On this week’s episode of BeyondU, OKWU professor of history Julie Hufstetler to discuss this year’s Oscar nominated films Oppenheimer and Zone of Interest. Both films are set in the World War II period, and Hufstetler talks about why this period of history continues to resonate with audiences all these years later. You’ll enjoy this conversation about film and history!

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

02:20 Teaching History through Storytelling

03:13 The Banality of Evil and Ordinary Perpetrators

05:31 The Appeal of Movies about History and World War II

09:27 The Importance of Visual Media in History Education

10:21 Zone of Interest: Depicting the Holocaust

13:46 The Banality of Evil and Hannah Arendt

23:39 The Power of Individual Stories

32:19 Oppenheimer: Pursuit of Scientific Achievement

39:11 Lessons from History and Human Nature

41:36 Finding Hope in Studying History

42:25 Historically Inaccurate Movies: Victoria and Pearl Harbor