Macalester College Geology Department

GEOL 194 - Geocinema

Instructor: Kelly MacGregor
Level: Introductory
Offered: Spring 2009

Lights, camera, ACTION! Geologists think planet Earth is incredibly exciting, but nowhere is the story of the behavior of our planet more dramatized and misrepresented than in movies! Whether they are big-budget thrillers like The Core, Volcano, or The Day After Tomorrow, or low-brow science fiction like Boa, movies tend to stretch the reality of natural hazards and earth processes to great dramatic effect. In this course, we will have the opportunity to watch a variety of movies that focus on geologic hazards (such as volcanoes, earthquakes, avalanches, floods, and tsunamis) and other earth processes (origins of life, evolution, mass extinction, climate change, and glaciers). We will examine the scientific features and processes depicted in films, learn about their scientific basis, and critique the film’s portrayal of earth process. You will work in groups to identify a film depicting a geological process, and critique the way science is depicted. The final project gives you the opportunity to develop your own script for a movie that does the geology correctly. This course will cover quantitative concepts relevant to earth processes, such as describing the world quantitatively, understanding uncertainty and risk, and evaluating quality and sources of data.

Format: three-hour block per week of movies, lectures, discussions, and/or laboratory and group exercises. Evaluation will be based on attendance & participation, homework/classroom assignments, a group project, an 8-10 page movie script (including drafts and peer review), and two one-hour exams.