Albert Schweitzer: Darkness And Light

This documentary examines the life and work of Albert Schweitzer. Specifically, it explores the controversy surrounding Schweitzer. Widely acclaimed as a humanitarian, theologian and pacifist, Schweitzer epitomized the selfless missionary in the first half of the twentieth century. His fame was worldwide, and he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952. But as the 1960s changed the political consciousness of the world, Schweitzer became the symbol of an antiquated colonialism, one whose paternalism rested on a racial hierarchy of white domination of African countries and peoples. Using archival footage, along with interviews with scholars and contemporaries, Albert Schweitzer: Darkness and Light provides a balanced presentation of both schools of thought. Albert Schweitzer: Darkness and Light would be useful for classes on World History, African History, African Culture, Cultural Anthropology and Ethics. It is appropriate for middle school and high school.

• abomination
• accrued
• adulation
• anachronism
• antediluvian
• appalling
• autocrat
• axiom
• benighted
• cadre
• context
• contradict
• critical
• despot
• equivalent
• famine
• heathen
• humanitarian
• iconography
• ideological
• impervious
• jeopardized
• metaphorical
• pacifist
• parsonage
• paternalistic
• periphery
• prestigious
• provincial
• provocative
• sage
• skeptical
• theology
• tuberculosis
• venue
• vocation

1. We sometimes make a judgement on our first impressions. What is a first impression? Why are they so important in forming opinions? How can they lead to an inaccurate conclusion about someone or something?

2. During the first half of the twentieth century, especially in the 1940s and 1950s, the world held a high opinion of Albert Schweitzer. Why was Schweitzer so revered and respected?

3. Schweitzer's reputation changed in the 1960s. What happened to his reputation and what changed the way people viewed him?

4. How did this change in Schweitzer's reputation reflect the change in the times and political attitudes?

5. How did Albert Schweitzer represent the relationship between Europe and Africa?

6. Victorian images of Africans and African-Americans revealed the ways in which Europeans and white Americans thought they were racially superior to Africans and African-Americans. Discuss some of this imagery. What are some examples of this imagery? Do these kind of images still exist today?

7. Albert Schweitzer was a theologian, physician, and musical expert. He could have led a very charmed life in Europe. Why did he choose to leave Europe to go to Africa? What is colonialism? How has it affected the world's politics? What are some examples of colonialism?

8. How did Schweitzer raise the money he needed for his hospitals?

9. Why did Schweitzer become so famous?

1. Create a poster or chart that illustrates the two different opinions of Albert Schweitzer and his work.

2. Imagine that you are a journalist when Albert Scweitzer dies in 1965. Write an obituary for him. How would your obituary reflect your views of Scweitzer?

3. Moderate a class discussion that debates whether Albert Schweitzer was a selfless humanitarian or a paternalistic colonizer.