Happy Holidays from all of us at MCS!

From all of us at the Media and Cinema Studies Program, we wish you all the best this holiday season and in the new year! Next December, why not consider taking Prof. Blair Davis' "MCS 353: Bah Humbug! - Analyzing Christmas Media Texts" course? Students analyze a wide range of classic Christmas films and TV shows using various media studies methodologies. It's the perfect way to get into the holiday spirit... with such topics as "How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Semiotics"! "Elf and Psychoanalysis"! "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Marxist Analysis"! "A Christmas Carol and Cultural Studies"! "A Charlie Brown Christmas and Religious Studies"! "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians and Paracinema"! 

"Films like It’s a Wonderful Life and programs like A Charlie Brown Christmas are commonly among the most re-watched media texts for most people – we watch them more often over the course of a lifetime than most other movies and shows," says Prof. Davis. "In turn, it would seem natural that we should critically analyze these media texts that we regularly return to in the same ways that we seek to find the cultural, aesthetic and/or political meanings inherent in popular Hollywood blockbusters and prime-time television series. But should Christmas media texts only be consumed emotionally rather than intellectually? Does studying these beloved films and shows somehow rob them of their joy, or does this process have just as many intellectual rewards as when we analyze more traditional media texts?" he asks.

image courtesy of cbs.com

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, he argues for instance, is “an enlightening tale of class politics at work at the North Pole that benefits from a Marxist analysis of how labor is represented… when Hermey the elf and Rudolph declare themselves to be a ‘couple of misfits,’ each rejects their class designations to declare a new identity, one which is not tied to the division of labor at the north pole. When the Abominable (or the Bumble) is finally welcomed at the North Pole it is because he is the only one who can put the star on top of the Christmas tree. So in other words, once he has unique labor potential, he becomes a useful part of North Pole society.”

"MCS 353: Bah Humbug! - Analyzing Christmas Media Texts" is offered as a fully online course in the December intersession term, and Prof. Davis plans to offer it again in December 2015.

Prof. Kessler at the Television Academy Foundation Faculty Seminar in Los Angeles

Media and Cinema Studies Professor Kelly Kessler recently attended a week-long stay in Los Angeles at the Television Academy Foundation Faculty Seminar.

The seminar chooses 20 faculty members annually to be flown out to Los Angeles for an intensive week of lectures and studio tours with those working within the television industry, such as producers, writers, directors, editors and entertainment lawyers. Kessler met with industry professionals and other academics working together to bridge the gap between production and the classroom. Kessler noted how the seminar gave her “some great info to take back to our students… Basically, it's a week of us learning more about how the television industry works by talking to industry folks and seeing how the industry works.”

“I went to an amazing talk being given as part of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender and Media and had a really great talk with her about the divide between industry and academia. It was pretty amazing,” says Kessler.

Chicago Film Seminar Opening Event Thurs. Nov 13

The Media and Cinema Studies program is proud to host the Chicago Film Seminar again this year, with the opening event held this Thursday November 13th.

A dialogue across silent cinema authors, forms, and contexts 

Thursday, November 13th   6:30 pm, Room LL102, Daley Bldg., 14. E. Jackson St., Chicago.

Michael Cowan, Associate Professor of German Studies in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures and William Dawson Scholar in Film and Visual Studies

McGill University

Author of Walter Ruttmann and the Cinema of Multiplicity (Amsterdam University Press, 2014)

-and-

Tami Williams, Assistant Professor of English and Film Studies

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Author of Germaine Dulac: A Cinema of Sensations (University of Illinois Press, 2014)

Moderated by

Ariel Rogers, Assistant Professor in the Department of Radio/Film/Television

Northwestern University

Author of Cinematic Appeals: The Experience of New Movie Technologies 

(Columbia University Press, 2013)

Hope to see you there!

Prof. Luisela Alvaray is a Chicago Film Festival Jury Member!

MCS Professor Luisela Alvaray has been chosen as a jury member for the 2014 Chicago Film Festival, which runs October 9 to 23. She will serve on the documentary film jury, helping to choose the festival's top documentary from among such films as Algren (USA, Dir. Michael Caplan), A Dream of Iron (South Korea/USA, Dir. Kelvin Kyung Kun Park), Hotel Nueva Isla (Cuba/Spain, Dir. Irene Gutierrez) and Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles (USA, Dir. Chuck Workman). This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Chicago Film Festival, held at the AMC River East 21. Congratulations, Luisela!

MCS Graduate Program Alumni Career Outcomes

The College of Communication regularly provides updates on the career outcomes of its alumni. Our graduate students in the Media and Cinema Studies program have gone on to a wide range of careers involving film, television, digital media, marketing, media literacy as well as doctoral studies.

For profiles on several of our MCS alumni and their career paths following graduation, please see the link below:

MCS Grad Program Alumni Career Outcomes

Prof. Blair Davis CBC Radio Interview on 'So-Bad-They're-Good' Movies

Professor Blair Davis was interviewed for the CBC Radio program "Day 6" about movies that are 'So-bad-they're-good'. He was part of a panel with Tasha Robinson, a senior editor at The Dissolve. The full interview is available here:

                                 http://www.cbc.ca/day6/blog/2014/07/23/good-bad-films/

Prof. Luisela Alvaray featured in Summer 2014 issue of DePaul Magazine

MCS Professor Luisela Alvaray's teaching is featured in the latest issue of DePaul Magazine. Her Media & Cultural Studies undergraduate class shared their research on the AMC program "Breaking Bad" at the College of Communication's symposium 'DePaul Talks: Making Meaning of Violence'. The article is entitled "A Cultural Study of Breaking Bad."

                    http://depaulmagazine.com/2014/08/11/a-cultural-study-of-breaking-bad/

Blog coverage of Prof. Blair Davis's PCA presentation

The blog Playing With Research features coverage of a presentation given by MCS Professor Blair Davis at the Popular Culture Association's annual national convention in April 2014 in Chicago. Davis gave a talk entitled "'Crashing Through': Comics and Adaptation in Classical Hollywood."


"Comics Adaptations Causing Fractured Fandom"

New Book by Prof. Michael DeAngelis: Reading the Bromance

Congratulations to MCS Prof. Michael DeAngelis, whose book Reading the Bromance: Homosocial Relationships in Film and Television is being released this week by Wayne State University Press:

Reading the Bromance

image courtesy of Wayne State University Press

This anthology of essays explores the social and cultural functions of the bromance phenomenon across numerous contemporary films and television programs such as The Hangover, Y tu mama tambien, Seinfeld, Friends, Humpday, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry and I Love You, Man. Prof. DeAangelis contributes his own essay in which he examines how the bromance functions in the film Superbad. Other contributors include Hilary Radner, Murray Pomerance, Nick Davis, David Greven, Meheli Sen, Jenna Weinman, Ken Feil, Peter Forster, Dominic Lennard and Ron Becker.


Advance Reviews:

Everything you always wanted to know about the bromance, but were afraid to ask! This new volume explores contemporary masculinity, homosocial desire, and homosexual/homophobic knowing as it plays out across film and TV texts such as I Love You, Man, Superbad, The Wire, Jackass, and Humpday. In thoughtful and provocative ways, DeAngelis and his authors cover the history, forms, and multiple meanings of this curious phenomenon. Essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary models of gender and sexuality.

– Harry M. Benshoff, professor of radio, TV, and film at University of North Texas and author of Dark Shadows (Wayne State University Press, 2011)

This lively and perceptive collection of essays posits the ‘bromance’ film as an ambivalent response to gay liberation and the women’s movement that allows for expanded representations of male intimacy even when operating within heteronormativity. Reading the Bromance is a valuable volume for those who want to understand the role of gender and sexuality in contemporary popular cinema.

– Mary Desjardins, author of Recycled Stars: Female Film Stardom in the Age of Television and Video and co-editor of Dietrich Icon

Reading the Bromance's remarkably sophisticated essays analyze the twisted generic complexity of a long history of representing male-male relations. Studying the formula's homosocial and heteronormative behaviors, these authors demonstrate how these texts permit fluid cultural and social adventures involving emotions, maturity, gender, taste, and physicality. A terrific collection.

– Janet Staiger, William P. Hobby Centennial Professor Emeritus in Communication and professor emeritus of women’s and gender studies

Now Accepting Applicants for the Masters in Media and Cinema Studies Program

The Media and Cinema Studies Program is still accepting applications for our MA program through the summer months, for students seeking to begin in September 2014 or January 2015.

For more information, and to apply, please visit:

Masters in Media and Cinema Studies

Upcoming MCS Event: 2nd Annual Pop Culture Colloquium- Joss Whedon: A Celebration

A reminder to please join us on Saturday May 3, 2014 from 9 am - 6 pm for the Media & Cinema Studies Program's 2nd annual Pop Culture Colloquium- Joss Whedon: A Celebration.

The day will feature screenings, discussion and guest speakers, and we welcome special guest Cheryl Cain, who was a writer for Whedon's television series Firefly.

Special Guest: Screenwriter Cheryl Cain

All events will be held at Depaul University's Loop Campus, Daley Center, 14 E. Jackson Blvd.

For more information:

Joss Whedon: A Celebration

2013 Career Outcomes for the MCS Graduate Program

The DePaul University Career Center has released statistics about the post-graduation employment status of all Masters degree recipients in the College of Communication.

Among other achievements, the Media and Cinema Studies Program is proud to rank among the highest in the College in average salaries for our MA graduates:

2013 Career Outcomes

New Publication by Prof. Luisela Alvaray

Prof. Luisela Alvaray has recently published an article in Communication Currents, a publication of the National Communication Association. In "Snap Shots: Using Photography for Intercultural Awareness and Understanding," Alvaray makes the argument that "Taking photos [can become] a good tool to explore and begin to understand cultural differences." View the article here:

Instructor's Corner #4: Snap Shots: Using Photography for Intercultural Awareness and Understanding

image courtesy of NATCOM

Prof. Blair Davis featured in DePaul Magazine article

Prof. Blair Davis has been featured in an article on innovative teaching approaches in the March 2014 issue of DePaul Magazine. The article, "Invasion of the Student Course Revisers," profiles how Davis uses self-selected learning options by regularly offering students a choice which film will be screened in class.

DePaul Magazine: "Invasion of the Student Course Revisers"

image courtesy of depaulmagazine.com

New Publication by Paul Booth

MCS professor Paul Booth has recently published a new article in Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, "Slash and porn: media subversion, hyper-articulation, and parody." Please see below for the abstract and citation:

 In this paper, I examine the rise in popularity of pornographic parody, and compare it to slash fan fiction. Parody, an imitation that implicitly critiques an original work, is an important element of contemporary media texts. Through satire, parody offers a subtle, yet powerful critique of contemporary culture. Beyond mainstream media texts, parody is also a staple genre of the pornographic canon. Although multiple types of pornographic parodies exist, I concentrate on heterosexual parodies of mainstream film and television made by professional American pornographic film studios. Another media product that demonstrates parody is slash fan fiction, the writing of highly sexualized fan fiction. By queering traditionally masculine texts, slash creates a systematic comment on the patriarchal sexuality of popular culture. I first discuss pornographic parody, specifically focusing on Star Wars XXX. I next claim that a useful lens through which to define and delimit porn parody comes through Bakhtin’s notion of the carnivalesque. I compare both slash fan fiction and porn parody through this lens. I argue that slash fandom has the potential to subvert patriarchy, while the more commercial porn parody hyper-articulates it.

 Paul Booth (2014): Slash and porn: media subversion, hyper-articulation, and parody, Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, DOI: 10.1080/10304312.2014.893985

MCS Alumni Update: Angela Brown

Angela Brown completed her MA in Media and Cinema Studies in the Fall of 2013 and now works for Nielsen TV Ratings & Computer Research in Seattle, Washington. As a Membership Rep for the Watch side of Nielsen she manages relationships with families in the Seattle market who are participating in national television and computer viewing measurement. She is passionate about media literacy and social media and is excited to work in a role that emphasizes her interests in digital media. One day she would like to run a cinema cafe that specializes in media literacy development for urban kids and teens.

"One of the hardest parts of my job is that I can’t talk about TV shows with the Nielsen homes because I am responsible for not influencing household viewing behaviors. It is very interesting to discuss television without talking about programming and to survey how many different technologies and services people use today viewing cable, satellite, broadcast, and/or streaming TV," says Brown. 

"As a graduate student in the MCS program I studied the cultural and ideological significance of television, film, and multimedia technologies. I especially enjoyed the opportunities DePaul offered for learning production techniques in music and video. Through MCS I gained a better understanding for how to communicate with people about media at different engagement levels and I developed a better appreciation for the impact media has in our lives and in the business world. I think having a cultural studies and media studies perspective about television impacts how I approach concerns about data collection and privacy. I am able to explain to households the interests of Nielsen’s researchers and the TV industry and that makes homes feel more comfortable about their participation in market research," she says.

For more information about Nielsen Television Measurement: 
http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/nielsen-solutions/nielsen-measurement/nielsen-tv-measurement.html

Reminder: Chicago Film Seminar Thurs. March 13

A reminder that our own MCS professor Michael DeAngelis will be giving a talk entitled "Reading the Bromance" as part of the Chicago Film Seminar this Thursday March 13 (6:30 pm, room LL102, 14 E. Jackson St. - enter off of 247 State St).

http://chicagofilmseminar.blogspot.com/

His talk is taken from his forthcoming book from Waysne State University Press, Reading the Bromance: Homosocial Relationships in Film and Television:

http://wsupress.wayne.edu/books/detail/reading-bromance

 Please join us this Thursday.

New Course Spotlight: Adaptation

Prof. Blair Davis is offering a new Media & Cinema Studies course on adaptation in the upcoming Spring 2014 quarter. It is cross-listed as MCS 353 at the undergraduate level, and MCS 520 at the graduate level.

The course looks at adaptation as a cross-media phenomenon, which will be traced back to the origins of the film medium in the late nineteenth century. The desire to experience familiar stories and characters in different media forms transcends generations. Film critic Margaret Farrand Thorp wrote in 1939 of the “widespread human eagerness to experience the same story in as many media as possible.” This impulse has only grown in recent years with the increasingly vital role of franchises in an era of media convergence, whereby narratives become replayed, extended and/or intertwined across films, television programs, video games, comic books and other forms.

MCS 353/520 will begin with the traditional adaptive process of turning novels into film, the theoretical concerns surrounding fidelity and medium-specificity, and the critical debates to do with adaptation and authenticity. The course will then look at the classical era of Hollywood in the 1930s through 1950s, using Orson Welles’ adaptation of Whit Masterson’s pulp novel Badge of Evil in the 1958 film Touch of Evil as a case study. This is followed by an examination of the 2011 film Green Lantern as an adaptation of the DC comic book storyline “Secret Origin” by Geoff Johns. The more problematic process of adapting such properties as board games, toy lines and video games is explored in later weeks, as are the implications for the adaptive process created by the prolific nature of digital special effects. Students will go beyond narrative and aesthetic analysis in many weeks to consider the industrial implications of adaptations, as well as what media theory can offer us in studying how and why texts are adapted from one medium to another.

Email Prof. Davis at bdavis47@depaul.edu for more information about this course.

Special Event: Luis Maira / Film Screening

DePaul University proudly presents Luis Maira, former Ministry of State of Chile and Special Advisor in International Affairs of elected President Michelle Bachelet. Maira will speak on the case of the Chilean plebiscite that ousted Augusto Pinochet, the power of public opinion in electoral processes and the return to democracy in Chile-One of South America's most stable and prosperous countries.

Samuel Valenzuela, Professor  of Sociology at Notre Dame University will have an extended session of question and answers with the speaker .

After the Conference we will screen the movie “NO” (Pablo Larrain 2012) based on the true story of the exceptional plebiscite campaign.  Luisela Alvaray, Professor of Cinema Studies at DePaul University will conduct the after movie discussion.

This event is co-sponsored by  DePaul University and UNAM Chicago with the support of the General Consul of Chile and Instituto Cervantes. 

The event will take place on Monday February 24, 2014,  5:30 PM. To 6:30 PM. Movie screening and discussion will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.

Location: DePaul University, Loop Campus,  CDM Auditorium, 14 E Jackson, LL 101 Chicago, IL 60604.

Save the date and don’t miss this opportunity to meet the leader behind an important part of the history of Latin America.

About Luis Maira

Luis Maira is a distinguished Chilean socialist politician, academic and researcher.  He graduated from the prestigious Universidad de Chile and completed several specialization courses in International Relations at the Universities of Oxford, Bristol and Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, UNAM .He became director of the Institute of American Studies at CIDE (Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas),  full time professor at UNAM,  Universidad Católica of Río de Janeiro and academic of the  Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO) at its campuses  in Mexico City  and Buenos Aires.

About the film:

“ In 1988, Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet, due to international pressure, is forced to call a plebiscite on his presidency. The country will vote YES or NO to Pinochet extending his rule for another eight years. Opposition leaders for the NO persuade a brash young advertising executive, Rene Saavedra (Gael Garcia Bernal), to spearhead their campaign. Against all odds, with scant resources and under scrutiny by the despot's minions, Saavedra and his team devise an audacious plan to win the election and set Chile free.”

Call for Papers: Media Ethics

Call for Chapters: Media Ethics, Edited Collection

Editors:

Paul Booth, DePaul University

Amber Davisson, DePaul University

Among readers as well as teachers and students, there is a strong interest in understanding the complex ethical issues raised by seemingly omnipresent media forces. We invite submissions for an edited collection that deals broadly with current issues in contemporary media ethics. The book will deal with ethical issues facing both media producers and consumers. We welcome essays that discuss ethical issues facing media professionals in both print and broadcast journalism, advertising, public relations, and entertainment. These essays may deal with issues raised by emerging technologies, convergence media, or more established mass media outlets. Beyond the discussion of ethical issues facing media professionals, we are also invite essays that address private media consumption and production practices. We are interested in both classical and contemporary philosophical approaches to media ethics

Essays may explore, but are certainly not limited to, the following topics:

·         Changing perspectives on media and privacy

·         The evolution of intellectual property rights (copyright, trademark, and patent law)

·         Citizen Journalist

·         Pornography

·         Information Ethics

·         Comedy News Shows

·         Political Opinion/Commentary Shows

·         Photoshop

·         Defamation

·         Diversity and Representation in Film and Television

·         Native Advertising

·         Public Relations and Strategic Communication

Please submit proposals of 300-500 words with a brief biographical statement and contact information via email attachment to Paul Booth and Amber Davisson at adavisso@depaul.edu no later than March 30^th 2014. Notice of acceptance will be sent out by May 2014 and completed essays accepted for publication will be due in September 2014.