Biological Anthropology – Extra Credit Films
You may watch up to four (4) films for extra credit in this class. Each film will earn five (5) points of extra credit.
Film reports should only be turned in with Exams (2 and/or 3 – no film reports will be accepted with the final
exam). Be sure to answer the questions for each film—no credit will be awarded if you simply summarize the
film!
What Are We Doing? – A selection of documentaries about the various impacts that we
seven point three billion humans are having on the rest of the world (and on ourselves).
1) An Inconvenient Truth (2006; by Davis Guggenheim, with AL Gore). The classic that started the discussion.
What to do: Given the clear scientific consensus that human activity is a major contributor to global warming,
and that significant climate change will occur during your lifetime, what steps are you considering for yourself
with regard to:
A) anticipating and coping with the coming changes?
B) modifying your behavior to lessen your own personal impact upon the environment? And
C) educating yourself about other ways that you unknowingly affect both the environment and people you have
never met?
2) Chasing Ice (2012; by Jeff Orlowski). A documentary about the work of James Balog and the Extreme Ice
Survey.
What to do: Contemplate your life in 2055, as you are watching your grandchildren grow up. When they (or
other young’uns) ask you “Why didn’t you do more to prevent the problems associated with climate change,”
how will you answer them?
3) Food, Inc. (2008; by Robert Kenner). A documentary that takes a closer look at the sources of several foods
that Americans eat.
What to do: Which of the foods – and the methods of food production – do you think hold are most promise for
the future? Would you be willing to change your eating habits if doing so would contribute to your own health
and/or the health of the animals and plants concerned? If so, how far would you go?
4) Manufactured Landscapes (2007, by Jennifer Baichal)
What to do: The rise of the modern consumer class is having global effects. This film explores how the
manufacturing boom has changed China, and how the Chinese –and others – help us to deal with the things we
no longer want or need. This film is not an attempt to determine what is “right” or “wrong,” but to make us
aware of our impact. Your thoughts?
Ideas in Action – Films with content related to our class.
5) Contact (1997; with Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey). The first detection of extraterrestrial
life provides the background for considering the relationship between science and religion.
What to do: Do you think that the discovery of extraterrestrial life would be a challenge to any
religions? Which of the various reactions to the news of the signal from space is most like your own? Is
there a way to overcome the perceived gap between science and religion?
6) Gattaca (1997; with Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke). Set in a near future in which a person’s
destiny is controlled by their genes.
What to do: Do you think the scenario of the film is plausible? Are we technologically close to a society
in which people are barred from certain positions because they are genetically “in-valid”?
Do you think that American society would ever support such a system of filtering individuals?
7) Gorillas in the Mist (1988; with Sigourney Weaver and Bryan Brown). A Hollywood version of the
career of Dr. Dian Fossey, who pioneered the study of mountain gorillas in the wild.
What to do: To demonstrate that you watched the film, tell me the name of the National Geographic
photographer Dian worked with. Then, in 1-2 pages, discuss what you think can be done to stop the
poaching of wild animals and/or plants. This is a free-form assignment in which I want you to come up
with your own ideas, and then provide reasons why they are good ones.
8) Instinct (1999; with Anthony Hopkins and Cuba Gooding Jr.). An anthropologist “goes wild” as a
result of his research with gorillas.
What to do: Can Ethan Powell’s actions be understood? Can they be condoned? What other realistic
steps could he have taken to prevent harm to his friends?
9) Master and Commander. The Far Side of the World (2004; with Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany). An
account of eighteenth century life on the high seas, with a stopover in the Galapagos Islands.
What to do: Why could the animals on the Galapagos Islands have turned out different from more
familiar species found elsewhere?
Oh No! We’re All Gonna Die! – To Stoke Your Growing Interest in Epidemics.
You may watch either one of these films for credit. You will not receive credit for both.
10) Contagion (2011; with Matt Damon and Kate Winslett – and an unbelievable number of cameos). As
pandemic spread across the world, officials and scientists attempt to understand its cause, and people
cope in their own ways.
OR
11) Outbreak (1995; with Dustin Hofmann and Rene Russo). Scientists race to uncover the source of a
virulent disease before it can spread.
What to do: How should governmental and other health agencies deal with an outbreak of a potentially
lethal disease? What methods used to deal with the disease would you find appropriate? Too severe?
Too mild? How would you cope with such an outbreak?