Year: 2020
Special Projects
COVID-19 as an Equalizer for Filmmakers
Fiona Jackson / Waikato Institute of Technology
Lockdown Band – Fiona Jackson and Chris Lam Sam Worldwide lockdowns brought film productions to a grinding halt. For many, this meant time to focus on their own creative projects, and without the resources they could normally access, filmmakers were creative in the construction of new works. Lockdown opened new possibilities for collaboration and experimentation and with studios closed, COVID-19 […]
Read morePreserving Tourism Imaginaries: Vacationers Urged to Visit Online Now, Travel IRL Later
Maria Skouras / University of Texas at Austin
Maria Skouras explores how national tourism boards are fostering the “tourism imaginaries” of potential visitors while encouraging them to stay home during the COVID-19 crisis.
Read more“It’s ARMY versus the U.S. Army”: K-Pop Fans, Activism, and #BlackLivesMatter
Laura Springman / University of Texas at Austin
Laura Springman explores the recent example of K-pop fan involvement in the Black Lives Matter movement on Twitter as a continuation of a tradition of K-pop fan activism.
Read more“Stop Treating The Protests Like Coachella”: On the Uses of Sousveillance for Social Justice
Kathy Cacace / University of Texas at Austin
Kathy Cacace considers the limitations and possibilities of sousveillance to interrupt white supremacy, drawing examples from the Black Lives Matter uprising during the summer of 2020.
Read moreStreaming Egypt: Netflix & the Transnational Flow of Egyptian Media
Hazem Fahmy / University of Texas at Austin
Hazem Fahmy analyzes Netflix’s recent acquisition of Egyptian films, television series, and plays.
Read moreWhite Complexity, White Complicity, and New Stereotype in Booksmart
Jackson Wright / University of Texas at Austin
Jackson Wright investigates the 2019 film Booksmart, complicating its popular reception as a progressive piece of media, instead positing that the film continues to marginalize nonwhite characters and support white superiority.
Read more“Maybe You Don’t Know How to Listen…”: An Exercise in Contextualization
Laura Brown / University of Texas at Austin
Laura Brown unpacks a 1946 WCBS radio advertisement, and considers the multiple uses of archival materials.
Read moreOver*Flow, Special Episode: In Praise of the Bad Transgender Object: Sleepaway Camp
Cáel M. Keegan / Grand Valley State University
Cáel Keegan revisits Sleepaway Camp in his final installment of “In Praise of the Bad Transgender Object” to reveal its sympathetic trans masculine subtext.
Read moreVirtual Music Festivals and the Re-Valuation of Connection in a COVID-19 Live Music Marketplace
Paxton Haven / University of Texas at Austin
Paxton Haven explores the current trend of virtual music festivals as both a continuation of the collective politics of dance cultures, but also a new frontier of industry intervention in a live music marketplace depleted by COVID-19.
Read moreBen & Jerry’s, Black Lives Matter, and the Politics of Public Statements
Lily Kunda / University of Texas at Austin
Lily Kunda examines the recent trend of public statements denouncing racism. She questions what role corporations have in dismantling white supremacy.
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