Hello Thomas: I've been very interested to read your comments (and also Klaus's) about teaching cinema in Germany. Not too long ago, I was the guest of the University of Bielefeld for a year, and although my duties did not include teaching during that time, my many conversations with German students made clear to me just how different is the ambiance in even a provincial school like Bielefeld and my own provincial school (University of Iowa). German students unquestionably are more grown up and far less conservative in the visual materials to which they are exposed from childhood than the majority of my students would be. That said, the key to choosing films (or any texts) for my students seems to be creating an appropriate context for pieces that might seem extreme to those with a variety of strongly held beliefs (political, religious, etc.) Our students have to feel that their belief-systems are respected and at least virtually taken into account in classroom conversations even if I don't personally agree with whatever their issue or belief may be. What's shown is less at issue than how it's framed discursively. This conversation about what's OK to teach to whom has to take into account different cultural traditions in academic life. At international conferences, we've all witnessed differing styles of conducting academic conversations, even different ideas of what such conversations are for. These distinctions are clear in many instances even when comparing British academic discourse and American academic discourse -- a supposedly shared language but vastly different discursive practices may prevail -- varying tolerances of intellectual bullying, for instance. It seems clear to me that an instructor's presentational style clearly affects students' reception of the texts in question. Cheryl Herr At 01:22 PM 8/18/00 +0100, you wrote: >Dear all, > >as a teacher at a german university, it is interesting for me to follow >this discussion and to learn about the differences concerning teaching. >Actually, I was surprised by the fact, that american teachers have to >take such issues into consideration while planning a course. >Concerning this issue I would take a strong stand for academic freedom. >No one is forced to join my courses and all students ar grown-ups - so I >see no reason to restrict my choice of films to PG-rated movies. >Especially, this would make impossible to teach anything about >pornography, horror or similar genres. And it would also exclude films by >Carolee Schneeman, Kenneth Anger, Nagisa Oshima, etc. > >Actually, a student who complains about including films into a course >that display graphic violence, nudity or that contain explicit language >(the majority of movies beloning to one category or the other) seems to >be the equivalent to a medical student who refuses to treat burnt >victims, because it is "too gross". This would be ridiculous. > >This may sound a bit naive and it certainly shows that, up to now, I have >been largely unconcerned with this issue. But I would like to hear other >opinions advocating a greater sensibility concerning these issues. > >Thomas Morsch >Film Dept. >Freie Universitaet Berlin >Germany > >---- >Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the >University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu > > ---- Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite http://www.tcf.ua.edu/ScreenSite