A film for secondary school students on women’s experiences of working in the Magdalene Laundries, developed by the Department of Religious Studies has been shortlisted in two categories for the Learning on Screen Awards 2014.
The film, produced in collaboration with the leading developer of on-line educational content TrueTube, focuses on the account of Gabrielle, a former Magdalene resident, and explores her experience of admission and forced incarceration within the institution. Designed to introduce secondary school students to the history of the Laundries, the film was also released with a lesson plan that examines the ways in which social stigmatisation can infringe on human rights.
The Learning on Screen awards, run by the British Universities Film and Video Council, are the only UK awards which celebrate the use of moving images for learning, teaching and research. The Magdalene Film has been nominated in the categories of ‘General Education Non-Broadcast Award’ and the ‘Courseware and Curriculum Non-Broadcast Award’.
Professor Gordon Lynch, Michael Ramsey Professor of Modern Theology, was one of the executive producers of the film. On receiving news of these nominations, Professor Lynch said ‘I’m delighted that this film continues to receive publication recognition following the successful launch of it in Dublin in 2013. The legacy of the Magdalene Laundries continues to be an important issue in Ireland, and forms part of a much wider picture of institutional practices by religious organizations that were once accepted but are now subject to serious scrutiny and criticism. By making a new generation of students aware of the history of the Laundries, we hope the film can stimulate them to ask more questions about the ways in which religious and moral certainties can have harmful effects when bound up with unaccountable forms of institutional power.’
The film itself can be viewed on TrueTube’s website at www.truetube.co.uk/film/magdalenes