Topics: Immersive Learning, College of Communication Information and Media
April 24, 2009
A Ball State University documentary about the Indiana segment of the National Road will be featured across the state with six free screenings.
"Movers and Stakers: Stories along the Indiana National Road" will debut in Muncie at 7:30 p.m. May 7 at Pruis Hall. The documentary will also be shown in Greenfield, Indianapolis, Terre Haute and Richmond.
The documentary focuses on the Indiana segment of the nation's first federally funded highway, which was commissioned in 1806 by President Thomas Jefferson and runs from Cumberland, Md., to Vandalia, Ill.
Nancy Carlson, associate professor of telecommunications, led a team of immersive learning students in the production of the full-length documentary. The team focused on telling stories about people who have lived near the Indiana segment, which stretches 156 miles from Richmond to Terre Haute.
"Many travel guides have written about the National Road, but no one has told the many human stories of building the road, living along it or traveling across it," Carlson said. "You can read the information, but to hear from the families and workers who have lived on the National Road – it makes the stories come alive."
"Movers and Stakers: Stories along the Indiana National Road" will not only air on public television, but will also be used in visitor centers, touch screen kiosks, museums and schools. To watch the trailer and learn more about the documentary, visit www.nationalroadfilm.com.
The project is funded through a National Scenic Byways Grant from the Federal Highway Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
By Hillary Tribbett