April 13, 2009. CCNMTL, with partners from Georgetown University, Project Rebirth, and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, hosted a special event entitled Learning from Disaster: Film and Understanding Our Resiliency in Miller Theatre on Wednesday, April 15th at 6:30 pm. The event focused on Project Rebirth, a documentary film about the recovery of nine individuals deeply affected by the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Filmmaker Jim Whitaker discussed the film and introduced a 30-minute preview of the film and Dr. John DeGioia, president of Georgetown University, led a panel discussion with Whitaker and faculty from Columbia University and Georgetown University who are using the archive of interview footage in innovative pedagogical ways.

Faculty panelists Katherine Shear of the Columbia School of Social Work and George Bonanno of Teachers College discussed how they have designed web-based assignments that enable students to engage in a close viewing of the archive and analyze effects of trauma and methods of coping. Georgetown University faculty from American studies (Bernard Cook) and English (Randall Bass) discussed how they have used the same archive in film and English courses.

Read more about CCNMTL's work with Project Rebirth in the press release, With Project Rebirth Columbia and Georgetown Offer Students a Closer Look at Post 9-11 Recovery or visit the Project Rebirth website. If you have any questions, please contact Dana Hoover at 212-854-4407 or dhoover@columbia.edu.