Ideas for Constructing World History on Film Courses

Scott C.M. Bailey

     Film can provide an excellent source foundation for the teaching of undergraduate world history classes. This article will include recommendations on how educators could construct world history and film courses, the types of films which can be useful for teaching such a course, appropriate readings, and the types of assignments and in-class activities that can be utilized in such a course. This is based on experiences drawn from developing and experimenting with film-based undergraduate world history courses for the past several years, in which student feedback has been very positive.¹

     One strategy which will be explored here for the implementation of film is to plan world history courses, or portions of the syllabus, around a particular comparative or world historical theme, and require students as part of their summative assessments to analyze the varieties of filmic treatments of that topic.  The films can be utilized as a primary text, which are to be analyzed by students only after they have done a significant amount of historical research, utilizing other secondary and primary sources about the historical topic of the films. I have found this to be the most effective way of utilizing film as a medium for world history courses, because this requires the students to exercise their skills of critical analysis. In this type of course, students could be exposed to a variety of films from a diverse group of directors, or films which utilize a different approach, such as viewing a dramatic film along with a documentary. Through either approach, students are exposed to differing points of view.

     This approach has proven effective in developing two very important skill areas. On the one hand, students must research the historical topic individually by utilizing traditional historical sources (mostly traditional written sources) and form opinions on that historical topic based upon their research. Therefore, research skills can be reinforced through the use of historical films as a main text to explore. Secondly, this approach further benefits the students by giving them the opportunity to do a textual and critical analysis of a film or ideally a range of films related to the topic. The utilization of film in the classroom gives students the opportunity to practice doing critical review of film both as a form of artistic expression and as a historical interpretive source. Both of these skills, that of historical source research skills and that of critical textual analysis, are crucial for success in the 21st century, as they can help to foster student competencies in critical thinking, media literacy, transfer of learning, creativity, and higher-order thinking.² 

     By engaging with film, world history instructors are able to challenge their students in unique and exciting ways. Serious historical films are extremely complex sources which require a great deal of intellectual energy to unravel and to place into an appropriate critical context. There are many "moving parts" in historical films: the plot line(s) of the film itself; its historical and geographical setting on a basic level; the context in which the film was made; the background of the filmmaker and the production studio; the historiographical context which the film fits into (or does not fit into); just to name a few. The beauty of historical films for classroom use is that they can engage our students intellectually on a number of levels, and proper analysis of historical films also requires a multi-tiered approach in which students must analyze the basic storyline, as well as the contribution of the piece to historical thought on that topic, theme, or debate. The notion that the inclusion of historical films in undergraduate world history courses is somehow making the class "easier" or "watering the material down" is a complete fiction, so long as the instructor is able to utilize films which are substantive and "historical,"³ and the proper scaffolding of the film as a historical statement is made clear to the students. In addition, the utilization of historical film can add a level of student interest and enthusiasm which is difficult to do with the assigning of strictly "traditional" historical sources and materials.  My own anecdotal experience through evidence of student evaluations and interactions is that most students find these sorts of courses to be intellectually demanding, complex, and even exciting. I can further say that many of the research papers and review essays which have been produced in these courses have been of an unusually high analytical level for undergraduate courses, which correlates with the intellectual rigor required by this type of analysis and also speaks to the way in which films can spark intellectual curiosity.

The Development of Film in World History Courses

     When I was an undergraduate history major during the mid-1990s, most of the undergraduate history courses that I took did not include the viewing of dramatic historical films. The viewing of film or videos of any kind was typically reserved for days when the professor was away for a conference or illness and intended as a substitution for a canceled class day, rather than as a deliberate and central aspect of the course. However, by the time the I pursued Ph.D. study several years later, many of the professors at the university were regularly employing the use of dramatic film into the teaching of their undergraduate world history courses. Some even, as I am suggesting here, made the viewing of films a core and central part of their course syllabi.

     In earlier times, video footage used in class were typically segments of historical documentaries of the type like Ken Burns' PBS miniseries on the American Civil War.⁴ It was also common to view portions of historical documentaries produced by National Geographic or the BBC. Dramatic historical films were usually only utilized outside of history classes (or any classes, for that matter) and were only likely to appear in film studies courses. Today more and more world history educators utilize feature films, documentaries, film clips, youtube videos, and other moving visual images as a way of bringing history to life. Some prefer to show clips from films, or to juxtapose the use of multiple films together in a way which presents multiple points of view on a historical topic.

     The question arises as to why the use of dramatic historical films was so rare in many history classrooms twenty-plus years ago, and why it is more prevalent today? One simple explanation is the many changes in the way most of us as educators and our students as well consume information today versus then. The rise of the internet and of the now-ubiquitous smartphone has changed the way we analyze information, forcing instructors to move beyond the traditional framework for course construction of assigning a textbook and a few supplementary readings, to a more engaged approach that incorporates multiple types of visual media, typically as supplements to textbooks and other primary and secondary source readings. As educators we cannot ignore the tremendous role that the internet has taken in shaping our perceptions of the present and the past and in molding our sense of information and our thought processes. Film is a medium which ideally requires the full attention of the viewer, and, if utilized properly in a world history course, requires a more engaged student who must pay close attention to the film, the director's choices, the historical plot line, visual effects, use of sound, and so much more. Therefore, film is a medium which can engage students in a way that is absorbing and, if presented in an effective way, and not just as a break from the usual approaches, can provide an intellectually stimulating experience for the students.

     But part of the problem for why films were largely kept out of world history courses revolves around a deeply-rooted belief among historians that dramatic historical films were less "accurate" or less "historical," and therefore less reliable representations of the past than printed media.  For these historians, films had no place in the world history classroom, as they only served to distract students from the "true" picture of the historical past, which could only be found (usually) through the written historical sources. This brings us to the next theoretical hurdle for world historians who are thinking of using films as part of their courses: how to utilize dramatic historical films as a text for their course.

Learning from Scholars of Film and History

     Meta-historian Hayden White wrote that, in reference to films on historical topics,

No history, visual or verbal, "mirrors" all or even the greater part of the events or scenes of which it purports to be an account, and this is true even of the most narrowly restricted 'micro-history.' Every written history is a product of processes of condensation, displacement, symbolization, and qualification exactly like those used in the production of a filmed representation. It is only the medium that differs, not the way in which messages are produced.⁵

     White is one of many scholars who have made the theoretical argument that we should understand historical films as not completely alien products of historical construction: that they in fact mirror and imitate the methodology used by historians with written sources. Thirty years ago in an essay published in the American Historical Review, White also called for the use of a new term, "historiophoty," which he defined as "the representation of history and our thought about it in visual images and filmic discourse."⁶ In the essay, White argued that there was a need to rethink the importance that film has as historical sources, and that visual sources themselves, when studied together, constitute a complex yet important understanding of the historical past, just as written sources have traditionally done, and that historians must increasingly recognize the importance of the visual source for shaping our understandings of history. Many scholars have heeded the call to do this since, both in research and in teaching.

     Historian Robert Rosenstone, Professor Emeritus at California Institute of Technology and a past consultant to historical filmmakers, has been a particularly strong advocate for the use of historical films of all types in the history classroom.  His textbooks are also very useful for the teaching of undergraduate film-based courses.⁷ Drawing inspiration from White's assertion that films utilize a similar process of selection and representation of information as historical secondary texts, Rosenstone has long argued for the inclusion of dramatic historical films as part of history courses, in part for the way that they can effectively bring history to life on the screen in a way that printed media cannot. The author of this article has used Rosenstone's History on Film/Film on History as a main textbook to assign to undergraduates in courses on world history and film.⁸ The individual chapters of this book are useful for the teaching of specific types of historical films, including chapters on the biographical film ("Telling Lives," which works well with the teaching of the film "Gandhi," discussed below in this article), the documentary, what he refers to as "Mainstream Drama," as well as an extremely good chapter on the filmic career of Oliver Stone (which the author has used in combination with the teaching of the films "JFK" and "Heaven and Earth").⁹ Rosenstone's book is especially useful for providing students examples of conventions of historical films, with detailed examples from a wide range of films from around the world included in his discussion.

     Another major scholar of film and history is the global historian Marnie Hughes-Warrington, Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Australian National University, whose edited collection The History on Film Reader is an excellent primer on the topic, in which she brings together many of the top scholars in this field in an assemblage of articles which, when read together, show the dynamic state of historical research connected to film, both past and present.¹⁰ This text could also serve extremely well as a textbook for challenging upper-level or graduate level courses in the topic, for those interested in exploring such a possibility. The text is also useful for those interested in exploring the academic research possibilities of analyzing film, in the way that other articles in this forum have done. Hughes-Warrington also provides in the pages of this text an authoritative historiography of sorts of film and history, which is also useful for those wishing to pursue this line of research and teaching.

Theoretical Bases            

     But for this to become a mainstream practice in the classroom, historians must be willing to shed some of their insecurities about the lines between fact and fiction. Most historical dramatic films do not endeavor to provide a full, one hundred percent documentation of the past as a documentary film like Burns' series would attempt to do. Instead, dramatic historical films must work within limits of the medium to recreate a past that is in itself an argument on one small aspect of an event, an individual, a group of individuals, or a historical context. Dramatic historical films are by their very nature meant to offer a dramatic interpretation of the past, not a documentary reenactment of the event and not a totalistic narrative. Filmmakers often choose to exercise the stylistic or artistic conventions of the medium, which may include representations of the past that are not based on strict document-based evidence. That is, dramatic historical films should not be viewed as empiricist, as they are not an attempt to to take a Rankean-like approach in which every detail is closely scrutinized and judged based on its historical accuracy.¹¹ For the same reason, it would be wrong for us as world history instructors to expect our students to make a judgement on a film's relative "historical accuracy," since achieving or attaining that is not truly the goal of dramatic historical films. 

     Furthermore, it is fallacious to expect a dramatic filmmaker to be held to a standard of pure objectivity, as is often our natural inclination to expect with historical films. Just as with any kind of produced art, literature, or text of any kind, objectivity is not achievable, nor should it even be an expectation. As we all know, subjectivity in all work, even that done most conscientiously, is a fallacy. The value which dramatic historical films hold for world history educators is as historical texts, which make a statement about the past inherently through the process of selection, editing, choices of plot or dialogue, characterization, costumes, sound, and many other elements. The historical value that these texts have for world history educators is as dramatic textual interpretations of historical phenomena, in which every historical film contains a thesis or argument which the filmmaker is making about the historical past. We can use the films and discussion of the films in class as a source which can be evaluated in terms of its argument and/or contribution to historical discussion. Question for us to ask our students any time we utilize film in the classroom include:

• What is the filmmaker's objective?


• What is the filmmaker's argument which they are making about the past?


• How does the filmmaker's presentation of this event, theme, or historical person(s) correlate or differ from your own understanding of that event/theme/historical person(s)?


• To what extent is the filmmaker attempting to comment on the present (that is, the time that the film was produced and distributed) through the interpretation which they are presenting of the historical past?


• Is the filmmaker attempting to draw out an event's significance for the past and make a statement on it in this film, in order to send a message to audiences?


• Who is the intended audience for the historical film, and how is that reflected in the historical narrative presented?


• How does the information presented in this historical film compare to previous historical interpretation of the event(s) and/or person(s) represented in the film? Is the film a work of historical revisionism, or does it adhere closely to the dominant narrative, or neither?

Having our students identify the filmmaker's historical argument and then assess the evidence which the filmmaker used to support that argument is an excellent way to utilize film in the world history classroom.

Ideas for Using Dramatic Historical Films

     As an example, the 2007 film Letters from Iwo Jima, directed by Clint Eastwood, is a very good movie to utilize for the teaching of global war and conflict on film.¹² In Letters, Eastwood offers a bit of a historical corrective or argument regarding the historical perception of the "typical" Japanese soldier who fought in the Pacific War. Rather than portray the Japanese soldiers as devoted killing machines who were all programmed to give up their lives by fighting to the death or commit suicide attacks, Eastwood portrays a greater complexity of the Japanese soldiers who fought and mostly died in the Battle of Iwo Jima.  One of the main characters, Saigo, who plays a young married baker and expectant father before the war and on the frontlines of Iwo Jima, tries to avoid both situations in which he could easily be killed in battle: suicide attacks, and suicide itself. However, other soldiers do commit these acts, so Eastwood tries to present a relatively diversified and humanistic portrayal of the Japanese soldiers, a view which is rarely portrayed in Hollywood films about World War Two.  Although much of the film is dramatized, Eastwood worked closely with historians on the making of the film and strove for historical authenticity in the film, earning it a place of high respect among historians and scholars.¹³  The historical filmmaker, then, makes an explicit argument about the past in the way that they chose to portray the events and the characters involved, and this argument is exactly the type of thing which world historians can utilize for good discussions and classroom exercises, in order to tap into a higher level of analysis and intellectual rigor. An ideal historical film engages with the historiographical debates about a topic in an intelligent way. In my course on "Twentieth Century Asian History through Film," students research into the historiography of the common Japanese soldier during the war and are taught how Eastwood's film attempts to reposition historical narratives of the Japanese soldier. The most important thing which students can take away from an informed discussion of "Letters from Iwo Jima" is the way that the film challenges the dominant historical narrative. With proper scaffolding of the film and the use of probing questions and discussion, students can work together in classroom discussion to identify the historical argument which Eastwood makes in the film: that the Japanese soldiers portrayed in the film were not automatons. Many students also recognize wider, more universal themes at the heart of the film, such as its anti-war message and its appeal for cross-cultural understanding.  

     Dramatic historical films can be a very effective means of exposing students to the global past and may also spark their interest in further study. On a very basic level, films are "fun to watch" and many of course appeal to a broad audience. At the time of writing this article, Director Christopher Nolan's film Dunkirk, based on the experiences of Allied soldiers and their evacuation from France to Britain during the early stages of World War II,¹⁴ has attracted a very large viewership and critical acclaim, resulting in a slew of awards and a finalist nomination for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Indeed, the historical dramatic film has been one of the most dominant and successful genres of film produced, both in the present and throughout the history of cinema, in terms of viewership.¹⁵ The continuing popularity of historical films among viewing audiences provides a major boon to students' interest in films which contain historical film content.

Selection of Films to Include in a Course

     One challenge in any world history course is in how to select sources to utilize for a particular course from such a wide range of world regions and historical events. In world history-related film courses, I have found it most effective to identify a particular global-historical theme, and to choose films for viewing that fit under that thematic umbrella. This has benefits in that it provides students with a range of interpretations on that theme, in that the choice of films ideally presents the theme in a number of different historical contexts, formats, and historical interpretations. This approach has additional benefits in that it can make the teaching of the material explicitly comparative and global. This approach also lends itself well to students gaining experience in writing essays (assigned papers as well as in-class essay examinations) in which they need to incorporate examples from each of the films under that specific thematic category.  I encourage my students to note the different approaches that filmmakers have taken to portraying the elements of that world historical theme and to also have them look for ways in which the approach is similar, or the choice of content and presentation bears similarities.¹⁶ By taking this kind of a global and thematic approach in the choice of films, courses can develop skills of thinking comparatively and globally, particularly when they can see different national contexts in which a similar theme is played out on screen.

	Figure 1: Image from production of "Battle of Algiers" (1966) Used by permission of Kevin Durst, worldwide rights holder of the film.

Decolonization on Film

     "Decolonization" is an example of a world history theme that can suit this approach, as it allows for educators to choose a wide range of films addressing either directly or indirectly with this important twentieth-century topic.¹⁷ Under the decolonization theme, I have had the students in a class on recent world history view three historical dramatic films:: Gandhi, The Battle of Algiers, and Motorcycle Diaries.¹⁸ Prior to viewing them, students were required to do some preliminary reading and research on Mohandas Gandhi; South Asian independence and the partition; the French-Algerian War; and Che Guevara, so that they have a very good sense of the historical context and the key historical personages portrayed in these films.

	Figure 2: "Gandhi" Theatrical Release Poster (1982) at wikipedia.org.

     Prior to the in-class viewing of each film, I would also deliver a mini-lecture in which I provide some global historical context for the historical topics which are addressed in those three specific films. For example, prior to viewing Gandhi I provided the students historical information in lecture format about the process of decolonization in South Asia, from the time of the Indian National Congress' formation in 1885 up until the 1947 independence and partition, Gandhi's death, and the beginning of the Nehru regime (1947–1964). I am also careful to point out to students that the film has been criticized for its historical interpretation of historical figures in the film, including a very non-sympathetic portrayal of Muhammad Ali Jinnah.  Prior to viewing The Battle of Algiers, I provide a background lecture on French colonialism in North Africa starting in the 1830s and how the Algerian resistance developed, and I also provide an overview of the Algerian Revolution (1954–1962). And before the viewing of Motorcycle Diaries, I lecture the students on the historical impact of Che Guevara (1928–1967) on global decolonization and revolutionary movements. I also provide a very brief introduction to each film, the historical context under which it was created/produced/filmed and provide information on the director or filmmaker's background.  It is also helpful to provide biographical information and a filmography of each film's director, as this also can be utilized to help students better understand how a director's life experiences, artistic tastes, and political points of view can shape the production, and ensuing historical interpretations presented, in an historical film.

	Figure 3: "The Motorcycle Diaries" movie poster (2004) at wikipedia.org.

Guiding Questions

     As we view each film during the classes, I provide the students with a list of guiding questions, which they need to refer to as they watch the film.  These questions are tailored to the individual films and help students to identify things to be aware of while viewing them.  The guiding questions are also useful for guiding small-group and whole-class discussions, both as the film is being viewed and particularly after finishing the film. In fact, in-class discussion is a critical part of a film-based course, as it allows students to discuss with their peers (through the facilitation of the instructor) their observations and to compare interpretations and opinions. This often leads to some very interesting observations, and further helps to promote good teamwork and collaborative skills among the students, adding another element of 21st century educational benefit to the course.

     Below are examples of the types of guiding questions which I provide students for each film (not an exhaustive list—just a sampling):

"Gandhi" Guiding Questions

• How is "Gandhi" a work of history?


• What does the filmmaker, Richard Attenborough, do well?


• What questions or issues does the film raise or address about decolonization or colonialism in general?


• How is the life of Gandhi treated in the film, in relationship with the historical events happening in South Asia at the time?


• Using Rosenstone's text, especially the chapter called "Telling Lives," how typical is the "Gandhi" film as a work of biographical historical film?

"Battle of Algiers" Guiding Questions

• What are your impressions of the filmmaker's (Gillo Pontecorvo) intentions in making this film?


• What questions/controversies does the film raise?


• How can this film be re-interpreted for today's audiences?


• How does this film treat time or chronology compared to "Gandhi"?


• How does "Battle of Algiers" compare to "Gandhi" in terms of its treatment of how the decolonization process has worked historically in the twentieth century?


• Robert Rosenstone describes this film in our textbook as a docudrama, meaning that it is part documentary and part historical drama. Explain what he means by that.

"Motorcycle Diaries" Guiding Questions

• What do you see as the intentions or the main argument of the filmmaker, Walter Salles, in "Motorcycle Diaries"?


• How might a different historical filmmaker have made a very different biographical film about Ernesto "Che" Guevara? What does the film include and exclude about his life?


• Some see this film as a "coming of age" biographical film. How does the portrayal of Guevara's life compare with the portrayal of Gandhi's life in "Gandhi?"


• This film does not show scenes of actual revolution or conflict, unlike the previous two films, yet it also addresses the topic of decolonization. How does "Motorcycle Diaries" treat the issue of economic and political inequality?

Note-taking

     Another key requirement for courses which utilize film is to require students to take effective notes while they are viewing the films. Notes are important in this type of course, as I also encourage students to provide specific examples from scenes of the films in their written papers. Here is a list of the things which I instruct the students that they need to take notes on in their course notebooks, as they view the films:

• main characters (both real historical characters and fictionalized personages)


• historical events and the historical context in which the films are set


• film conventions used, such as: camera angles/perspectives, analepsis (flashbacks) and prolepsis (flash forwards), imagery, symbols, characterization, dialogues, use of lighting, use of sound


• how historical events/lives are portrayed on film, and how this relates (or does not) to the historical "reality"


• what kind of argument the film maker is making about the historical past


• dates, places¹⁹

     As each class session begins, I set up that days' viewing by setting the historical context of the scenes and remind students of what they should be mindful of. I always allow time at the end of a class session for discussion, which is based around the guiding questions which I provided prior to viewing each film. The guiding questions prompt students to analyze the choices that the filmmaker has made in how they present a historical interpretation of the event(s). After we complete our viewing of each film, we do a final wrap-up discussion on that film and be sure to refer back to previous discussions and previously-viewed films in that category to get a sense of how the students are able to integrate the concepts. One question that I employ in the discussion of decolonization, which I expect students to be able to answer by the end of this section of the course, is: how do the three different filmmakers (Richard Attenborough, Gillo Pontecorvino, and Walter Salles) approach the issue of political revolution differently in their films? What choices do these filmmakers make in how they chose to portray the particular historical events which are presented? And what is the composite view of decolonization which we are presented with in the viewing of these three films?

Assessments

     For assessment in this type of course, I typically assign two film review papers, both of which require a discussion of the historical context and a comparative look at how the films address the global theme (decolonization). In their film review papers, students are to choose one of the three films to focus upon. They then need to do some research and collection of historical sources (primary and secondary) which will help them to better understand the historical context of the film. Upon reading their sources, they should then choose a particular aspect of one of the films which they would like to analyze, while also relating their analysis of this to the broader topic of decolonization. In an ideal case, the student is doing both a critical analysis of the film and a historical research paper at the same time. It's not an easy assignment, but I find that most students have found the intellectual challenge involved to be a positive experience. It is also the type of assignment which ideally requires the students to ask a lot of questions as they prepare the assignment, which we as educators should encourage.

     In some of the film-related world history courses which I have taught, I have assigned a research paper rather than the above film reviews. For a research paper assignment, I have had students choose a world history topic of interest to them in which they can locate 2–3 films, either documentaries or dramas, to analyze. The student is required to conduct research using primary and secondary written sources about some of the historical information which is the subject of the films. Ideally, students can select films that are made by directors from very different cultural or national backgrounds, or films which take a very different perspective. The goal of this type of assignment is not for students to comment on the "historical accuracy" of the various accounts, but to instead discuss what the common elements are that they find in the different filmic interpretations of their topic.  I must admit that my inspiration for this type of project came from reading Rosenstone's chapter called "Engaging the Discourse," in which he argues for the benefit of viewing a range of films on a historical topic as a scholarly pursuit.²⁰     

     There are also written exams in these courses. The first section is identification of terms presented and discussed in the course, which can include the conventions of history and film as discussed in the Rosenstone textbook, descriptions of the details of the films, directors, historical events portrayed in the films, and important characters/persons depicted in the films viewed.  The identification of terms section of the exam requires students in all their answers to discuss the historical significance or importance of the term for our understanding of the relationship between world history and film. This requires the students to again think deeply about the theoretical implications of viewing or presenting world history on film. The written exams also include an essay section, which is often in the form of analyzing a specific film or a group of films in terms of their contribution to understanding the relationship between film and history. Other exam questions may prompt students to consider the director's choices made in how they chose to represent the historical event(s) or person(s) depicted. Students should also be able to clearly communicate what the argument or thesis is of a particular film.    

     Another key component for history and film courses is classroom discussions, therefore it is highly advised that instructors make participation a major part of the assessment. As discussed above, structured discussions based on guiding questions provided by the instructor can facilitate lively and interesting discussions. Students should be encouraged to use their notes that they take during the films to refer to specific examples that they notice during the classroom discussions. Students may want to reference or discuss the filmmakers' choices, the use of the camera, the use of sound, dialogue among characters, the use of flashbacks or flash forwards, or character development, compression or condensation of historical timelines, just to name a few things that students may notice.  Students who have taken good notes often have many examples from the films that they are eager to discuss with their peers and the instructor. As a personal note, the author of this article would also like to add that many, maybe even most, of the richest classroom discussions which he has facilitated as a university educator have come in world history and film classes. We can speculate on the many reasons for this, but student interest has to be near the top of the list for why this is the case. It may also go back to the earlier point raised, which is that the visual medium of film is more relatable and interesting for today's traditional-age undergraduates. But it should also be emphasized that, as in any pedagogical enterprise, the proper scaffolding needs to be in place for the discussions to be lively and for them to involve as many students as possible, ideally the entire classroom community. To briefly recap, this scaffolding should include: providing historical context of the film in terms both of its subject matter and the context of its production; providing the students with guiding questions so that they know what they are expected to be on the lookout for as they view the films; and making them fully aware of the conventions of historical filmmaking through the assigned readings that supplement the films. 

Conclusion

     Although more and more world history educators are using film in their courses, it is still relatively rare to find even a single course in a university's course guide centered around the teaching of world history through film. There is a great deal of room for innovation and excitement in the classroom which comes from teaching courses around the use of film, either as an entire course or as a portion of the syllabus. If utilized properly, film and world history courses can be effective in developing increasingly better student learning outcomes and exposing students to a diverse range of historical situations, by also bolstering skills of comparative analysis. It may also help with exposing students to regions of the world which they were either unaware of, or lack a basic historical understanding. Films about history can also spark interest and a zeal for historical research among our students, thereby fostering more global understanding.

Scott C.M. Bailey is an Assistant Professor of History at Kansai Gaidai University in Hirakata, Japan. He is the author of In the 'Wild Countries' of Central Asia: Ethnography, Science, and Empire in the Russian Empire, which will be published in 2019. He can be reached at sbailey@kansaigaidai.ac.jp

¹ The author has prepared film-based university history, international studies, and Asian studies courses with titles like: "Recent World History Through Film," "'Lost in Translation:' Cross-Cultural Encounters on Film," and "Twentieth Century Asian History Through Film."

² For more on 21st century learning skills, see https://asiasociety.org/education/teaching-and-learning-21st-century-skills .Accessed April 10, 2018.

³ By the term "historical," I intend to mean that the film engages discussion of the historical past. This does not necessarily imply or connote that the film has definitive historical descriptive value, but rather that the film's filmmaker is making a coherent argument or interpretation of the past. This may or may not be entirely accurate: since films are a work of art first and foremost, they challenge our traditional notions of what historical sources say and do. A suitable and integral historical film offers us a genuine interpretation and statement on the past, which can be analyzed as just that: a historical statement which is subject to debate and discussion and should ideally elicit just that.

⁴ The series originally appeared as a mini-series on United States' public television, and is now available on DVD. The Civil War, Directed by Ken Burns (1990; Burbank, California: PBS Home Video, Paramount Home Entertainment, 2004), DVD.

⁵ Hayden White, "Historiography and Historiophoty," The American Historical Review Vol. 93, No. 5 (Dec. 1988): 1194. 

⁶ Ibid., 1193.

⁷Robert Rosenstone, History on Film/Film on History 3rd edition (Harlow, U.K.; New York: Pearson, 2017). See also Robert Rosenstone, Visions of the Past: The Challenge of Film to our Idea of History (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1998). See also "Robert A. Rosenstone," http://rr.hss.caltech.edu/bio.html . There is also a rich history of academic writing on the film and history. See the journal Film & History, which has published articles on the topic since 1971. Their website is also a great source of information for scholars and teachers interested in exploring the relationship of history and film. "Film & History: an Interdisciplinary Journal," http://www.uwosh.edu/filmandhistory/journal/index.php .

⁸ Rosenstone, History on Film/Film on History.

⁹ "An Oliver Stone Film: JFK." Director's Cut Special Edition. Warner Home Video, 2003. "Heaven and Earth." Warner Brothers Home Video, 2004.

¹⁰ Marnie Hughes-Warrington, Ed., The History on Film Reader (London and New York: Routledge, 2009).

¹¹ Leopold von Ranke, The Theory and Practice of History: Edited with an Introduction by Georg G. Iggers (New York: Routledge, 2010).

¹² Letters from Iwo Jima, Directed by Clint Eastwood (2017: Warner Brothers).

¹³ For example, see the essays in Rikke Schubart and Anne Gjelsvik, eds., Eastwood's Iwo Jima: Critical Engagements with Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima (Columbia University Press, 2013).

¹⁴ Dunkirk, Directed by Christopher Nolan (2017: Warner Brothers).

¹⁵ In a listing of the most viewed films in American history all-time (based on the number of tickets sold at US box offices), five of the top ten films could be broadly categorized as historical drama films, or at the least, films that revolve around historical themes or contexts. This includes: Gone With the Wind  (1939), The Sound of Music (1965), The Ten Commandments (1956), Titanic (1997), and Doctor Zhivago (1965). "All-Time Top 232 Movies by U.S. Theatre Attendance," https://mrob.com/pub/film-video/topadj.html .

¹⁶ There is not space here to go into the conventions of historical films. For those interested in versing themselves on that, which is highly recommended for those wishing to create a film-based world history course, it is recommended to read Rosenstone, History on Film/Film on History, 29–43. This chapter discusses what Rosenstone calls "mainstream drama," which is the historical feature film. Other chapters discuss the conventions of documentaries, opposition films, and biographical films.

¹⁷ In a course prepared by the author called "Recent World History Through Film," the course includes three themes: "Decolonization and Revolution on Film," "War and Conflict on Film," and "Political Economy on Film." 

¹⁸ Gandhi, Directed by Richard Attenborough (1982: Columbia Pictures), DVD. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandhi_(film)#/media/File:Gandhi-poster.png ; The Battle of Algiers, Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo (1966: The Criterion Collection), DVD https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_Algiers#/media/File:The_Battle_of_Algiers_poster.jpg ; Motorcycle Diaries, Directed by Walter Salles (2005: Universal Studios Home Entertainment), DVD. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Motorcycle_Diaries_(film)#/media/File:The_Motorcycle_Diaries.jpg

¹⁹Early in the semester, I introduce students to the conventions of historical drama, which are often "new" information for students who have not taken courses in film studies. It is important to provide students with a primer on this from the outset.

²⁰ Rosenstone, Film on History/History on Film, 119–36.