Media, Manipulation, and the Demise of Public Discourse
Our community enrichment cinema course continues in fall 2024. Participants will watch and discuss three movies focusing on the portrayal of mental health in film.
Each class session will include a pre-screening lecture followed by a showing of the film. Afterward, audience members will engage in conversation about the content events featured, the ways directors presented the subjects, and cinematic techniques used that may answer some questions while raising others.
Each class begins at 6:00 p.m. in Morgan Auditorium at Penn State Schuylkill’s Student Community Center.
Cost: $30 for community members
Free for Penn State Schuylkill students, faculty and staff members (see campus newsletter for details)
Film Schedule
Monday, September 23, 2024
Good Will Hunting
(Gus Van Sant, 1997)
An Oscar-winning screenplay propels this tale about a brilliant but undisciplined janitor who confronts his problems with the help of a therapist.
Monday, October 28, 2024
As Good as It Gets
(James L. Brooks, 1997)
When an artist is assaulted and hospitalized, his cranky obsessive-compulsive neighbor is forced to care for his dog, triggering a change in his selfish attitude, and leading him to set up medical care for the son of his favorite waitress.
Monday, November 18, 2024
Silver Linings Playbook
(David O. Russell, 2012)
A bipolar man named Pat attempts to get his life together after spending eight months in a psychiatric hospital following assault charges. He soon bonds with a widow and offers to be her partner for a local dance competition if she'll help him contact his ex-wife.
Meet the instructor
This course is taught by Dr. D.J. Higgins, assistant teaching professor of film/video and music at Penn State Schuylkill. Dr. Higgins earned the Doctor of Philosophy in Modern Languages from Middlebury College and is an active filmmaker, having directed, written, and produced several award-winning short films.
For more community events at Penn State Schuylkill, check out the programming at Art Space.
