Closing colleges is an insufficient way to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Instead of simply closing our doors, we need to proactively promote an understanding of Dr. King and his legacy.  I am committed to being proactive.

I do not know how my students are celebrating the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Holiday today. But I do know that as a result of taking my class that they will come to a richer appreciation of not only Dr. King, but the issues for which he stood.

The technique I use in my classroom to learn about Dr King is to have film festivals in each class.  However, I do not do this by simply showing documentaries about Dr. King.  Instead, I have created a sophisticated assignment that requires students to apply their understanding of Dr. King to a larger context.

For class, students are to select a short film that could be used to spark a discussion of Dr. King and some aspect of his legacy. However, the film cannot make any direct reference to Dr. King. It cannot show his image or cite any of his words. Nor can anyone be shown talking about him. Furthermore, the film needs to be less than four minutes and must be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. ADA compliance requires that the film is closed captioned at 99% accuracy. History students are allowed to select an excerpt from a video, but whatever they select must advance knowledge of our historical period. Finally, students write a short analysis of the film in which they explain why they chose it and how a discussion of the film can advance an appreciation for Dr. King.

It is very easy to do a quick Google search for Martin Luther King videos. When I did the search this morning, I had about 11,300,000 hits. By not allowing students to use any of the 11,300,000 videos, students must think about aspects of Dr. King’s life and philosophy. They might watch some of the 11,300,000 videos to do research on Dr. King, but by selecting a short film to spark a discussion, students need to demonstrate that they can apply their knowledge of Dr. King’s legacy to a larger context.

I ask that the films be less than four minutes so that as many films as possible can be shown during the class period.  This length requirement is easy to search using filters in both Google and YouTube.  The ADA requirement is because I am moving to have all videos screened in my classes to be ADA compliant. Again, both Google and YouTube filters make this requirement easy to accomplish.

Do students have the knowledge to complete this assignment when it is assigned? The answer is a clear, “No.” That is why I create step by step instructions on how to use advanced search techniques to meet the requirements. Because there are so many moving parts to the assignment, I also create a checklist for students to fill out to make sure that they meet all the requirements. As a result of completing this assignment, students develop their academic and research skills. They become better scholars while studying Dr. King.

Because the college is closed today, we must wait until Tuesday and Wednesday to hold our film festivals.  But regardless of when the festival is held, Dr. King will be honored and we will learn from his legacy; something that does not happen by simply closing the college.

My Contribution

My contribution to the film festivals honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. was shared at the time I gave the assignment.

The night before he was assassinated, Dr. Martin Luther King gave his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech in which he argued that “We are determined to be people.” As people who are children of God, “we don’t have to live like we are forced to live.” This sentiment reflects his more famous “I Have a Dream” speech in which he stated that he hoped that his children “will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” The issue of what qualities make a person is something that was central in much of Dr. King’s work; work that was rooted in his Christian faith.

The short film Identity is a film that can be used to generate a discussion of not only the issue of identity and where it comes from as well as the role of religious faith in developing our understanding of identity. It can also help us better understand John Locke’s idea of tabula rasa; that the human mind at birth is a blank slate.

Identity begins with a baby being given to a Hindu family who discuss the baby’s role in the family and how he will grow up. Unfortunately, due to a mix-up, they were given the wrong baby. Once the baby is given to the correct parents, a Muslim family, they repeat the same types of comments but from a different religious tradition.

–Steven L. Berg, PhD

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