Brief Tender Light: Lesson Plan

Overview

In this collection:

Overview

Film Clips

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FILM PAGE

This film explores the following issues:

African visions for the future
Coming of age
Education and social mobility
Im/migration: leaving home, making home in a new place
LGBTQ+ rights in Africa
Race and Blackness in the US
Reconciling personal dreams and wishes with family and community needs and expectations
What makes a good life
What it means to be African
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Essential Questions

How do our identities intersect or clash with family, community, and culture?
How does access to education influence our perception of personal and social development?
Why is the story of the international student studying abroad in America important, and what can we learn about ourselves as a country through this new lens?
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Supporting Questions

How do our cultural differences contribute to our sense of self?
- How do cultural differences contribute to how we conceive of others?
- How does the concept of cultural responsibility come into play here?
How can social institutions create opportunities for minority groups, or economically disadvantaged individuals?
Why are policies like Affirmative Action important to creating equal opportunities in education?
- Why would there be pushback against such policies?
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Historical Thinking Skills

This resource provides students with the opportunity to practice the following historical thinking skills:

Applying Geographical Literacy
Analyzing multiple perspectives

Analyzing Primary Sources
Developing Civic Understanding and Engagement
Understanding Diversity of Experience

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Sources

Authored by:

Julie Sherman

Julia Sherman graduated with a BA in Communication Studies and a certificate in African-American Studies from the University of Montana, where she was awarded the Richard Drake Writing Award for her research on the development of visual media and film and its impact on social movements in the 1960’s. A historian at heart, Julia has been deeply embedded in the film industry for the past six years, working with Tribeca Film Institute's filmmaker department and then Big Sky Film Institute in a variety of positions, from Operations to Associate Programmer. Her work on film projects around Montana keep her rooted in Missoula as does her own passion for developing programs that encourage students to harness the potential of visual media as an educational tool. She partners closely with the Montana Office of Public Instruction, leading workshops and teacher trainings in media literacy and documentary film theory.

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