Learn about Helen Keller's work toward special education and reform in this video from the AMERICAN MASTERS documentary Becoming Helen Keller. Using video, discussion questions, teaching tips and an activity focused the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), students learn about the history of the critical law that ensures free public education to children with disabilities in the United States and provides special education and related services to those children. Support materials are provided. [1:07]

Examine Helen Keller's activism and humanitarian work during WWII and in its aftermath in this video. Through video, discussion questions, teaching tips and an activity, students learn more about disabled WWII soldiers. The activity also asks students to think critically about Keller's work by analyzing a letter she wrote to a friend describing her experience visiting Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the horror and devastation of the atomic bombs. Includes three video clips. [2:00]

For many Americans today, snapping a photo is as easy as pulling out a smartphone. However, that digital photo is the result of decades of experimentation and development, from first forays into bulky and difficult-to-use professional cameras to instant-photo Polaroids. Since the advent and eventual commercialization of photography throughout the nineteenth century, cameras have continuously redefined the American publicåÕs conception of how images and history can be captured and shared. Looking to the early cameras of the 1800s to todayåÕs cell phones and social networking apps, this exhibition explores how the personal camera has shaped American consciousness and culture over the course of its development. This exhibition was created as part of the DPLAåÕs Digital Curation Program by the following students as part of Dr. Joan E. Beaudoin's course "Metadata in Theory and Practice" in the School of Library and Information Science at Wayne State University: Ellen Tisdale, Rachel Baron Singer, Amanda Seppala, Michell Geysbeek, and Jay Purrazzo.

Love it or hate it, the romance novel is the highest grossing literary genre. Its history is long and winding, and romance novels are full of tropes reflected upon its history. It has been the subject of intrigue, derision, and shame in literary discourse long before the modern genre as we know it existed. [5:52]

Young Adult Fiction (YA) is dominating literature, and more young people are reading now than ever before. Lindsay Ellis explores how YA carved a place in publishing with It's Lit! from PBS Digital Studios. [5:43]

This video [5:28] essay focuses on Which is better, the book or the movie? Explore the question with Lindsay Ellis in It's Lit! from PBS Digital Studios.

What makes a book important? Why are some books required reading in high school, while others are lost to history? Check out this video essay. [5:46]

While science fiction is associated with Mars, robots, and cyberpunk, its origin story is shaped throughout several centuries. Check out the origin of science fiction with Lindsay Ellis in this video. [6:09]

This screencast tutorial introduces how to format film and television program sources in an MLA bibliography and provides a variety of examples. It is 1 of 3 in the series titled "MLA Bibliography: Film or Television Sources." [5:53]

Learn how the film The Miracle Worker shifted Helen Keller's cultural and historical significance in this resource from the AMERICAN MASTERS film Becoming Helen Keller. Using video, discussion questions, teaching tips, and a primary source analysis activity, students explore Keller's legacy--focusing on her connection to important historical events and individuals in American history. [3:51]

Learn about the life and political activism of Helen Keller, one of the 20th century's human rights pioneers, in the AMERICAN MASTERS documentary Becoming Helen Keller. Utilizing video, discussion questions, teaching tips, and a classroom activity, students examine Progressive Era political movements including socialism, women's suffrage, worker's rights, and pacifism - and why Keller was drawn to them. This site includes three short video clips. [1:28]

In this video [5:17] from the American Masters film Ralph Ellison: An American Journey, scholars discuss the influence of the Harlem Renaissance on Ellison's writing. Alain Locke's "The New Negro," jazz music, and painter Aaron Douglas are all highlighted for their role in shaping the famous author's sensibilities. Teaching materials are included.

In this video [5:00] from the American Masters film Ralph Ellison: An American Journey, scholars discuss conflicts between Ralph Ellison and the leaders of the Black Arts Movement. Ellison was often criticized for prioritizing aesthetics over politics, putting him at odds with a younger generation of Black artists who had lost faith in the integrationist ideals of an earlier era. Teaching materials are included.

In this video [0:42] from the American Masters film Ralph Ellison: An American Journey, Robert O'Meally discusses the author's unique approach to writing. This resource is best used in a class or lesson on fiction writing.

Students view minutes 0:35 to 0:45 from Romeo and Juliet (Luhrmann) and explore the director's choices to develop themes within the film.

Students compare Romeo and Juliet: Act II, Scene 2 from three different versions of the story.

The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is a historically violent American organization that has operated in three periods to promote white supremacy and white nationalism and resist immigration. Founded after the Civil War as a secret society by Confederate generals, the First Klan‰Ûªs primary focus was subverting Republican Reconstruction policies and preventing emancipated African Americans from receiving the benefits of citizenship. Despite its success disrupting black political participation through threats and actual violence, federal government efforts to suppress the Klan in 1870-1871 forced in a major decline in its activities.

The romance between Edward and Elinor is, for many, the heart of Sense and Sensibility, and Edward's proposal serves as the climax of the 2008 Masterpiece adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. From the moment Edward arrives at the cottage, there is a palpable sense of suspense. As the scene unfolds-Edward declares his love and Elinor accepts amidst tears of joy-the happiness that the characters experience is so real and powerful that we find ourselves cheering them on. [2:15]

Learn about the tools (e.g., terms, concepts, and features) utilized to help make the AMERICAN MASTERS film Becoming Helen Keller accessible for people who are blind or have low vision, are deaf or hard of hearing, or a combination of both. Using video, discussion questions and a handout, students gain a greater understanding of how people who are deaf, blind, or on the deaf-blind spectrum experience television and video. [4:44]

These excerpts appeared in "Time Magazine" between 1967 and 1968 and reveal the country's frustration with the growing influence of the sixties counterculture.