One of Saint Xavier’s upcoming Fall courses is letting students obtain skills in film-making while learning the history of the Sisters of Mercy.
This art and history course is a dual enrollment course meaning both sections must be taken, Historical Documentary Film-Making and Creative Documentary Film-Making.
The course is rather versatile in the view of instructor Dr. Graham Peck who explains how the course covers art, history, and general education requirements. The course counts as an IDS credit since it is taught by two faculty members, and the course also offers a community based learning credit as well.
What both Professor Nathan Peck and Graham Peck hope is that students enrolled in the course can acquire skills in multiple areas in regards to film-making and historical research.
The course is intended to teach students the technical side of the software and equipment necessary to make a documentary, as well as teach students how to do the necessary historical research to produce a documentary.
But, the question now is what is the documentary going to be focused on for the twenty students enrolled in the course?
G. Peck stated that the focus of the documentary films will be on the history of the Sisters of Mercy. “With so many resources on campus including access to current members to the Sisters of Mercy, students can utilize many resources to make their films.” stated N. Peck, who believes the course is prime to create quality documentaries among students.
The exact design of the course is to separate the twenty students into four pods, each with a certain topic concerning the Sisters of Mercy.
Through these pods, professors N. Peck and G. Peck hope that students can share information they find and develop skills in both historical research and documentary research.
G. Peck stated that over ten years ago a course such as this could never exist because the equipment and skills training necessary to produce a quality documentary was not achievable in a semester’s time.
Today however, Dr. Graham Peck explains that easy access to facilities such as Saint Xavier’s new CIDAT and editing software such as Adobe Premiere allow for students to take on the undertaking of a full fledged documentary film.
The creation and design of a historical documentary is nothing new to G. Peck who has worked with professor N. Peck in the past to produce a historical film on Stephen Douglas.
The work on the Stephen Douglas documentary began with another course G. Peck taught, and the film was partially constructed and researched by Saint Xavier University history major students.
When the time came to edit the final film G. Peck reached out to art professor N. Peck to help finish the film’s editing. It was around this time when the idea for this documentary film course was formed.
Both professors G. Peck and N. Peck hope that the course being offered this Fall semester will attract students from both the art and history departments who are willing to gain experience in documentary film-making.
Their other desire is that students who take the course can produce a film during the Fall semester that is of the quality of the Stephen Douglas documentary, which will be shown at Saint Xavier in an April Stephen Douglas symposium.
Any students wishing to take part in the upcoming course should register soon and be available to take a six credit hour course in the Fall.
For more information on the Stephen Douglas symposium keep your eyes open for more information in an upcoming issue of The Xavierite.
Jake Alleruzzo
News Contributor
About Post Author
