Academic pathways: teaching in film
Ever wanted to know more about teaching films studies and production at the university level? This panel is the perfect place for you! Learn more about graduate school, PhD programs, the hiring process, and so much more. Our amazing panelists include nonfiction filmmaker and Penn State University Professor Gabby Sumney, Visions 10 Keynote Speaker and University of Chicago PhD Student Tiya Bolton, and award-winning filmmaker and Hamline University professor Richard Pelster-Weibe.
Panelists:
Gabby Sumney
Adjunct Professor, Emerson College and Lesley University
Gabby Sumney is an Afro-Latinx, queer, nonbinary nonfiction filmmaker with a disability based in Boston, Massachusetts. They work in experimental nonfiction with a special emphasis on issues of identity and personal narrative. Their work has screened at curated screenings and festivals across the US and Europe including Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival, Indie Grits, and Fracto Film Encounter. Gabby is also the creator of This Week in Experimental, a weekly newsletter that features links to experimental films & videos, reading suggestions, and optional assignments. In the fall, they are joining the faculty at the Pennsylvania State University in the Bellisario College of Communications.
Tiya Bolton
PhD Candidate in Cinema & Media Studies, University of Chicago
Tiya graduated with a degree in Film Studies at UNCW and received an M.A. degree from North Carolina State University in English with a concentration in Film Studies. She is currently a PhD student at the University of Chicago in the department of Cinema and Media Studies. Her work focuses on Black cinema, spectatorship, Black digital culture, and digital fan practice. Her most recent project, Black Panther and Digital Fandom, considers the relationship between contemporary black cinema and forms of black digital fandom.
Richard Pelster-Wiebe
Creative Writing Lecturer, Hamline University
Richard Pelster-Wiebe makes movies at the intersections of documentary, collage, sound art, and the essay. His award winning work has screened widely at international venues including IFF Rotterdam, Media City Film Festival, Marseille Festival of Documentary Film (FIDMarseille), Festival du nouveau cinéma, UnionDocs Center for Documentary Art, Ann Arbor Film Festival, and several others. He is the recipient of grants from the Jerome Foundation, the Princess Grace Foundation, the Minnesota State Arts Board, and the Iowa Arts Council.
Richard's teaches in the Creative Writing Programs at Hamline University. His creative practice is influenced by his teaching and research interests in sound studies, DIY methods of production, cinema and literature, and digital storytelling. He is the Experimental Cinema programmer for the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF) and he co-curates screenings for Cellular Cinema at the Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis. Richard holds a BA in English and Philosophy from the University of Minnesota and a BA in Film Studies from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. He received his PhD in Cinematic Arts from the University of Iowa where he was a Crossing Borders Fellow.