Former TU professor Hank Levy (deceased) wrote the title song for the movie, which won three Oscars in 2015.
The College of Fine Arts and Communication (CoFAC)’s 2015 Fall Film Series celebrates its 25th anniversary – and the university’s 150th – this year with a series of films that will honor the art of teaching.
The films will be shown the Van Bokkelen Hall Auditorium (Rm 204) on Mondays at 7:30 p.m.
Initiated by CoFAC Associate Dean Greg Faller, the series began as a way to unite the student body and the local Towson community through the power of film. The community, in particular, has embraced the film series.
“Without a doubt, community members are excited to see the series lineup and share their ideas for future series themes,” Faller noted. “We’ve been able to use several of those ideas.”
The series has grown and expanded over the last quarter century. Current series coordinator CoFAC lecturer Michael Duffy took the reins in 2013.
“A big part of the series is inviting faculty from across the university to share their thoughts on well-known films,” Duffy said. “The faculty help to broaden audience perspective on films that may be familiar.
“There are films here that offer a traditional take on teaching, like ‘Stand & Deliver’ and ‘Finding Forrester,’ but including a film like ‘Mean Girls’ encourages people to think about [the depiction of teaching in films] in new ways,” he added.
Duffy also spoke on the importance of including many different types of genres within this year’s theme. He included drama, comedy, animation, and documentary films — a variety that clearly impressed Faller.
“Michael has been doing an excellent job not only with the development of interesting themes, but also with his ability to reach out to other colleges to find faculty to present,” said Faller. “He has expanded the series to include really other parts of campus who hadn’t before taken part, which has really rounded out the lineups each year.”
The series schedule:
9/14 – “Les Choristes” (The Chorus), 2004; presented by CoFAC Associate Dean Greg Faller
9/21 – “Stand & Deliver,” 1988; presented by EMF professor emeritus Peter Lev
9/28 – “The Chocolate War,” 1988; presented by EMF professor Michael Angelella
10/5 – “Finding Forrester,” 2000; presented by EMF professor Dave Reiss
10/12 – “Searching for Bobby Fischer,” 1993; presented by EMF professor Lorrie Palmer
10/19 – “The Sword in the Stone,” 1963; presented by art & design professor Phil Davis
10/26 – “Mean Girls,” 2004; presented by philosophy professor Carl Yamamoto
11/2 – “High School,” 1968; presented by EMF professor Joe Kraemer
11/9 – “Whiplash,” 2015; presented by health science professor Niya Werts
11/16 – “The Space in Back of You,” 2011; presented by theatre professor Naoko Maeshiba
11/23 – “Not One Less,” 1999; presented by EMF professor Michael Duffy
