Description/Abstract: Pearl, the movie, is a beautiful production of the Chickasaw Nation that tells the heart-warming story of the youngest licensed pilot in America, Pearl Carter Scott (1915-2005), daughter of a Chickasaw mother and white father. Set in Oklahoma the 1920s and 1930s, Pearl is based on the book, Never Give Up! The Life of Pearl Carter Scott, by Dr. Paul Lambert. With Wiley Post, beloved aviator, as her instructor, Eula (Pearl) obtains her license when she is only thirteen years old. Later, she becomes a Chickasaw legislator and receives many honors, including induction into several aviation and space halls of fame and the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian.

Why would the Chickasaw Nation, a federally recognized tribe within the United States --"a nation within a nation" -- choose to make a film about a young female pilot, rather than something more "Indian"? What does Pearl, the movie, tell us about identity, family, and aspiration --from the context of the Great Depression -- and with lessons for today? How is Pearl a treasure for exploring and developing curriculum -- world history/American Indian history, social science, economics, geography, social studies, world literature, creative writing, and dance-art-sport? Teachers, come and observe.

On Thursday, March 29, Dr. Roberta Seret, Founder and President of International Cinema Education, will lead a demonstration film class for Long Island middle school students on Pearl. This demo film class livens the curriculum Roberta Seret presents in her recently published text book, World Affairs through Foreign Films: Getting the Global Picture (McFarland, October 2011). It offers a fresh approach -- "a multi-disciplinary pedagogy that is innovative and encourages critical thinking and group activities" -- helping us understand important world themes as they are revealed through engaging medium of film.

Roberta Seret holds a doctorate in Comparative Literature and Master's in French from New York University and has taught literature and writing on the university level for many years. She is Director of Professional English at the United Nations where she teaches English language, literature and business. She has also published: "The United Nations as a Global Classroom," (Spring, 2006), United Nations Chronicle; "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words," (Spring, 2004), United Nations Chronicle; Welcome to New York, 5th ed. (Amer Welcome Services, 2001 (1st ed. Harper & Row); and Voyage into Creativity: The Modern Kunstlerroman (Peter Lang, 1992).

Regina Casale is a doctoral candidate in Interdisciplinary Studies at Teachers College and a founding member of the Film and Education Research Academy. She teaches Spanish at Longwood Junior High School in Long Island. Regina is actively engaged in using film to foster a sense of global citizenship among middle school students. She brought her ESL class from Patchoque last February to participate in Dr. Seret's demo film class on Beijing Bicycle.

This event is co-sponsored by FERA, the Film and Education Research Academy, and the Gottesman Libraries. Persons wishing to attend may rsvp the library by Tuesday, March 27th.

For more resources be sure to see the vialogue discussion of Osama, with Roberta Seret, and information on her book talk and demonstration film class, Beijing Bicycle.

Where: 285 Grace Dodge