Reel Report, 1999–2000

Robert Brent Toplin, Contributing Editor

Robert A. Rosenstone recalls that some of his university colleagues at CalTech thought he was odd and possibly lazy when he created a course in the mid-1970s that dealt with history and film. Rosenstone's associates assumed that students in the course could get by without reading; they would simply watch movies and consume popcorn. Many other historians encountered similar reactions from their colleagues years ago when they proposed to teach the first film courses in their history programs. In view of the many skeptical and cynical responses to these first efforts to formalize the study of film, it seems that a revolution has occurred within the profession. Courses dealing with history and film are no longer oddities, and colleagues now understand that the syllabi for such classes should demand a good deal of reading and sophisticated analysis. Other examples of institutional recognition are evident, too. Sessions on film have become familiar entries in the convention programs of professional organizations. Periodicals such as the American Historical Review and the Journal of American History regularly publish film reviews. New books and articles about history and film are much more abundant now than a few decades ago. Universities, museums, and government organizations frequently sponsor conferences on film and history, and the American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians award prizes annually for the best films. Also, television viewers now see a number of history scholars appearing as "talking heads" in programs featured on the History Channel, PBS, and other networks.

To keep abreast of new developments in this rapidly expanding field of study, the Journal of American History will feature a brief report each year at the beginning of the movie review section. This commentary surveys major activities related to film and American history. It includes reports about professional conferences dealing with film, historians' activities in the making of films, the efforts of institutions to sponsor film conferences, plans by filmmakers to release major productions about American history, the decisions of committees to award prizes for outstanding filmmaking, and other matters of professional interest. "Reel Report" also draws attention to documentary and feature films that provoked controversies during the previous year. The contributing editor, Robert Brent Toplin, welcomes communications regarding these matters. Please send information electronically to Toplinrb@uncwil.edu or by mail to Robert Brent Toplin, Department of History, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 601 S. College Road, Wilmington, NC 28403-3297.

Two "telecourses" on American history have been in production during the past year.

Dallas Telelearning has been updating a series of programs on United States history that have been available since the 1970s. The organization has completed a revision of its programs for the first half of the United States survey. Shaping America: The U.S. to 1877 features lectures, interviews, maps, film, photographs, and on-site cinematography. There are twenty-six half-hour programs in the telecourse. By 2001, Dallas Telelearning will have another revision prepared: a series of programs on United States history from 1877 to the present, carrying a new title, America in Perspective. An older version of the second-semester course called America: The Second Century is still in circulation. The new series uses the Bedford–St. Martin's textbook, The American Promise, as well as other course materials. Information about the videos can be obtained at http://telelearning.dcccd.edu or at 972-669-6650.

In the fall of 2000, WGBH-Boston released a series of twenty-six half-hour video programs called A Biography of America. Donald Miller of the history department at Lafayette College is the "lead scholar" behind the project. The series also features Stephen Ambrose in a primary on-screen role and includes comments and lectures by Douglas Brinkley, Pauline Maier, Waldo Martin, Louis Masur, and Virginia Scharff. Designed to have "crossover appeal," Biography of America works both as instructional videos and as general programming for public television. The series attempts to treat history as a "living narrative." It exposes students to thought-provoking debates and lectures on American history that are supported with an extensive array of visual images supplied by the Library of Congress and the National Archives. The companion textbook for this telecourse is Houghton Mifflin's A People and a Nation. Information on the series is available at http://www.pbs.org/als/courselistings and at 800-257-2578. . . .