bibliography, including direction to worrks by Jay Ruby, the MacDougalls and Faye Ginsburg, should further direct him. Pat Aufderheide, Professor and Director Center for Social Media, School of Communication American University 3201 New Mexico Av. NW, #330 Washington, DC 20016-8080 www.centerforsocialmedia.org [log in to unmask] 202-885-2069 "You know, I'm an eternal optimist. That doesn't mean I'm a sap." --President Barack Obama "Larsson, Donald F" <[log in to unmask]> Sent by: Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]> 10/09/2009 07:42 AM Please respond to Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]> To [log in to unmask] cc Subject Re: [SCREEN-L] query on documentary It's an older text, but Bill Nichols' IDEOLOGY AND THE IMAGE had a useful section on ethnographic film and the context of the book as a whole might be helpful to your student. Don Larsson ___________________________________________________ "Only connect!" --E.M. Forster Donald F. Larsson, Professor English Department, Minnesota State University, Mankato Mail: 230 Armstrong Hall, Minnesota State University Mankato, MN 56001 Office Phone: 507-389-2368 ________________________________________ From: Film and TV Studies Discussion List [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Frank, Michael [[log in to unmask]] Sent: Tuesday, October 06, 2009 11:01 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [SCREEN-L] query on documentary i have a student who wants to do an extended term paper on "documentary and representation" -- a topic about which i know precious little since all my work is on fiction film . . . i'm wondering if anyone on the list can direct me to some useful introductions to the topic or explorations of it accessible to a general reader i should point out that my student, although very bright and dedicated, is studying business -- and is taking my cinema class simply to satisfy a requirement -- which means that she has no background in these areas, or even in the conventions of liberal arts inquiry . . . so i'm hoping for something that, while not dumbing down a complex topic, is written so that with effort beginners can make sense of it thanks in advance for suggestions mike ---- To sign off Screen-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF Screen-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask] ---- Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite http://www.ScreenSite.org ---- Learn to speak like a film/TV professor! Listen to the ScreenLex podcast: http://www.screenlex.org