Andalusian Doug

Feb 7 2011 Not Rated 1h 6m
Biography, Documentary, News

Academic freedom vs. religious conservatism: How one small town university professor battles social norms and challenges students to think outside the box. When two former students charged Eastern Illinois University music professor Douglas DiBianco with sexual harassment, they set off a media firestorm in the small town of Charleston, Illinois. Described as impishly provocative, DiBianco is known to use shocking language and radical extraneous content to force students out of their comfort zones, opening them up to the possibility that art doesn't have to be pretty to be valuable. But with the threat of a lawsuit because of his morally objectionable lectures looming, Andalusian Doug examines the conflict between liberal discussions and religious conservatism in academia, whether censorship should exist within a secular university, and if DiBianco was wrongfully marginalized because of his radical teaching methods.

Plot

Meet Douglas DiBianco, colorful and controversial professor of music at Eastern Illinois University. Throughout his tenure at the school, DiBianco's curriculum has evolved to include not just core course material, but references to radical artists such as Otto Muehl and GG Allin. He claims that in order for his students to judge any art form, they must first be familiar with its most radical examples. Described as "impishly provocative", DiBianco uses shocking language and content to force students out of their comfort zones, opening them to the possibility that art doesn't have to be pretty to be valuable. During his lectures, he draws upon vast amounts of extraneous material, as well as stories from his personal life to both challenge and broaden his students' pre-conceived notions of art, music and film. Over the years, students and faculty have spoken out, condemning his unconventional subject matter and teaching style. In the mid-90s, DiBianco even became embroiled in a sexual harassment suit, brought by two students who claimed he created "a hostile environment in the classroom" by introducing material they found morally objectionable and irrelevant to the course. Andalusian Doug examines the conflict between liberal discussions and religious conservatism in academia, whether censorship has a place within a secular university, and if DiBianco was wrongfully marginalized because of his radical teaching methods.

Written by

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Directed by

Craig Irving, Rob Kleiner

Awards

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Scores
# of Votes
14
Average Rating
7.3 out of 10
Metascore
NA
Popularity
NA