FILMS AND FACT: INTEGRATING CINEMA WITH GEOLOGY FOR NON-SCIENTISTS IN THE UNIVERSITY

College-level geology courses for students destined to careers in non-science disciplines generally have two goals: (1) establish the principals and practices of critical (or scientific) thinking, and (2) demonstrate and illustrate geology as a science. Among many impediments in reaching these goals is the challenge of providing legacy experiences for students. What can these courses give students that will stimulate them to question scientific information well after graduation? Today’s college students are strongly oriented to learn through media other than traditional authoritarian lectures or texts. In particular, the most likely close encounters with science for these students in the future will be multimedia – television, films, or the Internet. Of these, theatrical films provide a rich field of inquiry in the search for scientific validity in the mass mind of the culture of entertainment. Geology (or the geosciences) figures prominently in several film contexts. Natural disasters are the most obvious setting for drama. Often, geoscientists appear as characters in these films and some scientific idea (however warped by artistic license) provides a basis for tension. It is more common, however, to find geology in the widest sense as an environmental or visual backdrop for stories unrelated to the science itself. Many action and adventure films fall into this context. In the classroom, theatrical films are not good substitutes for lectures; the films are not designed to be documentary. As a tool for discussion, however, films do contribute an additional, engaging part of the course experience. They are best introduced after traditional classroom presentations and attended by detailed instructions for the students as they view the film. I have found that this course format works very well, even in sections with over 150 students.