This hands-on seminar uses documentary film as a tool of research and issue-based reporting. Students will produce short films on environmental justice in Trenton, nine miles from campus. The stories we tackle will provide complex and dramatic raw materials for nonfiction cinema, and a backdrop for engagement with research methods, filmcraft and ethics. Students will study Trenton’s industrial history, report on local environmental issues, and interview activists, advocates, and scientists. Readings, films, and conversations with leading filmmakers will complement fieldwork. The semester ends with two public screenings.
