September 15, 2009. This past weekend, Project Rebirth filmmaker and founder Jim Whitaker discussed the film's pending release on CBS Unplugged and in the Huffington Post. Project Rebirth chronicles the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site and follows nine people recovering from the aftermath of 9/11. Whitaker has partnered with CCNMTL and Georgetown University to create the Project Rebirth Educational Initiative to enable students and faculty in a wide range of fields to explore and learn from the documentary.

Using the CCNMTL-developed video analysis tool, VITAL (Video Interactions for Teaching and Learning), students in social work, psychology, film, architecture, and English courses at both universities are exploring hundreds of hours of footage from the Project Rebirth film library. Katherine Shear of the Columbia School of Social Work and George Bonanno of Teachers College discussed at the last University Seminar on New Media Teaching and Learning how they have designed web-based assignments for students to engage in a close viewing of the archive and analyze effects of trauma and methods of coping. View the full video of this event. For more information about Project Rebirth at Columbia, visit the Project Rebirth educational site.