Academics

As a scholar of film, media, and theater, my teaching philosophy always centers on the media form, or that which makes a medium unique from others. My course on film, for example, begins with a review of elementary categories such as cinematography, editing, narrative, mise-en-scène, and sound design. Understanding these principles unlocks an appreciation for the ways in which the film form conveys meaning, gripping the audience in laughter or terror through an array of literary and filmic devices. This instructs methods for conceptually dividing form from content, allowing one to define the ways media conveys meaning, and the dialectic processes occurring between these polarities. Delivering critical strategies for scrutinizing one's perception of "real life," this method allows students to consider the ways they have been influenced by the ambient media infiltrating every nook of the quotidian.