Lights, Camera, Action! Engaging Students on Ethics and Values Through Film

Brian D. Till

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Lights, Camera, Action! Engaging Students on Ethics and Values Through Film

Brian D. Till

Marquette University, USA

Volume 20: 2023 pp. 103-116: ABSTRACT

There is a long tradition of the value of using film as a pedagogical tool. Such use spans a variety of business disciplines including organizational behavior (Smith 2009), accounting (Bay & Felton, 2012), business ethics (Fisher, Grant & Palmer, 2015) and cultural competency (Greene, Barden, Richardson & Hall, 2014). Presented here is a recently developed course, Business in Film, which engages students in deep reflection on business issues with an emphasis on ethics and values. The course is structured around a weekly film (mix of dramas and documentaries), 15 weeks, 15 films covering approximately 40 years. For each film, students prepare a 2-3 page reflection paper. Student feedback has been consistently positive, with comments along the themes of a greater appreciation of the intersection between business and the human experience, bringing to life ethical considerations, and a greater appreciation of the historical context of business events.
Keywords: pedagogical tool, ethics, film, deep reflection.