The Daily Times

Dr. Sherry Kasper’s senior seminar on economics is not your typical coursework of dry statistics, multi-colored graphs and abstract theories.

The realities of being unemployed, issues surrounding illegal immigrants in the workforce and entrepreneurs entering business fields dominated by corporate giants were just some of the economic principles her class examined by using the medium of movies as a discussion starting point.

Kasper, professor of economics at Maryville College, designed one of the College’s newest Senior Seminar 480 courses, “The Economy at the Movies,” as a means to show how the economy is portrayed in cinema, an adaptation of her early learning experiences.

The College’s catalog describes the purpose of a Senior Seminar as “a capstone course that provides the student with the skills and opportunity to integrate across at least two of three modes of inquiry: scientific, artistic, humanistic. The approach is thematic and draws on global perspectives.”

Kasper’s course tied economics (social sciences) and film (fine arts) together in its educational premise.

Capstone course

The professor said the capstone course should provide students with an opportunity to practice their presentation skills, and in the spirit of lifelong learning, professors should also learn something new along with their students. Kasper, who normally teaches classes in economics, money and banking, said she learned how the film industry uses cinematic tools to convey ideas about in film.

As an English major in her undergraduate years, Kasper was interested in the era of the 1930s and how literature portrayed economic ideas within the layers of the story. She parlayed that idea of learning through literature into her love of films and developed the concept of her course.

Kasper said she spent her summer researching films, reviewing potential textbooks and reading materials, and consulting with experts in the film industry. Knoxville film historian Jeff Gordon, who runs a monthly film club showing vintage movies, gave insights for narrowing the topic and explained how filmmakers utilize themes in their films. Gordon also made a presentation to her class.

The class watched a variety of films from “The Full Monty” to “The Grapes of Wrath” to “Tucker: A Man and His Dream” while studying concepts such as labor and productivity, money and banking, the inner workings of the film industry and trade and globalization.

Key concepts from the movies were introduced at the beginning of each class prior to watching the film, which was followed by a more thorough discussion of how those ideas were addressed in the film. Required reading for the course included Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science by Charles Wheelan and The Critical Eye: An Introduction to Looking at Movies by Margo Kasdan and Susan Tavernetti. Naked Economics deals with basic economic ideas such as trade and globalization, and human capital. The majority of Kasper’s students in this class were not economic or business majors.

Developing skills

The course wasn’t only about economics and the film industry but also learning to develop critical thinking skills, Kasper said. As part of that development, students kept a journal of their perceptions of the ideas and concepts they observed in the movies.

Kasper wanted students to think about market systems they studied and become better consumers. Her goal was teach students good ways to discern information and critical images in today’s world to make the most informed decisions in their lives as they become the next generation in the marketplace.

Students’ honed their team-building skills by working in groups and preparing their own presentations of movies.

Jacob Holt, who majors in international business, said his interest in films led him to choose this course, adding that he made his own movies with a video camera as a child.

“I’ve always had a pretty deep interest in movie making and films,” Holt said, adding that Naked Economics gave him a good review of economic concepts he has studied in his other courses, and that The Critical Eye introduced to him filming techniques. The discussions of economics paired with watching a movie made a good combination, but Holt admits he initially had his doubts about how these two would connect.

“I was kind of skeptical at first,” he said. “I think [Dr. Kasper] did a really good job.”

Holt had seen some of the movies before but hadn’t recognized how economic theories and ideas played a part in the storylines. Now when he watches a movie, he analyzes the story to determine what it is actually about.

“I don’t think I’ll ever watch a movie in the same way again,” he said.

Favorite film

English major Jonathan Brent said he also believes that he has developed better critical skills in watching a movie. He had taken a film course in his freshman year, so this class provided a review of some of the terminology he had learned earlier. Brent’s favorite film shown during the course was “Wall Street” along with the engaging discussion it generated in class afterwards.

Although a longtime film buff, Kasper said she learned how filmmakers construct films to convey meanings and how they use filming techniques to further the film’s subject matter. An ironic discovery she made is that many of the movies carry an anti-capitalist theme, and yet are made by people who make millions of dollars in the capitalist process.

Kasper said she looks forward to offering the class again next year and believes the content of movies and economic issues worked well together. As with any good teacher, she’ll review the student evaluations of the course and look for ways to improve it and offer new material.

“The overall idea has worked,” she said. “I feel pretty good about it.”

This story was written by Bonny Millard, a freelance writer for the Office of Communications.

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