AEMS: Publications

Media Resources Focusing on South Asia

Gandhi: Apostle of Peace and Nonviolence (1996)
Grades: 7-12+
CD-ROM
This PC-compatible CD-ROM includes recordings of Gandhi's voice, letters in his handwriting, 175 photographs, a 45-minute video, maps, timelines, and extensive background information.

Discovering the Music of India (1969)
Classical Indian music, which can be argued to be the basis for the nation's modern pop, is explored in Discovering the Music of India. This videotape is useful mainly for late elementary to high school music teachers because the focus is on the elements of the music itself, such as tone, rhythmic patterns, augmentation, and the sound of different instruments, rather than its socio-historical development. Discovering also distinguishes northern and southern musical traditions and demonstrates various dance techniques.

Don't Ask Why (1999)
Grades: 10-12+
Don't Ask Why is part of the Girls Around the World series, a set of five films which discuss the lives of seventeen-year-old girls in different cultures. This segment focuses on Anousheh, a young woman coming of age in Pakistan. Like most teenagers, Anousheh resents the limitations her parents place on her freedom, only these restrictions include the expectation that her parents chose her husband. On the other hand, Anousheh is considerably better off than many other Pakistani women, because her family is prosperous and she is allowed to receive a first-rate education. Her struggles with her culture, religion, and family are documented in this sensitive and thought-provoking film.

Emerging Powers: India (1996)
Grades: 10-12+
Like the Emerging Powers - China video, Emerging Powers - India focuses mainly on economic change and the effect it has on different segments of the society. In India's case, the liberalization of the economy that has been occurring for the past couple of decades has created a large middle class of over 300 million people, who now have more choices than ever before. But other problems persist, including constant power outages, increased gridlock in the cities, and of course poverty. Emerging Powers has a positive view of the future, however, insisting that a combination of dedication to development and foreign investment will lead to increased prosperity.

Families of the World: Families of India (1996)
Grades: K-4
Families of India has a similar format to the other Families of the World videos, except that the two children portrayed live in very different family structures, in addition to residing in different urban and rural environments. The first 15-minutes focuses on a young boy who lives with only his mother and father in the city; the second segment concentrates on a wealthy young country girl who stays in a courtyard house with her entire extended family. Like the other videos in this series, Families of India tries not to be judgmental.

The Great Indian Railway (1995)
Grades: 6-12+
This almost two-hour National Geographic production uses trains, the predominant form of public transportation in India, to explore several important themes common to developing nations. These include 1) the supplanting of traditional culture with modern values and techniques (represented by the replacement of steam engines with electric ones), 2) the rapid development of the city compared to the stagnation of the countryside, and 3) the necessity of unifying diverse groups of people to form a solid nation state. These ideas are explored much more successfully during the second hour than the first, which tends to be overly bogged down by its own sentimentality. This video would be most appropriate for middle and high school students and can be shown in clips.

Images of India (1998)
Grades: 6-10
This comprehensive 30-minute video focuses on Indian geography, culture, religion, history, and life today, noting the nation's diversity. In addition to showing extensive footage of urban and rural life, Images also explains common terms associated with India, such as caste.

Indian Film Music Phenomenon: There'll Always Be Stars in the Sky (1992)
Grades: 9-12+
The Indian Film Music Phenomenon mourns the loss of traditional music performers, who are increasingly being driven to margins of society as the silver screen (most Indian movies are musicals) mesmerizes the masses. It also criticizes the Bombay film industry for creating fantasy worlds that intoxicate people instead of motivating them. Indian Film Music discusses different elements of the film industry as well as various strata of the society as a whole.

Mahatma Gandhi: Pilgrim of Peace (1997)
Grades: 10-12
This 50-minute video from A&E Biography details the life of the great nonviolent leader, Mahatma Gandhi. Includes interviews with the Dalai Lama and Gandhi's grandson, as well as journalists and scholars.

Puja: Expressions of Hindu Devotion (1996)
Grades: 6-12
This 20-minute video explores where, when, how, and why Hindus worship. The first segment, which includes interviews with American Hindus, provides an overview of the practice of puja and how objects are used in ceremonies. The second short segment shows a woman worshipping at her household shrine in India and the third segment focuses on people worshipping at an outdoor shrine honoring the goddess Chandi. An activity packet and three full-color posters depicting major deities are also available.

Religions of the World: Hinduism (1998)
Grades: 9-12+
For a greater understanding of how Hinduism evolved through the millennia, check out the 60-minute documentary, Religions of the World: Hinduism. Unlike the other units, Hinduism follows a chronological timeline, explaining how the religion reacted to various stimuli, including the development of Buddhism and Jainism, Muslim invasion, and the independence movement, and how in turn it shaped those events. This gives the viewer (preferably someone in 9th grade or above) the sense that Hinduism is an active, changing religion, not a static, mystical one.

Urban and Rural Contrasts (1996)
Grades: 7-12+
This 30-minute video is program #21of the series, The Power of Place: World Regional Geography. The program includes two case studies: "A geographer studies Delhi as a multicultural, rapidly growing city" and "Local farmers reliant on irrigation in Dikhatpura, southwestern India."


	Media Resources Focusing on South Asia Gandhi: Apostle of Peace and Nonviolence (1996) Grades: 7-12+ CD-ROM This PC-compatible CD-ROM includes recordings of Gandhi's voice, letters in his handwriting, 175 photographs, a 45-minute video, maps, timelines, and extensive background information. Discovering the Music of India (1969) Classical Indian music, which can be argued to be the basis for the nation's modern pop, is explored in Discovering the Music of India. This videotape is useful mainly for late elementary to high school music teachers because the focus is on the elements of the music itself, such as tone, rhythmic patterns, augmentation, and the sound of different instruments, rather than its socio-historical development. Discovering also distinguishes northern and southern musical traditions and demonstrates various dance techniques. Don't Ask Why (1999) Grades: 10-12+ Don't Ask Why is part of the Girls Around the World series, a set of five films which discuss the lives of seventeen-year-old girls in different cultures. This segment focuses on Anousheh, a young woman coming of age in Pakistan. Like most teenagers, Anousheh resents the limitations her parents place on her freedom, only these restrictions include the expectation that her parents chose her husband. On the other hand, Anousheh is considerably better off than many other Pakistani women, because her family is prosperous and she is allowed to receive a first-rate education. Her struggles with her culture, religion, and family are documented in this sensitive and thought-provoking film. Emerging Powers: India (1996) Grades: 10-12+ Like the Emerging Powers - China video, Emerging Powers - India focuses mainly on economic change and the effect it has on different segments of the society. In India's case, the liberalization of the economy that has been occurring for the past couple of decades has created a large middle class of over 300 million people, who now have more choices than ever before. But other problems persist, including constant power outages, increased gridlock in the cities, and of course poverty. Emerging Powers has a positive view of the future, however, insisting that a combination of dedication to development and foreign investment will lead to increased prosperity. Families of the World: Families of India (1996) Grades: K-4 Families of India has a similar format to the other Families of the World videos, except that the two children portrayed live in very different family structures, in addition to residing in different urban and rural environments. The first 15-minutes focuses on a young boy who lives with only his mother and father in the city; the second segment concentrates on a wealthy young country girl who stays in a courtyard house with her entire extended family. Like the other videos in this series, Families of India tries not to be judgmental. The Great Indian Railway (1995) Grades: 6-12+ This almost two-hour National Geographic production uses trains, the predominant form of public transportation in India, to explore several important themes common to developing nations. These include 1) the supplanting of traditional culture with modern values and techniques (represented by the replacement of steam engines with electric ones), 2) the rapid development of the city compared to the stagnation of the countryside, and 3) the necessity of unifying diverse groups of people to form a solid nation state. These ideas are explored much more successfully during the second hour than the first, which tends to be overly bogged down by its own sentimentality. This video would be most appropriate for middle and high school students and can be shown in clips. Images of India (1998) Grades: 6-10 This comprehensive 30-minute video focuses on Indian geography, culture, religion, history, and life today, noting the nation's diversity. In addition to showing extensive footage of urban and rural life, Images also explains common terms associated with India, such as caste. Indian Film Music Phenomenon: There'll Always Be Stars in the Sky (1992) Grades: 9-12+ The Indian Film Music Phenomenon mourns the loss of traditional music performers, who are increasingly being driven to margins of society as the silver screen (most Indian movies are musicals) mesmerizes the masses. It also criticizes the Bombay film industry for creating fantasy worlds that intoxicate people instead of motivating them. Indian Film Music discusses different elements of the film industry as well as various strata of the society as a whole. Mahatma Gandhi: Pilgrim of Peace (1997) Grades: 10-12 This 50-minute video from A&E Biography details the life of the great nonviolent leader, Mahatma Gandhi. Includes interviews with the Dalai Lama and Gandhi's grandson, as well as journalists and scholars. Puja: Expressions of Hindu Devotion (1996) Grades: 6-12 This 20-minute video explores where, when, how, and why Hindus worship. The first segment, which includes interviews with American Hindus, provides an overview of the practice of puja and how objects are used in ceremonies. The second short segment shows a woman worshipping at her household shrine in India and the third segment focuses on people worshipping at an outdoor shrine honoring the goddess Chandi. An activity packet and three full-color posters depicting major deities are also available. Religions of the World: Hinduism (1998) Grades: 9-12+ For a greater understanding of how Hinduism evolved through the millennia, check out the 60-minute documentary, Religions of the World: Hinduism. Unlike the other units, Hinduism follows a chronological timeline, explaining how the religion reacted to various stimuli, including the development of Buddhism and Jainism, Muslim invasion, and the independence movement, and how in turn it shaped those events. This gives the viewer (preferably someone in 9th grade or above) the sense that Hinduism is an active, changing religion, not a static, mystical one. Urban and Rural Contrasts (1996) Grades: 7-12+ This 30-minute video is program #21of the series, The Power of Place: World Regional Geography. The program includes two case studies: "A geographer studies Delhi as a multicultural, rapidly growing city" and "Local farmers reliant on irrigation in Dikhatpura, southwestern India."		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