School of Literature, Communication, and Culture

2

Allison Whitney

Marion L. Brittain Post-Doctoral Fellow

School of Literature, Communication, and Culture

The Georgia Institute of Technology

686 Cherry St., Atlanta, GA 30332-0165

office: 404-894-1042 cell: 773-807-0251

Education

Ph.D., Committee on Cinema and Media Studies, University of Chicago, 2005

Dissertation: The Eye of Daedalus: A History and Theory of IMAX Cinema

Committee: Tom Gunning and James Lastra

Master of Arts, Graduate Program in Communications, McGill University, 1999

Thesis: “Labyrinth: Cinema, Myth and Nation at Expo 67.”

Director: Will Straw

Honours Bachelor of Arts, University of Toronto, 1997

Majors: Cinema Studies and Psychoanalytic Thought.

Post-doctoral Research

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Post-Doctoral Fellowship

Institute for the Comparative Study of Literature, Art and Culture

Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, 2005-07

Publications

Gender, Race and Genre

“Race, Class, and the Pressure to Pass in American Maternal Melodrama: The Case of Stella Dallas,” Journal of Film and Video 59:1 (2007) 3-18.

“Can You Fear Me Now?: Cellular Phones and the American Horror Film” in The Cell Phone: Essays in Social Transformation. Anandam P. Kavoori and Noah Arceneaux, eds. Peter Lang, 2006.

“Gidget Goes Hysterical” in Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice: Contemporary Cinemas of Girlhood. Frances Gateward and Murray Pomerance, eds. Wayne State UP, 2002.

Technology and Aesthetics

“Soaring Through Time: Viewing Taking to the Air - Early Film and Early Flight” in The 2003 Collegium Papers. Giornate del Cinema Muto, 2004.

“Body(e)scapes: The Politics of Embodiment in Virtual Reality” in Reclaiming the Future: Women’s Strategies for the 21st Century. Somer Brodribb, ed. Gynergy Books, 1999.

Film and Pedagogy

“Sonic Literacy in the Humanities Classroom,” Music, Sound and the Moving Image. Forthcoming.

“Teaching the Temptation: Seminarians Viewing The Last Temptation of Christ” with Melody Knowles in Scandalizing Jesus: Kazantzakis’ The Last Temptation of Christ Fifty Years On. Darren J.N. Middleton, ed. Continuum, 2005.

“Teaching Film and the Bible,” with Melody Knowles, Society of Biblical Literature Forum (March-April 2004) www.sbl-site.org.

Teaching Experience

Instructor – The Georgia Institute of Technology

·  English Composition 1102: Science Fiction – Image, Sound, Text, Spring 2008

·  English Composition 1101: Gender, Race and Technology, Autumn 2007

Co-Instructor – McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago

·  Adaptations of the Bible in Film, January 2005, with Dr. Melody Knowles

·  Film and the Bible, Spring 2003, with Dr. Melody Knowles

BA Thesis Supervisor – University of Chicago

·  Cinema and Media Studies BA Preceptor, University of Chicago, 2001-02

Lead a seminar on film studies methodology, and acted as supervisor for senior undergraduates’ thesis projects

Teaching Assistant – University of Chicago

·  “Methods and Issues in Cinema Studies” Instructor James Lastra, 2004

·  “New German Cinema” Instructor David Levin, 2003

·  “Introduction to Film” Instructor Sabine Haenni, 2001

·  “Introduction to Film” Instructor Jacqueline N. Stewart, 2000

Education Technology Intern, University of Chicago

·  Training in incorporating the Blackboard system and other digital resources into the film studies curriculum. 2001-03

Pedagogy Training

·  Workshop on Teaching in the College, University of Chicago Center for Teaching and Learning, September 2004

·  Writing Internship Training, University of Chicago Writing Program, Spring 2001

Conference Papers

Space Films

Area Chair for “Film and the Apollo Program.” Film and History Conference, Chicago, October 2008.

“God’s Eye View: IMAX Space Documentary.” Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Conference, Boston, April 2007.

“The Weight of the World: Vision and Volume in IMAX Space Films.” Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference, Chicago, March 2007.

Gender, Race and Genre

“Race, Class, and the Pressures of Passing: The Politics of American Maternal Melodrama.” European Association of American Studies Conference, Cyprus, April 2006.

World’s Fair Cinema

“For All the World to See: Labyrinth, Tiger Child and the World’s Fair Origins of IMAX.” Society for Cinema Studies Conference, Chicago, March 2000.

“Labyrinth: Cinema, Myth and Nation at Expo 67.” The Gerald Pratley Lecture, Film Studies Association of Canada Conference, Sherbrooke, Quebec, June 1999

“Labyrinth: The National Film Board and Expo 67.” McGill Graduate Conference in Canadian Studies, Montreal, March 1998.

Dance and Cinema

“Dances of Death: Weimar Dance Culture and Expressionist Film.” Society for Cinema Studies Conference, Washington D.C., May 2001.

“Murder on 42nd Street: The Curious Violence of Busby Berkeley’s Urban Landscapes.” Cinema and the City International Conference, University College Dublin, Ireland, March 1999.

Feminist Film History

“Recovering Our Mothers: Heroic Representation in Feminist Film History.” Women Filmmakers: Refocusing Conference, Vancouver, March 1999.

Invited Lectures

IMAX – History, Theory and Technology

“Mythic Histories of the Giant Screen.” Department of Art History and Communications Studies, McGill University, March 2007

“The Myth of IMAX Cinema: 3D and the Human Sensorium.” The Chicago Film Seminar, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, April 2004

“3D IMAX and the Cinema of the Future.” Course: Hollywood in the 21st Century, University of Chicago, May 2003

Gender, Race and Genre

“Scream Machines: Tales of Technology in the American Horror Film.” School for Studies in Art and Culture, Carleton University, March 2006

“Race and the Maternal Melodrama: The Case of Stella Dallas.” Mass Culture Workshop, University of Chicago, December 2002

“Realism and Fantasy in the Musical Genre.” Course: Introduction to Film, University of Chicago, November 2001

“Gidget Goes Hysterical.” Mass Culture Workshop, University of Chicago, October 2000

Religion and Film

“Viewing The Passion of the Christ.” Adult Education Lecture Series, St. Chrysostom’s Episcopal Church, Chicago, March 2004

“Introduction to Film Analysis.” Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago, February 2004

Feminist Media Studies

“Feminisms in the Cinema.” Course: Introduction to Women’s Studies, University of Ottawa, September 2003

“Queering the Media?: Lesbian Representation in Contemporary American Television.” University of Prince Edward Island Women’s Studies Lecture Series, February 1998

Fellowships and Grants

External

·  Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Post-doctoral Fellowship, 2005-07

·  Mellon Foundation Dissertation Year Fellowship, University of Chicago, 2004

·  Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Doctoral

Fellowship, 2000-03

Internal

·  Affiliated Fellow, Franke Institute for the Humanities, University of Chicago, 2004

·  Stuart Tave Teaching Fellowship in the College, University of Chicago, 2004

·  University of Chicago Reward Aid, 2000-03

·  Century Scholarship, University of Chicago 1999-2003

·  McGill University Tuition Fellowship, 1997-98

·  Norman Jewison Fellowship in Cinema Studies, University of Toronto, 1997

Research Grants

·  Doolittle-Harrison Dissertation Research Grant, University of Chicago, 2004

·  Giant Screen Theater Association Scholarship, 2004

·  Cinema and Media Studies Travel Grant, University of Chicago, 2001, 2003 and 2004

Academic Awards

·  Gerald Pratley Graduate Award for Canadian Film Studies, Film Studies Association of Canada, 1998 Award for highest achievement in graduate research on Canadian cinema.

·  Dean’s Honour List, McGill University, 1997-99

·  Myrtle C. McCulloch Prize in Semiotics, University of Toronto, 1997

·  Provost’s Scholar, Trinity College, University of Toronto, 1997

·  Nathan A. Taylor Scholarship in Cinema Studies, University of Toronto, 1996

·  Frederick K. Ashbaugh Scholarship, Trinity College, University of Toronto, 1995

·  Jessie Clark MacPherson Scholarship, Trinity College, University of Toronto, 1994

·  Dean’s List, University of Toronto, 1994-97

Programming and Festival experience

Film Series Curator, The Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008

·  Science Fiction Film Series, January-April 2008

·  Japanese Film Series (co-curator), March 2008

Mentor, Collegium Sacilense, Giornate del Cinema Muto 2004-05

The Collegium is an intensive seminar on the history, preservation and exhibition of early

cinema, hosted by the Giornate del Cinema Muto Silent Film Festival in Sacile, Italy.

Programmer, University of Chicago Doc Films, 1999-2003

·  Contemporary Canadian Cinema – Films representing Canada’s geographical, linguistic and ethnic diversity, including documentary, experimental and genre films

·  Women in Pre-Code Hollywood – Focusing on sound films before the Hays Code’s was enforced in 1934, exploring notable sub-genres such as the workplace melodrama

·  HIV/AIDS and Film – International selection of documentaries, community educational videos, experimental films and dramatic features responding to the global AIDS crisis

Languages

I am fluent in French, and I have a reading knowledge of Spanish and German.