Tag: Film Studies

Compassion in Action (Stephanie Sandberg)

On campus or Hybrid: this project is scheduled to begin on 6/2/2025 and run for 10 weeks, finishing on 8/8/2025.

Project Description

This filming project can be in person or hybrid. We will work with you on the schedule. No film-making experience necessary. 

Compassion in Action is a ten-part documentary series that will be filmed over the course of the next few years. The project will be centered at Washington and Lee University but will have the potential for travel around Virginia and the continental United States. If you’re interested in the intersection of science and the arts, or in how social science can have a major impact on the world, this is a great project for you!

Compassion in Action explores the transformative power of compassion across various aspects of human life. Each 30-40 minute episode delves into different domains such as education, healthcare, economics, and the arts, showcasing real-world examples and expert insights on how compassion can drive positive societal change. The series, set to be completed in 2026, aims to educate and inspire viewers by examining compassion’s role in promoting well-being and addressing urgent social issues. With high-quality cinematography and storytelling, the project blends journalistic integrity with cinematic beauty, featuring a mix of formal interviews and cinema verité filmmaking. The series begins with an exploration of compassion’s historical roots, inspired by Hannah Arendt’s philosophy, and progresses through topics like self-compassion, community building, restorative justice, and environmental activism, ultimately seeking to rekindle society’s compassionate spirit in today’s fragmented world

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Prerequisites

It would be great to have students who have taken at least one film or journalism course, and any students who have a hunger to learn about filmmaking.

Special Comments

Possible travel around the state of Virginia

Project Information (subject to change)

Estimated Start Date: 6/2/2025

Estimated End Date: 8/8/2025

Estimated Project Duration: 10 weeks

Maximum Number of Students Sought: 2

Research Location: On campus or Hybrid

Contact Information: Stephanie Sandberg (email: sandbergs@wlu.edu)

CLOSED: Dancers Talking Dance: Critical Evaluation and Response for New Choreography (Jenefer Davies)

Remote: this project is scheduled to begin on 6/16/2025 and run for 8 weeks, finishing on 8/8/2025.

Project Description

Students will learn the primary ways of conveying technical feedback for dance including verbal, visual, and kinesthetic processes and gain insight into understanding individual artistic vision, perspective and approach to making choreography. A specific critical feedback method will be taught and employed to create a common language when speaking about dance. Using these tools, students will review submissions for dance guest artists for 2025-26 and respond verbally and in writing to each. Reflection sessions will be conducted with each student and they will discuss their ranking of specific proposals, why they made particular choices, and provide individual responses to the works reviewed. Particular attention will be paid to a breadth of perspectives, cultures, and identities to create experiential opportunities and to highlight representation in dance.

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Prerequisites

Students should have studied and rehearsed choreography with faculty and/or guest artists and performed that work in a fully produced dance concert at W&L.

Special Comments

Taking DANC220: Dance Composition during winter term is recommended but not required.

Project Information (subject to change)

Estimated Start Date: 6/16/2025

Estimated End Date: 8/8/2025

Estimated Project Duration: 8 weeks

Maximum Number of Students Sought: 3

Research Location: Remote

Contact Information: Jenefer Davies (email: daviesj@wlu.edu)

CLOSED: Sustainability in Garment and Textile Production, embracing the past to better the future (Elizabeth Wislar)

On campus: this project is scheduled to begin on 6/9/2025 and run for 10 weeks, finishing on 8/15/2025.

Project Description

Students will engage in hands on research into current and historical garment and textile manufacturing, and how it is currently among the top leaders in adverse environmental impact to the land, air, water, natural resources, humans, and animals. Through guided weekly themes we will research and implement new ways to create garments using pre-existing materials with a global perspective and emphasis on embracing old techniques, slow fashion, repair, and reuse. The 10-week research will end in an exhibition of the students’ research findings and creations. This is a hands-on creative research project will involve making new materials from discarded items, sourcing materials to reuse, and sewing. We will take trips to the garment district in New York City as well as rural farms in the area who specialize in textile production (wool, hemp, cotton) and make use of natural dye and pigment from native plants.

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Prerequisites

None.

Special Comments

Travel to New York (3 day trip), as well as day trips to local farms, creative reuse, and thrift stores.

Project Information (subject to change)

Estimated Start Date: 6/9/2025

Estimated End Date: 8/15/2025

Estimated Project Duration: 10 weeks

Maximum Number of Students Sought: 3

Research Location: On campus

Contact Information: Elizabeth Wislar (email: ewislar@wlu.edu)