Sociology

A provocative look at the Protestant and Catholic churches in Ireland, examining both the myths and realities of their legislative and educational influence on such issues as abortion, contraception, homosexuality, and women's rights.

An offbeat documentary portrait of Lily Dale, New York, one of America's oldest spiritualist communities, where just about everyone is a psychic or a medium who claims to be able to communicate with the dead. The video includes interviews with several mediums in Lily Dale and shows them as they give private readings, perform public healings, and take part in outdoor services where they receive messages "from the spirit side of life."

This short drama portrays the efforts of a young woman photographer to uncover the fragmentary and little-known history of an early nineteenth-century Puerto Rican feminist and political activist who was deported for her nationalist beliefs by the Spanish colonial government of the era.

An investigative (but frequently humorous) documentary on the surveillance activities of the New York City Police Department's Bureau of Special Services, known as the Red Squad.

A colorful and provocative survey of anarchism in America which attempts to dispel popular misconceptions and to trace its historical development, both as a native American philosophy stemming from 19th century American traditions of individualism and as a foreign ideology brought to America by immigrants. It features rare archival footage of significant personalities and events in anarchist history.

Follows the five month journey of Mike Auger, a Cree Indian from northern Canada, who travels to Bolivia to live and work with the Aymara Indians. During his visit, Mike rediscovers his native cultural roots. This strengthening of his identity enables Mike to overcome a troubled, poverty-ridden youth fueled by self-denial.

This informative video will help you discover your Native American ancestry. It lists over five hundred federally recognized American Tribes, shows how and where to research the Dawes Rolls and Native American websites to assist your genealogical search, explains how to obtain your tribal membership and a CDIB (Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood) card, and outlines benefits offered through official Native American Status.

Public interest in the secrets and scandals of TV and movie stars fuels the billion dollar a year business of tabloid journalism, one with a weekly readership of over 20,000,000 for 'supermarket tabs' such as The National Enquirer, The Star, and The Globe. This documentary goes behind the scenes to chronicle the daily activities of the editors, writers, researchers and photographers at The Globe and other leading 'tabs,' in the process revealing their working methods and journalistic philosophy.

This two-part documentary, using period graphics and photos, profiles the life and times of the legendary American newspaper publisher, Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911), who revolutionized American journalism.

This documentary examines the situation of Dominican immigration into New York City, detailing the economic pressures of unemployment and poverty in the Dominican Republic which have led to a rapidly growing Dominican community in New York, primarily in Brooklyn and the Washington Heights area of Upper Manhattan.

Examines the plight of a Kentucky tobacco farmer and his family in the face of uncertain government price support programs and a growing national antismoking campaign.

This video offers an in-depth historical examination of Connecticut's Naugatuck Valley brass industry, from its heyday to its present decline. From the mid-19th century to its peak during WWI, 'Brass Valley' produced more than half of America's brass goods, from buttons and belt buckles to auto parts, pistols and cannon shells.

This video tells the story of a hardworking, self-sufficient, fiercely independent community of fishermen and women working the waters of Virginia's Chesapeake Bay.

This video examines the world of New York City's hot-dog vendors, revealing their lifestyles, hopes and dreams, and the political struggle in which New York's Mayor Rudy Giuliani is attempting to restrict their access to the city's streets. It features interviews with a wide variety of vendors, and members of the city's Vendor Review Panel and Business Improvement District.

A dramatic portrait of immigrant life in the U.S. as seen through the eyes of the sweatshop workers who made up the Jewish anarchist movement.

During the Great Depression, 120 families of Jewish garment workers from New York City moved to the New Jersey countryside to develop a government-sponsored, agro- industrial cooperative community. This film tells the story of the cooperative community through archival footage, photos and interviews with original homesteaders and their children.

In the 1930s Jewish intellectuals who escaped Nazi Germany and immigrated to the U.S. faced an uncertain future. Confronted with anti-Semitism at American universities and a public distrust of foreigners, many sought refuge in an unlikely place-traditionally black colleges in the segregated South.

Portrays the efforts of two men-the Protestant Glen Barr, one-time political advisor to the Ulster Defense Association, and the Catholic Paddy Doherty, former spokesman for the Derry Defense Association-to overcome the bitter enmities of the past with imaginative solutions to the problems of Northern Ireland's second largest city.

Novelist Peter Quinn hosts this documentary on Irish immigration into New York City in the mid-nineteenth century. The video visits the NYC locations described in Quinn's novel, The Banished Children of Eve, combining historical photos from the 1860's with remnants of the buildings in the 1990's.

This documentary offers first-person accounts of the lives of two working-class Belfast women told against the violent history of the last twenty-five years in Northern Ireland.