Film and Its Unused Potential for Teaching International Relations – Exploring New Possibilities in a Classroom Experiment

Abstract

The social sciences increasingly utilize film as a teaching tool. This is reflected by a growing amount of publications on the topic, which are predominantly reporting positive results. Incorporating the medium seems to allow for more adaptive and engaging ways of teaching. Judging from the existing literature, however, its application in the classroom still lacks variety. Therefore, this article attempts to fully uncover the plethora of possibilities film offers. Focusing on international relations (IR), it outlines a framework which was developed for an introductory level course, and reports on the practical experiences that were made with it. When designing the course concept, the meta-theory of Critical Realism was used to explore the complex relationship between film, teaching and the subject matter of IR. It is argued that there are at least four educational functions of film which should be taken into account when teaching IR (or other subjects): productive, demarcating, creative and pedagogical. The participating students were supposed to discover and reflect on those functions during the course. Thus, instead of merely using film as a supplement to enhance learning effects, the relationship between film and IR itself functioned as a thematic leitmotif. Combining four feature films, accompanying literature and classroom discussions, this explorative attempt at teaching IR yielded promising results.