March Primetime
Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth With Bill Moyers
Monday, March 18 & Tuesday, March 19
8 pm to 11:45 pm each night
Educator Rights: 1 Year
Called "provocative and inspirational" by the New York Post, Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth With Bill Moyers introduced millions of Americans to Joseph Campbell, the storied teacher and authority on mythology. Campbell's lifelong study of history, art, philosophy and religion come together in this compelling interview in which Moyers taps into Campbell's storehouse of knowledge to comment on God, art, eternity and the relevance of mythology to modern life.
"The Hero's Adventure" Campbell explores how the hero's journey is possible even in everyday life today, and challenges everyone to see the presence of a heroic journey in his or her own life.
"The Message of the Myth" Campbell compares the creation story in Genesis with creation stories from around the world, explains why the snake was blamed for the fall, how computers are related to mythology and why myths are clues to the spiritual potential of human life.
"The First Storytellers" Campbell discusses the importance of accepting death as rebirth in the myth of the buffalo and the story of Christ, the rite of passage in primitive societies and the role of mystical shamans.
"Sacrifice and Bliss" Campbell discusses the role of sacrifice in myth, which symbolizes the necessity for rebirth.
"Love and the Goddess" Campbell talks about romantic love, beginning with the 12th-century troubadours, and addresses questions about the image of woman as goddess, virgin, Mother Earth.
"Masks of Eternity" Campbell provides challenging insights into the concepts of God, religion and eternity.
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From NOVA
Shackleton's Voyage of Endurance
Tuesday, March 26, 8 pm to 10 pm
Saturday, March 30, 2 pm to 4 pm
Educator Rights: 1 Year
Web: http://www.pbs.org/nova
One of the most famous survival stories of all time unfolds in gripping detail on NOVA, Shackleton's Voyage of Endurance, a two-hour documentary about Ernest Shackleton's miraculous escape with his entire crew from certain death in the Antarctic. The tale of their survival against all odds and without the loss of a single life is a stunning tribute to human perseverance and the leadership genius of Shackleton. The film gives new depth and insight into the background of this great leader and what drove him to explore the ends of the earth.
Shackleton's Voyage of Endurance features the astonishing photographic record made by expedition member Frank Hurley, who shot stills of breathtaking beauty along with motion-picture footage of some of the most dramatic moments in the crew's ordeal.
Throughout the film, NOVA draws on the expertise of preeminent polar historian Roland Huntford, author of the authoritative biography Shackleton, as well as world-famous explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, whose astonishing feats of physical and mental endurance throughout the last 20 years have claimed ten expeditionary world records. Also featured are interviews with living relatives of the crew, including those of Hurley and Shackleton, whose memories of firsthand accounts give depth, drama and a legendary flavor to the adventure. The program is based on the book The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition, by Caroline Alexander.
In late 1914, the celebrated polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton set forth with 27 men for Antarctica to make the first attempt to cross the continent on foot. In January 1915, their ship Endurance was trapped in pack ice just short of the continent and later crushed to pieces, stranding the men on an ice floe in one of the most inhospitable regions of Earth.
NOVA supplements Hurley's record with footage shot during two specially chartered expeditions to document the places visited by the explorers: the ice-jammed Weddell Sea where they met disaster; the wind-blasted outcrop of Elephant Island where they sought refuge in three lifeboats; the remote cove on South Georgia Island, 800 miles from Elephant Island, where Shackleton arrived with five others after a desperate open-boat journey of 16 days through the world's worst seas; and the mountainous interior of South Georgia that Shackleton and two others had to cross to reach a whaling station and the only hope of rescue for the rest of the crew.
After trekking to the whaling station on South Georgia in late May 1916, Shackleton arranged for immediate rescue of his three men waiting on the other side of the island. However, he faced a daunting challenge in reaching the remaining 22 stranded on Elephant Island. Three rescue crews had to turn back as winter ice choked the route. Finally, on August 30, 1916, Shackleton broke through aboard a small fishing vessel. As he neared the marooned party, he anxiously counted the figures waving from the beach and saw that all were safe.
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Misunderstood Minds
Unlocking the Minds of Students Who Struggle in School
Sunday, March 31, 2:30 pm to 4 pm
Educator Rights: 1 Year
Web: http://www.pbs.org/misunderstoodminds
You feel like the luckiest parent alive: Your seven-year-old is a bright, social, athletic child with countless friends. His potential seems unlimited, his future success unquestionable. Then one day a teacher calls to tell you that your child can't read.
Remember the child in your school classroom who avoided eye contact with the teacher, couldn't concentrate, or had trouble remembering his lessons? Perhaps that child was you, a friend, a sibling or perhaps it is even your child now. Millions of people in the United States are personally affected by learning problems. Experts say that as many as one in five families are coping with children who struggle to learn. Many of the kids don't fit any clinical diagnosis, but for some reason they aren't learning. Though these children may be suffering from debilitating learning problems, they are often mistakenly called "lazy" or "stupid" by their teachers, classmates and even their families. If not addressed, these problems can have a devastating impact on the students' self-esteem and future academic and social success.
Misunderstood Minds is a deeply moving and personal look into the world of learning problems, tracking the stories of five families over a three-year period as they, together with experts, try to solve the mysteries of their children's learning difficulties. Hosted by Chris Bury of ABC's Nightline, this 90-minute special illustrates the anguish parents go through in their search for answers and strategies to help their children. But the film does more than tell five compelling stories it also serves as a platform for a nationwide dialogue on how best to manage young, vulnerable, misunderstood minds.
Host Chris Bury is the parent of a child with learning problems. "As a parent, the great satisfaction in this project comes from discovering what tremendous strides have been made in helping children who through no fault of their own learn 'outside the box.' As a journalist, I feel strongly that this story is one that desperately needs telling to help clear the stigma too often associated with children who struggle with learning differences."
"To be told over and over again, 'you're not quite cutting the mustard,' breaks down your self-esteem," says clinical psychologist Andrea Weiss. "You have to go somewhere else to get your self-esteem built up. Kids go looking for things that are more exciting than being told every day that they're dumb and they get in trouble. I think there's a huge payback for not providing kids with what they need."
But there's hope
Learning specialists believe they now possess a key that will ultimately help struggling students, their parents, and teachers better address and manage learning problems: Each mind works differently and has its own unique strengths and weaknesses. Misunderstood Minds illustrates the emerging view that specific identification and customized management of learning differences is key to the success of the millions of children struggling in school. With mounting evidence to support this approach, it has become clear that how we choose to address these differences can have a significant impact on a student's success or failure.
Mel Levine, founder of All Kinds of Minds, a nonprofit institute for the understanding of differences in learning, and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of North Carolina Medical School in Chapel Hill, is one of the leading specialists in this field. Dr. Levine has worked extensively to help parents, teachers, and clinicians understand the way the wiring of the brain affects a child's ability to learn. He has developed a comprehensive system to identify a child's learning strengths and weaknesses, and provided strategies to help the student become more successful in school and in life.
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