Nathan Larsen

“Lights, Camera, Action: Student Created iMovies” is Larsen’s innovative teaching idea. It involves students in the American Government course creating a political campaign commercial and videos that outline the platform of a political party of their choosing. They also will recreate scenes from films watched in the History of Film Studies course, creating their own short films. Finally, they will create public service announcements as part of the Current Issues Course, utilizing primary and secondary sources to analyze and develop a position on a pressing global issue. All of these activities will be achieved by using professional-grade cameras and computers, including innovative programs and applications that go beyond the iPad. This will allow students to take advantage of their strengths in terms of technology. Larsen, who lives in Aurora, hopes the hands-on program will lead to greater learning and comprehension of critical social science issues.