Brandeis Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (BOLLI)

FILM5-5b-Thu2

Sabine von Mering

This course will take place virtually on Zoom. Participation requires a device (ideally a computer or tablet, rather than a cell phone) with a camera and microphone in good working order and basic familiarity with using Zoom and accessing email.

October 24 - November 21

Climate scientists confirmed that 2023 was by far the hottest year ever recorded, possibly the warmest in over 100,000 years. Month after month and year after year, heat records are broken, and extreme weather events have become an almost daily occurrence across the globe. While scientists say we must reduce emissions by 50% by 2030, the world is currently on track to increase emissions by 10% instead.

The generation of the BOLLI membership benefited the most from the fossil-fueled economy and should be concerned if not alarmed about climate change. Films about climate change, whether they present the reality of scientific scenarios or feature fictional dystopian futures, tend to be dark and gloomy, and may discourage viewers from taking action. In this course, Professor Sabine von Mering will lead discussions about films that take a different approach. After a brief introduction to the problem of climate change and why the US is so far behind on climate action (Merchants of Doubt, 2014), participants will discuss the documentary films Demain (France, 2015),  2040 (Australia, 2020), and Bidder 70 (USA, 2012) and the feature film How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2023). We will explore how films that prioritize “promise motivation,” i.e. a form of visualizing and storytelling that focuses on what can be done, encourage viewers to become engaged. We will see how promise motivation can take many different forms and motivate us to help secure a livable planet for future generations.

More facilitated discussion than lecture.

Films: Merchants of Doubt, 2014, Demain (France, 2015), 2040 (Australia, 2020), Bidder 70 (USA, 2012), How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2023). Most are available for rent on Amazon Prime for $2.99 each. The majority are also in the Minuteman Library system.

1-2 hours weekly

Sabine von Mering, PhD is Director of the Center for German and European Studies, Professor of German, and Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies and a core member of the Environmental Studies Program at Brandeis University in Waltham, MA. Her English translation of Luisa Neubauer and Alexander Repenning’s Beginning the End of the Climate Crisis. A History of our Future (Brandeis University Press) was published in 2023. She is a 2023 Public Voices Fellow on the Climate Crisis with The OpEd Project, in partnership with the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.