I am an associate professor at Case Western Reserve University, where I teach film courses on a number of topics. I hold a doctorate in English from the University of Chicago and a master of arts in cinema studies from New York University.

I have been honored to receive the Carl F. Wittke Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.

Research

My research focuses on the horror genre and the historical reception of cinema. Bringing these two interests together is my 2007 University of California Press book, Uncanny Bodies: The Coming of Sound Film and the Origins of the Horror Genre, which examines the initial historical phase of the horror film in relation to the coming of sound to Hollywood cinema. Here are reviews in Film QuarterlyThe Historical Journal of Film, Radio and TelevisionFilm CriticismImage & NarrativeChoiceand Music, Sound and the Moving Image.

Selected essays:

Teaching

Courses I have taught include Introduction to FilmHistory of Film—Origins to PresentIntroduction to Film GenresThe Horror FilmScience Fiction FilmsHitchcock; Movies and Meaning; American Cinema History and CultureWatching Movies—Spectatorship, Reception, Reflexivity; and Storytelling and Cinema.

I welcome inquiries about film studies at Case Western Reserve, which now offers an undergraduate minor in film and an English major with a concentration in film.