When the state of Alabama executes someone, the cause of death is listed as homicide.
“The perpetrator of that murder is us, the people,” Andrew Grace, a telecommunication and film professor, said.
Several months ago, a federal defender for a capital murder case in which she believed her client was innocent approached Grace about making a documentary. After a meeting, he realized the case was too complex for the documentary film format.
“There’s so many different elements to them that it really deserves a holistic treatment that maybe my film couldn’t provide,” he said. “I began to think about ways to tell that story in a different way, not as a documentary film but as something larger.”
That “something larger” will be a new yearlong class produced from a partnership between the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility and several departments at The University of Alabama. The class, Anatomy of a Trial, will set out to create a web-based narrative telling the story of an inmate on the state of Alabama’s death row.
“Anatomy of a Trial is a completely new thing,” Grace said. “It’s a hybrid kind of new thing. It takes a lot of the same principles and techniques of [CESR course] ‘Documenting Justice,’ but it’s a different class altogether.”
Grace and journalism professor Chip Brantley will teach Anatomy of a Trial for the first time next year. Brantley said the class is really a service-learning course, and while expectations have been set, not even he knows exactly what they will find.
“It’s a discovery process. Students need to be willing to commit to that process, which is tricky when you’re not exactly sure what you’re going to find. I think that’s what makes the course exciting,” Brantley said. “It takes a real comOVERSET FOLLOWS:mitment of time and empathy and real-world professionalism that a lot of classroom classes don’t offer or require of students.”
Grace said the beginning of the class will focus on creating a “structural framework” that familiarizes students with the legal process.
“We’ll be doing a lot of reading and documentary viewing,” Grace said. “Students will not only be investigating this case, they’ll be learning about other work that people have undertaken over the years.”
From there, students will investigate the case in depth and work to create a web-based, multimedia narrative about the case. Grace said the class could require a large time commitment but is a significant opportunity for students to engage in their community.
“[Do not] think of this so much as a class but as a professional project,” Brantley said. “We’re assembling a team. Within that team, people will have very defined roles. The expectations across the board will be the same, but people will be participating in different ways.”
Brantley said he hopes the team will ultimately include “different types of thinkers,” resulting in an inter-disciplinary team. While some will be interviewing at a prison, others will be programming.
“Traditionally, we think of the reporter and the editor and maybe the photographer,” Brantley said. “We don’t think as much traditionally about the designer and the programmer, and I think more and more this is what you have these teams of people who come together to create this one story or one site.”
Together, that team will set out to answer questions not only about the technical details within the case but the story behind it – for example, the circumstances behind the crime and the appeals process behind the case.
“I think right now the goal is to really honestly and accurately tell what often times is a very confusing and complicated story,” Grace said. “[We’re doing it to] bring light to a system that affects us all and that we’re all implicated in.”
Though the exact outcome of the class is hard to predict, Grace said the students in the class can expect “the opportunity to create a significant change.”
“We’re going to have to explain to students the gravity of the project they’re undertaking,” Grace said. “Few classes offer students the opportunity to create something really tangible that will have real-world impact. They will explore a world they’ve probably never thought about or encountered before.”
Grace said “Anatomy of a Trial” coordinators will be looking for sincere students who are committed to the unique aspects of the class and the good that can come of it – “students who are passionate about story-telling.” Brantley points to the class’s collaborative nature as an emulation of past successes (for example, the New York Times’ award-winning web-based narrative “Snow Fall,” about an avalanche) and a sign of things to come.
“Everyone’s going to bring their expertise and responsibility. That definitely is the future,” Brantley said. “[Those committed to it] want to do a story justice.”
Applications for the class will be accepted at trial.ua.edu until spots are filled.
