Film and Media Studies Commons^™

Filming Eugenics: Teaching The History Of Eugenics Through Film, Melissa Ooten, Sarah Trembanis

Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Faculty Publications

In teaching eugenics to undergraduate students and general public audiences, film should be considered as a provocative and fruitful medium that can generate important discussions about the intersections among eugenics, gender, class, race, and sexuality. This paper considers the use of two films, A Bill of Divorcement and The Lynchburg Story, as pedagogical tools for the history of eugenics. The authors provide background information on the films and suggestions for using the films to foster an active engagement with the historical eugenics movement.