November 17, 2011

New documentary featuring Harding University in Greece

Harding University International Programs recently launched a new documentary spotlighting the University’s campus in Athens, Greece. This new feature film gives the viewer a closer look at the life of a University student studying there.

The Harding University in Greece (HUG) documentary is the second film in a series that began in 2010. During their time at Harding University, alumni Nick Michael and Tyler Jones spent a semester studying at the University’s international campus in Florence, Italy (HUF). Michael and Jones, having experienced Renaissance through culture, discovery and learning, returned with a desire to share their story of transformation. They met with Dr. Jack Shock, chair of the department of mass communication; Dr. Mike James, director of HUG; and Dr. Jeff Hopper, dean of International Programs, and the idea of creating documentaries to highlight international campuses was born. The HUF campus was the first featured program.

“After we finished the HUF documentary, it was clear that we didn’t want this to be a one program thing,” Jeremy Daggett, international programs administrator, said. “So we started thinking about what might be the natural next program to feature and picked HUG as it’s the only other program that we operate year-round.”

Michael and Jones were joined by alumni Mark Slagle and Kelsey Michael along with Maribeth Browning to work on the HUG documentary. After graduating, the group formed 1504 Pictures, which produced the documentary that was filmed throughout the spring 2011 semester.

The full feature is approximately 35 minutes and includes four main chapters and a postscript. Athens, Israel, Turkey, Greece and Egypt are shown through the perspective of several students as they experience HUG and are transformed through the process. To view the full-length feature, visit HUGreece.squarespace.com.

Within 24 hours of posting the documentary, more than 1,000 views accumulated. HUG alumni, prospective students, and those currently enlisted to study abroad expressed great excitement about the videos. According to Daggett, HUG alumni word of mouth combined with the documentary has produced a “spark of interest” among viewers.

Daggett added that the ultimate goal of this project is to eventually produce a documentary for each of the seven semester-long international programs. 1504 Pictures will produce the next documentary featuring Harding University Latin America in spring 2012. Featured areas include Chile, Patagonia, Machu Picchu, Amazon, Easter Island and Atacama.

“Each program is unique,” Daggett said, “and the story being told is different on each program.”