Lights, Camera, Civics!

Concord, NH --The NH Institute for Civics Education is looking for an education-oriented lawyer in each NH county to work with an educator and a youth leader to organize and lead a local film showing and discussion.

Please contact Martha Madsen at martha@constitutionallyspeakingnh.org  if you are interested in participating in Lights, Camera, and Civics in 2019! 

Movies help us to experience and understand each other and the world around us. They educate and enlighten us.  And, they can lead to a meaningful and much-needed discourse.

*Lights, Camera, Civics! *hopes to be a catalyst for such conversations*.

Not only is there division in our country and state over a multitude of issues, within our own communities there is a lack of connection among people of different ages and viewpoints. In our schools, civics education – which requires consideration of multiple perspectives and individual and group reflection - has taken a back seat to standardized testing and STEM subjects and skills.

The New Hampshire Humanities has awarded a Community Project Grant to the NH Institute for Civics Education for film screenings in all ten NH counties to start multigenerational conversations about law, justice, and civics. Through *Lights, Camera, Civics, *one film will be offered each year, chosen to appeal to a range of ages and demographics. Local teams made up of a lawyer, a teacher, and a high school student will lead these community discussions.

The film selected for 2019 is *To Kill A Mockingbird*.    The kick-off event will take place on Sunday, January 27, 2019 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Warren B. Rudman Center for Justice, Leadership, and Public Service at UNH School of Law in Concord, NH. A light lunch will be provided.

There will be a facilitated conversation after the screening, led by Colby Sawyer College humanities professor and film expert Pat Anderson; Attorney Dina Michael Chaitowitz, former appellate chief of the United State Attorney’s Office in Boston; and Concord High senior Julia Peabody-Harhigh.

“Having taught college film classes for decades,” Anderson says, “I can attest to the impact which this powerful art form can have on viewers – how it can serve as a catalyst for meaningful and thought-provoking conversations.”

Questions posed to participants might range from “How do we reconcile the differences (at times) between justice, mercy and law? What can we do when we believe a law is unjust?” to “Jim Crow laws codified segregation. What are some examples of Jim Crow in this film? Do we have an integrated society today?”

For more information on the January kick-off or how to get involved in this project in your county, contact Martha Madsen, President of New Hampshire Institute for Civics Education, by email at
*martha@constitutionallyspeakingnh.org


* This event is free but pre-registration is required.