Open Courses in Hilversum

Soaps and Society - Making Broadcast Drama for Development

 

Course dates: September 12th – December 2nd, 2011 (12 weeks)
Media: Radio and Television
Type of Diploma: Certificate
RNTC application deadline: 1st December 2010
Embassy and NFP application deadline: 1st February 2011

Deadline non fellowship applicants: July 1st, 2011

Download the full information sheet

 

Summary:

 

Course Aim
To strengthen the capacity of broadcast drama writers and programme-makers and of the organisations they work for to design, write and produce broadcast drama serials which can help to raise public awareness and change attitudes on issues to do with the development of their societies.

 

Harnessing the power of popular drama
Some of the problems facing societies around the world today require a change of attitude and ultimately of behaviour in people within those societies if they are to be surmounted. Issues to do with health and the environment are cases in point. Domestic violence is another. Worldwide the rising incidence of violence in the home and the number of deaths from unsafe water, from alcohol, drugs, smoking and AIDS are evidence of how prevailing attitudes and patterns of behaviour are an obstacle to attempts by experts and educators to persuade people to change.

Raising awareness by giving clear and accurate information about the risks and consequences of certain behaviour is a start but is not enough in itself. The reasons and the underlying emotions which determine why and how people act as they do have to be addressed as well. And this is notoriously difficult to do. Attitudes are deep-seated. Well-established habits die hard.

 

Used effectively – often in collaboration with specialists and educators - the broadcast media can make a contribution to the development of societies by raising awareness and changing attitudes. And there is perhaps no more effective means for them to do so than the long-running serial drama such as the ‘soap’. It is a form of drama with a proven ability to attract and retain a wide audience; it enables viewers and listeners to identify with characters and situations taken from daily life; and it speaks to them more directly than informative programming because it addresses the underlying motives and emotions that universally determine human attitudes and behaviour. In many parts of the world the ‘soap’ has shown that it can be a powerful means not only to attract and entertain large audiences but also to educate and to engage them on issues of importance to the development of their societies.   

 

This is only the summary. Download the full information sheet here.

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