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Case Studies

Professor Angie Chuang on the D.C. Sniper, Race, and Otherness

Associated Press/ Pablo Martinez Monsivais

Professor Angie Chuang, an experienced newspaper journalist and professor of journalism at American University’s School of Communication, specializes on race and ethnicity in the media. In this audio recording, she discusses the ten-year anniversary of the D.C. Sniper shootings, implications of media’s rhetoric on race, and the concept of Otherness, which she elaborates on in her award-winning research. Read more...

Case Study - STATE OF FEAR: The Truth about Terrorism

State of Fear PhotoState of Fear, a project of Skylight Pictures, is a longform documentary film at the center of a multiplatform local/global strategic human rights and social justice campaign. The film dramatizes the human and social costs of a twenty- year politicized “war on terror” (1980-2000) in Peru, and its contemporary resonance in a post 9/11 world. It poses the question, “How can an open society balance demands for security with democracy?” and demonstrates the positive example of Truth and Reconciliation Commissions for restorative justice.

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Case Study - OUT IN THE SILENCE

Out in the Silence is a feature-length documentary film that shows how the citizens of a small, conservative town in western Pennsylvania confronted homophobia within the boundaries of religion and tradition. An active outreach campaign designed to reach small towns and rural communities nationwide accompanied regional and national PBS broadcasts and festival screenings. The film and campaign, which have fortified a national network of LGBT and civil rights, support organizations reaching underserved communities with special focus on engaging young people.

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Case Study - LIONESS

Lioness is a feature-length documentary film that dramatizes the increasing role of U.S. women in combat, despite an official policy banning such assignments. This unrecognized service effectively deprives women combat veterans of benefits granted to men. The film points to the need for military programs and policies that support appropriate professional recognition, training, and health care for women.

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Case Study - THE LINE

This “pro-sex, anti-sexual violence” project from producer/director Nancy Schwartzman addresses the need for communication among young people in a highly sexualized and increasingly permissive society. An extensive outreach campaign centered around a 30-minute film based on one young woman’s experience provides language, information, context and spaces for articulating terms for mutually respectful relationships.

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