Biography
I have committed my academic life to the task of attempting to further my own understanding of how we value what we value; how we construct, maintain, and reconstruct our sense of what makes life meaningful and worthy. Therefore, although the areas I work in are principally literature and film, I remain deeply concerned with the broader mission of higher education as well.
My principal academic interests lie in 19th century literature and in film. I regularly teach literature courses in the Victorian and early modern periods and a variety of film courses, including history of cinema, the avant garde tradition, documentary, and screenwriting.
My scholarly interests have lately been focused especially on documentary, particularly on experimental documentary; the space where documentary and the avant garde meet. I have written for CineAction!, Film and History, International Documentary, Literature/Film Quarterly, Visual Anthropology, and Western American Literature, among others. I am currently guest-editing a special issue of Post Script on the current state of documentary.
My academic commitments include serving as lead moderator of the scholarly internet discussion group H-Film, as an accreditation visitor for the Northwest Commission on Colleges, and on the editorial board of Literature/Film Quarterly.