Summary: The story of Nim, the chimpanzee who became the focus of a landmark 1970s experiment to show that an ape could learn to communicate with language if raised and nurtured like a human child. But as Nim's natural instincts take over and the humans trusted with his well-being fail to protect him, Project Nim uncovers the unflinching and extraordinary journey of one animal thrust into human society.
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: Lionsgate 2012
Copies Available at Fife Lake
1 available in Digital Video Disc, Call number: DVD PROCopies Available at Woodmere
1 available in TC Film Fest DVDs, Call number: DVD TCFF PROSummary: Gullah-the African-influenced dialect of Georgia's Sea Islands-has undergone few changes since the first slave ships landed 300 years ago, and provides a clear window into the shaping of African-American English. This classic PBS program traces that story from the west coast of Africa through the American South, then to large northern cities in the 1920s. Studying the origins of West African...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program follows Robert MacNeil down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to Appalachia, Louisiana Cajun country, and the Tex-Mex border to examine Southern dialects and accents and the influences of French and Spanish on American English. Linguist Walt Wolfram, columnist Molly Ivins, pop country singer Cody James, and others talk about regional differences in vernacular, the steady displacement...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: In this program, Robert MacNeil canvasses the North to learn firsthand about linguistic dialect zones, the tension between prescriptivism and descriptivism, the impact of dialect on grapholect, the northern cities vowel shift, the roots of African-American English, minority dialects and linguistic profiling, biases against nonstandard speech, and the general perception of the U.S. Midland...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Both westward expansion and 19th-century immigration affected the development of a uniquely American English. This classic PBS program tells the story of that burgeoning dialect, from the Revolutionary War to the 1920s. Beginning with the Declaration of Independence, the program depicts the determination of American radicals-dictionary author Noah Webster among them-to achieve linguistic as...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Language is a social construct. It unites the individuals of a given community through a code that is understood by those who use it, ranging from street slang to the prescribed usage of grammar by an elite. This program examines language in a historical context and as a political tool. Since the advent of the printing press and, most recently, the Internet, English has become the universal...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: In the 19th century, English spread throughout the British Empire-but which English? This classic PBS program traces the roots of white Commonwealth English to Cockney, the language of London's working class. Explaining the influence of Cockney on modern, standardized speech, the program shows how, in fact, the accents of BBC English are gradually becoming modified by Cockney speech...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: English is a language spoken by two billion people, perhaps even more. This classic PBS program examines the prevalence of English in the world today and presents a historical overview of its rise. Focusing on the expansion of the British Empire and the emergence of English-language mass media, the program explains how widespread English usage survived Britain's post-WWII decolonization,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: The Irish experience reflects two language traditions, English and Gaelic. This classic PBS program shows how English was first established in Ireland in the 17th century and how, in cases of violent cultural conflict, language can function as a weapon. Exploring the west of Ireland today, the program identifies traces of Irish Celtic culture, despite the historical decline of the Gaelic...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: As the landscape of the New World awakened England's imagination, so did a new landscape of words-in the English of William Shakespeare and the King James Bible. This classic PBS program describes the spread of English to North America and explains how Shakespeare's prodigious vocabulary filled the language with startling new words, phrases, and constructions. Recording strong echoes of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: In this program, Robert MacNeil heads to California to take part in meaningful dialogues on Spanglish, Chicano, Ebonics, and "Surfer Dude" before going to Seattle to consider the implications of voice-activation technology. Linguist Carmen Fought, Stanford University's Cliff Nass, screenwriters Amy Heckerling and Winnie Holtzman, and others speak their minds about Spanish in America, why teens...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Will standard English, as it was known in the 20th century, disappear? Will English continue as the global tongue, or will its numerous varieties become, as offshoots of Latin did, a host of mutually unintelligible languages? This classic PBS program features new varieties of English that have transcended British and American influence. The program focuses on some of the most successful...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: The Scottish tongue is one of the oldest in Britain, a Northern variety of English that, but for the accidents of history, might have become a separate language. This classic PBS program deals with the influence of the Scots in spreading the language of their historic enemies-the Sassenachs of the South-around the world. The program begins in the 15th century, the golden age of the Scottish...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: The making of English is the story of three great invasions and a cultural revolution. This classic PBS program shows how an early form of English was carried to Britain by invading Anglo-Saxons, how that language was all but obliterated by waves of Viking settlers, and how it was reshaped by the French-speaking Normans. The fact that English survived on the lips of people who left no written...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: The world is a mosaic of visions, and each vision is encapsulated by a language. Yet every two weeks, one of the world's approximately 6,500 languages dies out. What is the significance of this loss to those who speak the language as well as for the rest of humankind? Why do some languages become global while others disappear? And how are language and identity connected? In this program,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Contents: Introduction: new confessions and revelations from the world of economic hit men / John Perkins -- Global empire: the web of control / Steven Hiatt -- Selling money-- and dependency: setting the debt trap / S.C. Gwynne -- Dirty money: inside the secret world of offshore banking / John Christensen -- BCCI's double game: banking on America, banking on jihad / Lucy Komisar -- The human cost of...
Format: text
Publisher / Publication Date: Berrett-Koehler Publishers 2007
Copies Available at Woodmere
1 available in Adult Non-fiction, Call number: 364.1323 GAMEnz, Tammy.
Summary: "Explains the principles of inventing and provides photo-illustrated instructions for making a variety of structures and contraptions"--Provided by publisher.
Format: text
Publisher / Publication Date: Capstone Press 2012
Copies Available at Interlochen
1 available in Juvenile Nonfiction, Call number: J Invent EnzGetty, Stuart
Summary: "Ever wonder what "nonbinary" or "gender nonconforming" really means? Why would someone choose to identify that way? And how the heck do you use "they/them" pronouns for a singular person - isn't it supposed to be plural? This charming and disarming guide promises to unpack all these questions and more, with a fun, visual infographic approach"--
Format: text
Publisher / Publication Date: Sasquatch Books 2020
Copies Available at Woodmere
1 available in Adult Non-fiction, Call number: 425 GETCopies Available at Kingsley
1 available in Adult Non-fiction, Call number: 425 GETSummary: Taught by acclaimed linguist, author, and Professor John McWhorter of Columbia University, Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths of Language Usage dispels the cloud of confusion that clings to English, giving you a crystal-clear view of why we use it the way we do and where it fits into the diverse languages of the world. After completing these 24 lectures, you will think about how you use English in a...
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: Teaching Company 2012
Copies Available at Kingsley
2 available in Adult Non-fiction, Call number: 420.9 McWCall number: DVD 420.9 McW
Crystal, David
Summary: Explaining the nuts and bolts of grammar presents a special challenge, because--far more than is the case with spelling and punctuation--the subject is burdened with a centuries-old history of educational practice that many will recall as anything but glamorous. One of the world's foremost authorities on the English language, Crystal sets out to rid grammar of its undeserved reputation as a dry...
Format: sound recording-nonmusical
Publisher / Publication Date: 2017
Copies Available at Woodmere
1 available in Compact Disc Audio Book, Call number: CD 425 CRYSummary: This Science Screen Report looks at a clean and renewable energy source that is steadily gaining scientific acceptance: hot dry rocks, otherwise known as enhanced geothermal systems. The program shows how masses of heated granite approximately 3 miles underground can be accessed with advanced drilling and computer imaging techniques, and how water forced through fissures in the granite can...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Richards, Mary Agnes
Summary: "A History of Words for Children explores the uniquely human ability to share thoughts using words. Written in a lively narrative style, this book presents a history of the world through language, introducing young readers to the civilizations, inventions, and writers who have shaped the way we communicate. Divided into themed chapters to help young minds grasp difficult concepts, the book...
Format: text
Publisher / Publication Date: Thames & Hudson Inc. 2022
Copies Available at Woodmere
1 available in Juvenile Nonfiction, Call number: J 417.7 RICDickson, Paul.
Summary: "William Shakespeare's written vocabulary consisted of 17,245 words, including hundreds that were coined or popularized by him. Some of the words never went further than their appearance in his plays, but others--like bedazzled, hurry, critical, and anchovy--are essential parts of our standard vocabulary today. Many other famous and lesser-known writers have contributed to the popular lexicon....
Format: text
Publisher / Publication Date: St Martins Pr 2014
Copies Available at Woodmere
1 available in Adult Non-fiction, Call number: 801.3 DICEverett, Caleb
Summary: "A guide to how languages around the world differ from one another far more than we realize and point to fundamental differences in how people conceive of everything from time to color to smell"--
Format: text
Publisher / Publication Date: Harvard University Press 2023