Summary: Situated in America's heartland among acres of Indiana cornfields, Wabash Valley Correctional Facility houses not just the state's most violent offenders but also a large population of the mentally ill. This MSNBC documentary looks at the challenges of confining thousands of hardened criminals in addition to those with deep-seated psychiatric needs. Wabash psychiatrist Dr. Mary Ruth Sims...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: Contrary to popular belief, adequate preparation for college-level study is not an option for the majority of America's public-school students. This program exposes the educational "sorting machine," the factors that mold a child's academic future, through the case of a set of twins from Nevada: one, an academically oriented high achiever who is encouraged to take honors classes, and the other,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2004
View online at AVOD
Summary: It is one of the largest women's prisons in the world, full of murderers, violent criminals, and drug dealers-but many at Valley State Prison are hoping to turn their lives around. Recorded at the jail in 2000 and again five years later, this MSNBC documentary profiles three women who contemplate the severity of their crimes-ranging from manslaughter to murder-and their chances for emotional...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: On an island adjacent to the Bronx sits one of America's most notorious jail systems, known for much of the past century as a place of inmate-on-inmate cruelty. But violence has decreased by 90 percent at Rikers since 1999. This MSNBC documentary examines Rikers then and now, spotlighting the measures that have reduced conflict among a population of 15,000 offenders. New York City Department of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: The ability to defuse confrontation and arrive at a solution that is acceptable to everyone involved is a quality that all employers value. This video illustrates how to courteously resolve office conflicts by depersonalizing them, opening the lines of communication, and examining all options in order to come to an agreement. Brainstorming with coworkers is presented as a means of developing...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Poor stress management, stemming from factors such as impending deadlines, work overload, and procrastination, can lead directly to burnout, one of the top reasons for quitting a job. This video identifies workplace stressors and offers guidelines for reducing their impact to a safe level. Proven principles of stress management, including proper nutrition, adequate rest, and non-work-related...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Proving that female prisoners struggle with the same conditions male convicts face, this MSNBC documentary goes inside a North Carolina facility filled with 1,100 troubled mothers, sisters, aunts, and even grandmothers. Warden Annie Harvey conveys the goals and frustrations of her job, while male officers acknowledge an ongoing challenge to maintain professionalism and objectivity. Although...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: We do not cure anybody, the director of Atascadero State Hospital's Sexually Violent Predator unit frankly admits. Nevertheless, many in the criminal justice community admire Atascadero's relentless efforts to treat the criminally insane. This MSNBC documentary provides an inside look at the facility, which houses several types of offender-from MDOs, or the mentally disordered, to frighteningly...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: You like horror movies? responds a Folsom State Prison inmate when asked to describe life in the penitentiary. "This is a horror movie." Virtually every inmate who appears in this MSNBC documentary-and perhaps a few of Folsom's guards-seems to share his opinion. Viewers are guided through the prison's antiquated infrastructure, from the general population areas to the dungeon-like Cell Block 5,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: Issues of race and class have turned the college experience into an obstacle course that is deterring many of America's brightest students from graduating with a four-year degree. This video counters cultures of low expectation and social isolation with three stand-out initiatives that are helping students get into college-and stay in. Featured in this video are: the Meyerhoff Scholars Program,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2004
View online at AVOD
Summary: Few works in American literature address issues as timeless as those explored in Mark Twain's controversial novel, Huckleberry Finn. In this program, three scholars, including noted Twain biographer Justin Kaplan, examine the work and its various themes-race, cruelty, consequences of greed, meaning of civilization, and the nature of freedom. The author's life is traced from his days as a...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Directed by Sindi Gordon, this film explores reverse racism, offering a contemporary view of two populations often overlooked in the race dialogue: Native Americans and native Hawaiians. In South Dakota, three generations of Lakota families consider their past and their future. Meanwhile, in Hawaii, beginning in the 1990s, lawsuits challenged the rights of natives to run schools and housing...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2003
View online at AVOD
Summary: To have a shot at college, students must first believe they can get into college. This program shows the positive things that can happen when the dream of a college education is nurtured in classrooms and communities where expectations previously had been low. By spotlighting innovative approaches for motivating and teaching children-from the Upward Bound initiative in Cleveland that can only...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2004
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program explores racial issues in Siler City, North Carolina, including: what are the effects of rapid change in racial demographics? What happens when white culture no longer dominates society? Will the future more closely resemble our segregated past, or is the nation experiencing the declining significance of race? Utilizing the writing of Eric Liu (The Accidental Asian: Notes of a...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2003
View online at AVOD
Summary: When traveling, finding one's way around is a big part of the adventure. This program demonstrates how to ask for and give directions when touring in urban and rural settings and how to say where one lives and works. Architectural landmarks such as Le Corbusier's Cite Radieuse, in Marseille, and the magnificent mansions lining the Cours Mirabeau, in Aix-en-Provence, are featured.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Sightseeing is as much about getting lost-and found again-as it is about visiting monuments and landmarks. This program demonstrates how to ask for and give directions, explains how to say where one lives and works, and illustrates when and where Spaniards typically get a bite to eat. Cultural icons such as the City of Arts and Sciences, near Valencia, and the historic town of Xativa are featured.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: When the time comes for getting away from it all, Bavaria offers a wide range of options. This program introduces questions and answers related to shopping for vacation supplies and arranging for lodgings. Settings include a department store, a country hotel, a hostel in the Ammergauer Alps, and an ancient Benedictine convent located on Frauen Island, in the Chiemsee.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program explores youth culture and the values of the next generation by putting the camera into the hands of three young producers. Through their short documentaries, these producers explore the way race is imagined and understood by the next generation. It is an eye-opening look at a diverse generation influenced by an influx of cultural cross-pollination, as well as the information...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2003