During the last years of my college teaching, I became interested in International education and developed several contemporary international film and culture modules that were very successful.

Over the many years that I have taught these modules, I became convinced that students at every age level were better able to understand a foreign culture through film narratives.

Once students could associate a human event (a love story, an action narrative, a psychological conflict, a tragedy etc.) with a particular culture or historical events, they were much more able to understand a foreign culture. History and culture were no longer about memorizing dates or troop movements; they were real, intimate, and highly personal.

I remain convinced that it is through stories that human beings have more psychological access to other cultures, barring, of course, real, personal contact with someone from another culture. A story, in my judgment, is the next best thing.

It is my sincere hope that you will deepen your understanding of other cultures through these modules and film narratives.