PLAN, Manage Your Professional Development as a Graduate Student
Date Published: 2004. Total running time: 21 minutes.
The University of Michigan commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision with a semester long series of courses, lectures and other activities. This "theme semester" questioned whether we are still separate and still unequal. The film reflects upon the ways in which students, faculty and staff were prompted to consider the significance of that Supreme Court decision--and their opinions about whether we truly have fulfilled that promise.
In 1954, the Supreme Court changed the course of American history. Its decision in Brown v. Board of Education ended legal segregation in public education, energized the civil rights movement, and engaged the country in a national conversation about race and rights that continues to this day.
In 2004 the University of Michigan held a semester-long commemoration of the Brown v. Board decision in order to take stock of this difficult and yet hopeful half-century in American race relations. As part of this commemoration The College of Literature, Science, & the Arts coordinated a campus-wide theme semester for Winter 2004, "Fulfilling the Promise of Brown." The goal was to inspire research and dialogue about the legacy of the Brown decision through special courses, public lectures and symposia, and cultural events. Promises to Keep: Fifty Years after Brown v. Board of Education was screened as one of the closing events for this theme semester.
Promises to Keep reflects upon the ways in which our students, faculty and staff were prompted to consider the significance of that Supreme Court decision--and their opinions about whether we truly have fulfilled that promise in the past half-century. We hear from students of color and white students, from some who have privileged backgrounds and others who have struggled to secure an education. Speakers include former president of the University of Michigan, James Duderstadt, who gives a candid assessment of whether the University reached its goals, established in large part during his administration.
Not surprisingly, many of those interviewed are conscious of the fact that the last half-century has been framed by the Supreme Court decision in Brown, and the recent Supreme Court decision in Grutter v. Bollinger that challenged the use of affirmative action in admissions to our University. In the Grutter decision Justice O'Connor wrote, "The Court expects that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today." How many in our country thought just that when they heard about the Brown decision?
Promises to Keep was produced and directed by Pat McCune. She had the good fortune to work with the award-winning Harvey Ovshinsky of HKO Media who was executive producer and writer on this project. The editor was Matt Zacharias and the narrator Todd Mundt of Michigan Public Radio. Videography was done by Scott Mann of the University's BMC Media.
[not currently for sale]
Date Published: 2004. Total running time: 4 minutes.
Get a glimpse of campus life in Ann Arbor and the realities of minority enrollment during the year of the Brown v. Board decision.
In the winter of 2004 the University of Michigan held a semester-long commemoration of the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education to take stock of this difficult and yet hopeful half-century in American race relations. The goal was to inspire research and dialogue about the legacy of the Brown decision through special courses, public lectures and symposia, and cultural events. The University of Michigan, 1954 is a five minute short used to introduce the keynote presentation by the Brown sisters as well as other events during the semester.
All of the visuals in The University of Michigan, 1954 are contemporary images. This was possible because of the resources in the Bentley Historical Library on the University's North Campus. The short uses photographs in the yearbook, The Ensian, and articles from the student paper, The Michigan Daily. There is even 35 mm footage from the mid 1950s featuring cheerleaders, dining in the Union, and other fixtures of student life. The Bentley holdings also provided administrative records documenting the University's struggles to resist integration.
The University of Michigan, 1954 provides a capsule view of what our University was like the year of the decision in Brown v. Board. It takes a humorous, disturbing look at what's changed and what hasn't at the university that champions affirmative action.
This short was produced by Pat McCune; she co-directed with Marc Drake who was responsible for editing. The script was written by Christopher Cook. While The University of Michigan, 1954 was not intended for large-scale distribution, if you are interested in obtaining a copy please call (734) 647-2655.
Date Published: 2003. Total running time: 53 minutes. Closed captioned.
Campus Diversity: Student Voices explores the value diversity has for students at the University of Michigan. The focus is on students' perceptions. What emerges is the range and meaning of those subjective experiences, and significance of both the formal and informal opportunities the University provides in campus life to learn from difference. The documentary is designed to provoke thoughtful and informed discussion of complex issues; it was not made to promote the University's policies.
This documentary draws on more than forty hours of interviews with students done individually, in groups, in courses, and in extra-curricular activities. It features eleven students, with selections from other interviews woven in to provide counterpoint and dimension to their stories. Most of those featured are undergraduate students and generally representative of the student body. The students are enrolled in the colleges of Literature, Science and the Arts and Engineering, and the schools of Law, Business, Nursing, Art and Education.
Pat McCune, who wrote, directed and produced the documentary, recruited participants with the assistance of faculty and staff at the University. Her only request was for articulate students whose views on the subject are interesting. The students interviewed, both on and off camera, characterized their attitudes about diversity in many ways, ranging from conservative to liberal and from uninterested to engaged. The interviews were all done prior to the Supreme Court decisions in the admissions law suits, in the fall of 2002 and the winter of 2003.
Campus Diversity: Student Voices is a production of Dialogues on Diversity and funded by the Rackham Graduate School. While McCune is an employee of the University she retained full editorial control. This is a production of the University of Michigan in every way. Videography and production assistance are provided by BMC Media. All involved are graduates of the University. Pat McCune received her Ph.D. in history here. The editor, Marc Drake, is a graduate of the Film and Video program, as is Scott Mahler, one of the narrators. The other narrator, Tara Gillespie, is a recent graduate of the Theatre Arts program and the soundtrack is composed and performed by a recent graduate of our School of Music, Garrett Shatzer.
The Center for Research on Learning and Teaching developed a companion Discussion Guide (PDF) for use with Campus Diversity: Student Voices.
For more about Campus Diversity: Student Voices, see stories in The Record and Michigan Today.
Download the companion Discussion Guide (PDF)
