Sunday we leave for Bethlehem, PA to interview Dr. Katherine Ramsland for our documentary! We are so excited!
Do you know about this amazing woman? She has published 34 books and over 900 articles, and is the chair of Social Sciences at DeSales University. She teaches forensic psychology, profiling, forensic science, and serial murder classes.
Here's the thing: We realized early on in this documentary film project that Frances Glessner Lee - the creator of the Nutshells Studies of Unexplained Death - is part of the soul of our project. We asked ourselves if she were a man, would we feel differently about the Nutshells? And the answer is yes. The Nutshells would have been less amazing if a man, who would have easily been accepted in the "Legal Medicine" realm of the 1930s and 1940s, created them. FGL co-opted an accepted pastime for a woman of her social position (creating miniatures) in the era, and turned it into crime fighting tools that are still used today - mostly by men.
Sure, woman are making huge strides in forensic science, but the death investigations realm is still dominated by men. I believe that Katherine Ramsland is helping to level the playing field and helping young female student at DeSales see greater potential for themselves.
So this begs the question - would we want to interview Katherine if she was a man? The answer is a most definite yes! Her work speaks for itself! Does the fact that she is a woman, who is outpacing many of her male counterparts make her more interesting? Absolutely!
There much more to say about our upcoming shoot. More soon!
