{"id":3,"date":"2014-05-12T19:38:05","date_gmt":"2014-05-12T19:38:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/casfaculty.case.edu\/robert-spadoni\/?page_id=3"},"modified":"2026-04-11T19:44:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T19:44:56","slug":"homepage","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/casfaculty.case.edu\/robert-spadoni\/","title":{"rendered":"homepage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000\">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.<\/p>\n<p>I have been honored to receive the Carl F. Wittke Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"color: #000000\">Research<\/h3>\n<p style=\"color: #000000\">My research focuses on genre films and on the historical reception of cinema. Bringing these two interests together is my 2007 University of California Press book, <strong><em><a title=\"Uncanny Bodies: The Coming of Sound Film and the Origins of the Horror Genre\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ucpress.edu\/books\/uncanny-bodies\/paper\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Uncanny Bodies: The Coming of Sound Film and the Origins of the Horror Genre<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, which examines the initial historical phase of the horror film\u00a0in relation to the coming of sound to Hollywood cinema. Here are reviews\u00a0in\u00a0<em><a title=\"Uncanny Bodies review in Film Quarterly\" href=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2016\/09\/15000513\/uncanny-bodies-fq.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Film Quarterly<\/a>,\u00a0<a title=\"Uncanny Bodies review in The Historical Journal of Film, Radio, and Television\" href=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2016\/09\/15000512\/uncanny-bodies-hj.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television<\/a>,\u00a0<a title=\"Uncanny Bodies Review in Film Criticism\" href=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2016\/09\/15000511\/uncanny-bodies-fc.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Film Criticism<\/a>,\u00a0<a title=\"Uncanny Bodies Review in Image and Narrative\" href=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2016\/09\/15000512\/uncanny-bodies-in.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Image &amp; Narrative<\/a>,\u00a0<a title=\"Uncanny Bodies review in Choice\" href=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2016\/09\/15000513\/uncanny-bodies-ch.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Choice<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0<a title=\"Uncanny Bodies review in Music, Sound, and the Moving Image\" href=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2016\/09\/15000512\/uncanny-bodies-msmi.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Music, Sound and the Moving Image<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000\">Selected essays:<\/p>\n<div style=\"color: #000000\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2014\/05\/07180920\/spadoni-capturing-eye.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2026\/04\/11193958\/spadoni-capturing-eye.pdf\">Capturing the Eye: Kirk, Centricity, and the Original <em>Star Trek<\/em><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2014\/05\/07180920\/spadoni-capturing-eye.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;<\/a> in <em>Quarterly Review of Film and Video<\/em><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2014\/05\/07180920\/spadoni-midsommar.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;<em>Midsommar<\/em>: Thing Theory&#8221;<\/a> in <em>Quarterly Review of Film and Video<\/em><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2014\/05\/07180922\/spadoni-supernatural.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;The Machine in the Ghost: Writing Women in <em>Supernatural<\/em>&#8220;<\/a> in <em>Quarterly Review of Film and Video<\/em><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2014\/05\/07180921\/spadoni-wifa.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;What is Film Atmosphere?&#8221;<\/a> in <em>Quarterly Review of Film and Video<\/em><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2014\/05\/15000509\/spadoni-corpse.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;Carl Dreyer&#8217;s Corpse: Horror Film Atmosphere and Narrative&#8221;<\/a>\u00a0in <em>A Companion to the Horror Film<\/em><\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Horror Film Atmosphere as Anti-narrative (and Vice Versa)\" href=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2014\/05\/15000517\/spadni-atmosphere-anti.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;Horror Film Atmosphere as Anti-narrative (and Vice Versa)&#8221;<\/a>\u00a0in <em>Merchants of Menace: The Business of Horror Cinema<\/em><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecine-files.com\/new-worlds-and-dark-traditions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;New Worlds and Dark Traditions: Back Winding and Forward Propulsion in <em>The Woman Came Back<\/em>&#8220;<\/a>\u00a0in <em>The Cine-Files<\/em><\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Old Times in Werewolf of London\" href=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2014\/05\/15000525\/spadoni-old-times.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;Old Times in\u00a0<em>Werewolf of London&#8221;<\/em><\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0<em>Journal of Film and Video<\/em><\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Strange Botany in Werewolf of London\" href=\"http:\/\/casfaculty.case.edu\/robert-spadoni\/werewolf-of-london\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;Strange Botany in\u00a0<em>Werewolf of London<\/em>&#8220;<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0<em>Horror Studies<\/em><\/li>\n<li><a title=\"The Old Dark House and the Space of Attraction\" href=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2014\/05\/13195103\/spadoni-old-dark-h.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;The Old Dark House\u00a0and the Space of Attraction&#8221;<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0<em>Cin\u00e9mas<\/em><\/li>\n<li><a title=\"The Uncanny Body of Early Sound Film\" href=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2014\/05\/15000524\/spadoni-uncanny-body.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;The Uncanny Body of Early Sound Film&#8221;<\/a> in\u00a0<em>The Velvet Light Trap<\/em><\/li>\n<li><a title=\"The Figure Seen from the Rear, Vitagraph, and the Development of Shot\/Reverse Shoit\" href=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2016\/09\/15000524\/spadoni-Shot-Reverse-Shot.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;The Figure Seen from the Rear, Vitagraph, and the Development of Shot\/Reverse Shot&#8221;<\/a> in\u00a0<em>Film History<\/em><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2022\/09\/16143714\/spadoni-fountainhead.pdf\">\u201cGuilty By Omission: Girding <em>The Fountainhead<\/em> for the Cold War,\u201d<\/a> in <em>Literature\/Film Quarterly<\/em><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2022\/09\/16143715\/spadoni-seeing-ear.pdf\">\u201cThe Seeing Ear: Radio Techniques in Orson Welles\u2019s <em>Heart of Darkness,<\/em>\u201d<\/a> in <em>Conrad on Film<\/em><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2022\/09\/16143713\/spadoni-geniuses.pdf\">\u201cGeniuses of the Systems: Authorship and Evidence in Classical Hollywood Cinema,\u201d<\/a> in <em>Film History<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"color: #000000\">Teaching<\/h3>\n<p style=\"color: #000000\">Courses I have taught include\u00a0<a title=\"Intro to Film\" href=\"http:\/\/casfaculty.case.edu\/robert-spadoni\/intro-to-film\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Introduction to Film<\/a>;\u00a0<a title=\"History of Film\" href=\"http:\/\/casfaculty.case.edu\/robert-spadoni\/history-of-film\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">History of Film\u2014Origins to Present<\/a>;\u00a0<a title=\"Intro to Film Genres\" href=\"http:\/\/casfaculty.case.edu\/robert-spadoni\/intro-to-film-genres\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Introduction to Film Genres<\/a>;\u00a0<a title=\"The Horror Film\" href=\"http:\/\/casfaculty.case.edu\/robert-spadoni\/horror-film\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Horror Film<\/a>;\u00a0<a title=\"Science Fiction Films\" href=\"http:\/\/casfaculty.case.edu\/robert-spadoni\/science-fiction-films\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Science Fiction Films<\/a>;\u00a0<a title=\"Hitchcock\" href=\"http:\/\/casfaculty.case.edu\/robert-spadoni\/hitchcock\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hitchcock<\/a>;\u00a0Movies and Meaning;\u00a0<a title=\"American Cinema History and Culture\" href=\"http:\/\/casfaculty.case.edu\/robert-spadoni\/american-cinema-history-culture\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">American Cinema History and Culture<\/a>;\u00a0<a title=\"Watching Movies\" href=\"http:\/\/casfaculty.case.edu\/robert-spadoni\/watching-movies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Watching Movies\u2014Spectatorship, Reception, Reflexivity<\/a>; and<a title=\"Storytelling and Cinema\" href=\"http:\/\/casfaculty.case.edu\/robert-spadoni\/storytelling-and-cinema\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u00a0Storytelling and Cinema<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000\">I welcome inquiries about\u00a0<a title=\"Film Studies at CWRU\" href=\"http:\/\/case.edu\/film\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">film studies at Case Western Reserve<\/a>, which now offers an undergraduate\u00a0<a title=\"Case Film Minor\" href=\"http:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/film\/minor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">minor in film<\/a>\u00a0and an\u00a0<a title=\"English Major with Concentration in Film\" href=\"http:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/film\/english-film-concentration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">English major with a concentration in film<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000\">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.<\/p>\n<p>I have been honored to receive the Carl F. Wittke Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.<br \/>\nResearch<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000\">My research focuses on genre films and on the historical reception of cinema. Bringing these two interests together is my 2007 University of California Press book, <strong><em><a title=\"Uncanny Bodies: The Coming of Sound Film and the Origins of the Horror Genre\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ucpress.edu\/books\/uncanny-bodies\/paper\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Uncanny Bodies: The Coming of Sound Film and the Origins of the Horror Genre<\/a><\/em><\/strong>,<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/casfaculty.case.edu\/robert-spadoni\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading&#8230; <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">homepage<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"spay_email":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/casfaculty.case.edu\/robert-spadoni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/casfaculty.case.edu\/robert-spadoni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/casfaculty.case.edu\/robert-spadoni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casfaculty.case.edu\/robert-spadoni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casfaculty.case.edu\/robert-spadoni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/casfaculty.case.edu\/robert-spadoni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":279,"href":"https:\/\/casfaculty.case.edu\/robert-spadoni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3\/revisions\/279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/casfaculty.case.edu\/robert-spadoni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}