The Radio-TV-Film Department's Media Studies Colloquium offers a platform for faculty across UT, advanced doctoral students, and visiting scholars to present their research. This lecture series is designed to expose students to the diversity of media studies scholarship, provide models for research presentations, and enable advanced graduate students to present work related to their dissertation projects. All RTF faculty and graduate students are encouraged to attend, while others are welcome as well. A Q&A session will follow each 40-minute presentation.
Typically, this time is reserved for both guest speakers and graduate student job talks. However, after a year and a half of being quarantined from each other, we are focusing this semester's series solely on the RTF community of faculty and graduate students. These talks will be held from 3:30–4:45 pm CT, unless otherwise noted. Check back in the coming weeks for more event details, including room and/or Zoom info.
Fall 2021
SEPT 30 - COMMUNITY HAPPY HOUR
4 pm –5:30 pm – The Hole in the Wall
For RTF Graduate Students, Faculty, & Staff: Reconnect with the RTF community!
OCT 14 - RTF PITCHFEST
DMC 5.208
We'll invite studies and production faculty and grad students to "pitch" a project that they are working on in order to get feedback on works in progress.
OCT 28 - ALISA PERREN BOOK TALK
Based on topics from her new book, "The American Comic Book Industry and Hollywood" (co-authored with Gregory Steirer), RTF Associate Professor Alisa Perren will give a talk with a reception to follow.
Join us in person in DMC 5.208, or via Zoom.
"More Than Just Superhero Stories: The Rise of the Hybrid Publisher-Studio"
Abstract:
In recent years, our screens have become dominated by characters and stories drawn from DC and Marvel Comics IP. The output of these “corporate comics” publishers – and the roles played by their respective parent companies, AT&T/WarnerMedia and Disney, in mining their IP – have been the focus of a great deal of cultural conversation and media studies scholarship. But these are not the only companies involved in exploiting comics IP for films and TV series. In fact, since the 1990s, a number of comic book publishers beyond DC and Marvel have moved aggressively into financing, producing, and distributing adaptations of their comic books. Rather than simply passively licensing their IP to other filmed entertainment companies, publishers including Dark Horse (The Umbrella Academy, 2019-), BOOM! Studios (2 Guns, 2013), IDW (Wynonna Earp, 2016-), and Skybound (Fear the Walking Dead, 2015-) have been actively involved in making filmed entertainment.
Drawing from both trade and journalistic coverage as well as interviews with executives at several hybrid publisher-studios, this talk surveys the approaches taken by these different independent operations as they have shifted into producing movies and TV series across a range of genres. In addition, I will address how these publishers have negotiated the relationship between their publishing and filmed entertainment divisions as well as with other key industry stakeholders. The talk will also highlight what is distinctive about comic books as sites of contemporary IP exploitation by Hollywood in comparison to other pre-sold properties such as plays, podcasts, and popular fiction.
NOV 18 - NATHAN ROSSI
Nathan Rossi, "Digitizing Roots and 'Routes': Social Media Use and Cultural Identity Negotiation among Central American Adoptees."
Nathan will present portions of his dissertation.
DEC 5 - ERIC FORTHUN
Eric Forthun, "The Tonight Show and the Construction & Formation of U.S. Late Night Television, 1953-1983."
Eric will present portions of his dissertation.