Seeing Birds

Dale Kennedy and Doug White, Albion College Biology Department Emeriti.

Thursdays, 2 – 4:00 pm, May 2, 9, 23, 30 Bohm Theatre and May 16 Whitehouse Nature Center. In person. Class size unlimited.

This course will explore the various ways people relate to wild birds through a series of films and documentaries presented in the Bohm. It includes a guided bird walk in the Whitehouse Nature Center.

The screenings will include:

• Week 1: The Birds. In this Alfred Hitchcock film from 1963, nature in the form of birds famously exacts revenge for the mistreatment of the female characters.
• Week 2: Birders, the Central Park effect (2012) and My Life as a Turkey (2011). These documentaries show, respectively, the transformative power of urban bird watching, and the astounding insights gained from “parenting” wild turkeys.
• Week 3: Meet at Whitehouse Nature Center for a bird walk.
• Week 4: The Big Year (2011). This comic drama based on a non-fiction book exposes obsessive, competitive “birding.”
• Week 5: Winged Migration (2001). In this lyrical film the audience joins migrating birds in flight.

Links to short articles and videos will be provided to give context and relevance to the films.

There is a $10 charge to help cover the cost of the theatre rental.