In this class, students will think about and expand on their definition of what a family is by viewing and discussing short television clips that portray different types of family arrangements.

Students will discuss what they see in clips from Jim Henson's television work and will discover just how the Muppets come to life by viewing behind-the-scenes footage and making their own puppets.

As students watch a selection of short programs about the environment, they will be asked to think about ways to nurture and protect the world that surrounds them.

What happens when you take a classic fairy tale, mix up the storytelling elements, and throw in a little imagination and creativity? Students will review the basic elements of storytelling.

Explore the significance of legends, fables, and folktales from around the globe. Watch a selection of tales adapted for television and interpret the symbolism, meaning, and moral of the stories. 

Explore the ways people live, work, and play around the world. By viewing and discussing international programs, students will compare their own lives to those of children elsewhere and consider how the natural environment and local customs shape and influence people's lives.

This class introduces students to the concept of gender identity and expression by asking them to reflect on their own identity as well as the identities of popular television characters by using descriptive words that show respect for others.

What draws us to the stories of superheroes and villains? In this class, students explore the characteristics that make these popular characters so unique and compelling.

Experience the magic of animation and learn about the process behind one of television's most creative forms. Students will watch a series of clips and have the chance to create their own flip books.

As preparation for presenting a short radio play about superheroes, you will listen to old-time radio clips, learn to use antique sound effects, and develop vocal techniques to maximize dramatic effect.

By listening to a selection of radio clips, participants will learn to identify and analyze where and how sound is used to advance a story line or to create character. Then they will bring to life a story by using their voices creatively and adding sound effects and music.

Through careful analysis, students will discover the persuasive techniques developed to capture a viewer's attention in order to promote a product or idea.

This class will look critically at television programs targeted at girls which send messages, both positive and negative, about their body image and concerns.

Students will analyze director Alfred Hitchcock's use of the ordinary to create exciting, even frightening, television drama.

Students will examine how portrayals of women on television have evolved from the 1950s to the present. This class encourages participants to think about women they admire and to compare them to these fictional portrayals.

By examining the arguments and ideas put forth in a selection of environmentally focused documentaries and short films, students will discuss current environmental problems, their causes and consequences, and possible solutions to these problems.

View political advertisements from the past fifty years. Students will focus on techniques of political advertising, target audience and demographics, how advertising conveys leadership, and the role of policy in campaign ads.

This workshop, designed to support the NYCDOE’s Civics for All initiative, will focus on the role media has played as participant and observer in social movements including the Civil Rights Movement, women’s liberation, and LBGTQ rights. 

Using clips from radio and television—e.g. War of the Worlds, Star Trek, The Outer Limits, and The Twilight Zone—this workshop will explore how science fiction uses metaphor to discuss controversial political and social issues both historical and current. 

The rise of the Civil Rights Movement paralleled the growing use of television in the United States. Students will analyze clips from the Paley Archive to learn about the Civil Rights Movement.

By examining, comparing, and contrasting documentaries from the Paley Archive, students will explore the documentary form to learn how different techniques best serve individual visions and stories.

During the 1950s television emerged as the most powerful mass medium since the invention of the printing press. At this time, America was gripped with fear and anxiety about the possibilities of war and nuclear threat, and television reflected this paranoia.

Television played an unprecedented role in shaping American perceptions of the Vietnam War. Students will analyze documentaries, news, and fictional programming that depict the Vietnam War period from multiple perspectives.