Using Cinema to Enhance the Relevance of Economics to Students' Lives

Abstract:     
The author proposes an approach to teaching economics which uses cinema to enhance the relevance of the subject to students' lives. This enhancement is achieved through appropriate selection of films and through class discussion which directly relates to the lives of students. This approach has the added advantages of placing economics material in its historical context and of presenting a multicultural array of films from different countries and periods, exposing students to different economic realities. The author pilots the proposed course on four existing courses at his university. The students taking these courses vary with respect to the size of the economics component of their degree and in terms of their year of study. The results from the student surveys show that the students strongly wish to see the proposed module introduced.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 20

JEL Classification: A22

working papers series