On-site Student-produced Cultural Documentaries

Technology Luncheon
4/26/06

Presenters: Claire Bartlett, Jane Verm, Brigitte Crull, Emilie Dejonckheere, Hajime Kumahata, Meng Yeh, Jo Kent, Christine Chen

The Center for the Study of Languages (CSL) has undertaken the production of cultural documentaries in several languages: Chinese, French, German, and Spanish. The German and French projects are complete and available on our streaming server. The Spanish documentary was just completed and will soon be available on the streaming server. The Chinese project was undertaken in fall 2005 and our students will be filming in China this summer.
The first project in German was produced by professionals. However, students suggested that if the CSL were to produce more cultural documentaries, we might consider asking students to be responsible for the film’s production in order to have more engaging material. Following their suggestion and to cut costs, we decided to create films “made by students for studentsâ€�.  A team of two students, a linguist and a cameraman, travel to a country and location of their choice to film a documentary. They stay there for eight weeks, participate in a part-time internship, conduct interviews, and film.  They are guided by a CSL team of faculty, administrators, and technicians.
The project is funded by a Booth-Ferris grant with the collaboration of the Center for the Study of Languages (CSL), Leadership Rice (LR), and the Visual Arts Department (VA). The CSL interviews and selects students and oversees the entire production. LR is responsible for administering and supervising the students’ internships.  The VA department recommends film students, provide them with an independent study course, and oversees the artistic aspect of the production.
Students are responsible for finding their own internships and securing their own housing. The CSL guides the linguists in preparing questions for interviews and writing letters to various local authorities.  The Language Resource Center provides equipment and technical support.
We require students to have an internship in order to be more connected to the culture and people. They film part-time and work on their internship part-time. The traveling students each receive a $3,000 stipend to cover their travel, housing, and food expenses.
We plan on adding transcriptions and translations to the documentaries.  Interested institutions are able to obtain copies of the DVDs at cost.

Cultural Documentaries Website:
http://lang.rice.edu/documentaries