RE GOES TO THE MOVIES

Teaching RE is never easy. Many of the concepts are difficult, students often have preconceived ideas or may be resistant and we usually have to work with very mixed-ability classes. This intensive one-day INSET will

describe a new approach to teaching important topics through FILM, both drawing on popular movies that your students are likely to have seen in their entirety and using clips of less well known films which provide

dramatic and interesting resources in the classroom. This INSET will also provide the framework for a weekly extra-curricular activity, suitable for 15-18 year olds, using films to inspire discussions of Philosophical issues.

TRUTH AND THE NATURE OF REALITY

There is an uncompromising divide between Plato and Aristotle about thenature of reality. While Plato is firmly committed to a transcendent order(and so has strongly influenced mystics down the centuries), Aristotle is committed to science and to a ‘this worldly’ approach to reality. Movies today, from ‘The Matrix’ to ‘Prince Caspian’ and ‘The Golden Compass’, reflect an ongoing division in understandings of truth and reality. What is real? How should the universebe understood? Film can illustrate and explore complex philosophical themes and can help students think through the nature of reality as well as the nature of truth claims. In an age dominated by post-modernism and consumer culture these themes can also be used to explore a wide range of ethical and philosophical issues as well as to engage with issues in science and religion including, for instance, the claims of those such as Marx and Dawkins who argue that the material universe is all that there is.

VAMPIRES,THE SOUL AND WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN

The issue of what it means to have a soul is central for discussions about life after death, freedom and the nature of death. Vampire movies, along with science fiction classics such as ‘I Robot’ and ‘Blade Runner’, can be used to raise questions about these complex issues. Vampires have never been so popular! The old idea of the evil Count Dracula has been replaced by more sympathetic representations of vampires. Since Buffy the Vampire Slayer fell in love with Angel the ‘good vampire’ (who suppressed his bloodlust and went on to his own series) vampire stories have reflected society’s shift from rejecting the ‘different’ to embracing and celebrating individuality. Today ‘True Blood’ portrays vampires as a persecuted minority and, though Edward Cullen in ‘Twilight’ is immortal and has no soul, he loves Bella and demonstrates the highest ‘human’ qualities of loyalty, self-sacrifice, bravery and honesty. What does it mean to be human? What is it about vampires that causes them to be cursed? This session will explore these and other pertinent questions, giving interesting and relevant material to engage students in deeper

philosophical discussions.

THE NATURE OF EVIL

The distinctions between natural and more evil that still dominate school text books are today recognised as too simplistic to deal with the moral ambiguities that many young people face. This session will consider the nature and purpose of evil, drawing on ‘Star Trek’, ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Harry Potter’ in so doing. It will also consider the adequacy of the Augustinian and Irenaean Theodicies in the light of the complexity of real-life situations, as illuminated in semi-documentaries such as ‘Hotel Rwanda’,‘Conspiracy’,‘Copenhagen’, ‘Defiance’ and ‘Sophie’s Choice’.

A GOOD DEATH?

Many RS specifications require teachers to discuss questions aboutsuicide, euthanasia and capital punishment in the classroom and require students to write balanced and dispassionate essays about what should be very difficult, sensitive topics. This session will explore how film can be used to explore these issues sensitively, avoiding students becoming blasé and failing to grasp their real human significance while retaining the ability to discuss academic and philosophical content appropriately. Clips from films such as ‘The Constant Gardner’, ‘The English Patient’, ‘The Sea Inside’,‘The Shawshank Redemption’ and ‘Dead Man Walking’ will be used.

A GOOD LIFE

What does it mean to live a good human life? Different ethical theories suggest different answers to this question.Whereas a Utilitarian maymeasure the goodness of life in terms of the ‘happiness’ it produces,the problems with this approach can be made clear through clipsfrom films such as ‘The Cruel Sea’,‘Munich’ and ‘Schindler’s List’. The Natural Law tradition makes a more complex assessment, relating goodness to the fulfilment of human nature, but what does this really mean? What does it mean to be human? Directors and actors have explored this theme over and over again. This session will consider how clips of films as diverse as ‘The Lives of Others’, ‘Ice Age’, ‘The Reader’ and ‘The Devil wears Prada’ can be used to encourage deep thought and meaningful discussion at the beginning or end of an ethics course or as part of a General Studies or IB Theory of Knowledge course.

JESUS

Teaching about Jesus can be difficult; how can He be shown to be relevant while still being faithful to the historical facts? It could be said that film has contributed to the invention of a ‘new Jesus’ and this session will seek to explore this thesis, considering the relationship between how Jesus is portrayed today and the 1st Century man, so far as He can be known. It will also show how clips of films can be used to help young people to engage with the complex issue of the nature of Jesus, his humanity and relation to God

Each delegate will be provided with an exclusive DVD of teaching resources and links to other relevant resources on the internet, for example on YouTube. Delegates will also be invited to participate in a new and innovative project to develop an online resource to support RS teaching in conjunction with CTVC.

Places at this INSET are available at £225 each or £350 for two delegates from the same school, including a full lunch and an exclusive DVD of resources.