Silent Film Fridays: Where The Films Are Silent and The Hosts Are Not

Movies, history, cultural studies, with a touch of MST3k. We meet up on Friday nights at 7 pm Eastern over on Twitch. Past episodes are free on Patreon.

Twitch: www.twitch.tv/atk42games ||| Patreon: www.patreon.com/user?u=87354...

10th Annual History Across the Humanities Conference

Keynote: “Have Pastport, Will Travel: Public and Personal Histories”

Youngstown State University, 22 Feb 2024

2024 Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association National Conference

Presentation: “Mom said We Descended from a Cherokee Princess:” Genealogy and the Search for American Roots.

Chicago, IL, March 2024

A Celebration of Star Wars: Episode XI: The Conference Strikes Back

Presentation: “Star Wars’ Theater of the Mind: The NPR Star Wars Audio Dramas”

DePaul University, Chicago, IL, 4 May 2024

TrekWars podcast

Guest on episode “Lair of Grievous (Star Wars: The Clone Wars) versus Plato’s Stepchildren (Star Trek: The Original Series)” ( https://www.trekwarspod.com/platos-stepchildren-vs-lair-of-grievous/ ). Released 16 Aug 2024

Offered Spring 2024

This course will provide a critical introduction to many of the key theoretical ideas and historical contexts informing the development of science fiction on film. Focusing on a number of significant films from the history of cinema, this course will define what constitutes science fiction as a film genre. We will consider science fiction film’s function as a mode for exploring ideas and hypotheses, both about the future and, by reflection, about our present. We will also engage with debates about the status of science fiction on film in relation to science fiction in other media and looking at the relationships viewers and readers have with science fiction texts.

Films used in the course included La Voyage Dans La Lune (1902, dir. Georges Melies), Frankenstein (1910, Edison Studios), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1912, Thanhouser Company), Metropolis (1927, dir. Fritz Lang), the 1936 Flash Gordon serial, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941, dir. Victor Fleming), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951, dir. Robert Wise), La Jeteé (1962, dir. Chris Marker), The Time Machine (1960, dir George Pal), Logan’s Run (1976, dir. Michael Anderson), Alien (1979, dir. Ridley Scott), Brother From Another Planet (1984, dir. John Sayles), Akira (1988, dir. Katsuhiro Otomo), Galaxy Quest (1999, dir. Dean Parisot), and Star Trek (2009, dir. J.J. Abrams).

Offered Fall and Spring terms.

This course is an introduction to the study of various forms of media as they relate to Popular Culture Studies. This course is aimed at the general student who wishes to learn about the history and development of such media forms as television, film, popular music, radio, internet, advertising and how they reflect and influence American culture. This course will also introduce students to cultural studies approaches of examining the media to learn how to think critically about the mass media and its connection/relation to popular culture. A variety of readings, television programs, films, sound recordings/music videos, radio programs, websites, advertisements and other cultural forms will be analyzed from a historical and cultural point of view. As this is an introductory course, this course will hopefully inspire you to take other courses related to these topics in the Department of Popular Culture. At the end of this course, you should have a keen grasp of the historical, cultural, and theoretical issues surrounding media scholarship and popular culture. It should be noted that some of the material in this course may be adult in nature.

Offered Fall and Spring terms.

This course is an introduction to the topic of popular film. From cinema’s earliest days, movies delighted, entertained, dismayed, or sometimes shocked audiences – but always reflected something of the world in which they were made and the people who made them. Popular films are artifacts of their time and studying these films from a cultural and critical perspective offers students the opportunity to be part film critic, part cultural studies scholar, and part historian. The purpose of this course is to explore the development of film as a medium that incorporated current events, technological advances, social movements, cultural trends, and often critiques into reflections of society. This purpose will be fulfilled through lecture, discussion, the assigned materials, and film viewing. It should be noted that some of the material in this course may be adult in nature.

ACS 2000: Introduction to American Culture Studies

ACS 2500: Cultural Pluralism in the United States

ACS 3000/POPC 4600: American Consumer Culture (online)

HIST 2600: Modern America, 1867-Present (in person and online)

HIST 4260: The American Civil War and Reconstruction (team-taught)

POPC 3500: Advanced Topics Course on Film

Topics

Time Travel

Science Fiction

American Mythologies

Global Animation