Dr. Jason Middleton

Department of English/Film and Media Studies Program
RC Box 270451 University of Rochester 
Rochester, NY 14627-0451
jmiddle2@mail.rochester.edu
(585)-273-5014 (O)

Employment:

• Assistant Professor, University of Rochester, Department of English/Film and Media Studies Program, 2006-.
• Visiting Lecturer, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Department of Communication Studies, 2002-2006.

Education

• Ph.D., The Literature Program, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, May 2002. Dissertation Title: Documentary/Genre.  Committee: Jane M. Gaines, Chair; Fredric Jameson, Michael Hardt, Joanne Hershfield, Ken Surin.
• B.A., Hampshire College, Amherst, MA, 1994.

Books

• Medium Cool: Music Videos from Soundies to Cellphones, ed. Roger Beebe and Jason Middleton. (Durham: Duke University Press, 2007).

Publications in Journals

• "Documentary Comedy," Media International Australia incorporating Culture and Policy 104 (August 2002), special issue: Visible Evidence: New Documentary Forms, Jane Roscoe and Derek Paget, issue editors.
• "Youth, Leisure and Voyeurism in MTV’s Undressed," The Velvet Light Trap 48 (Fall 2001).
• "The Racial Politics of Hybridity and Neo-Eclecticism in Contemporary Popular Music" (with Roger Beebe), Popular Music 21:2 (May 2002).
• "Preface: Film Studies and Postmodern Theory" (with Alex Galloway), Polygraph 13 (Spring 2001).
• "Preface: Margins of Global Culture," Polygraph 11 (Spring 1999).
• "Heroin Use, Gender and Affect," Echo 1:1 (Fall 1999).

Publications in Collections

• "The Audio-Vision of Found Footage Film and Video," in Medium Cool: Music Videos from Soundies to Cellphones, ed. Roger Beebe and Jason Middleton (Durham: Duke University Press, 2007).
• "Introduction,” (with Roger Beebe), in Medium Cool: Music Videos from Soundies to Cellphones, ed. Roger Beebe and Jason Middleton (Durham: Duke University Press, 2007).
• "Buffy as Femme Fatale: The Cult Heroine and the Male Spectator," forthcoming from Duke University Press in Lisa Parks and Elana Levine, eds., Undead TV: Essays on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (2007)
• "DC Punk and the Production of Authenticity," in Roger Beebe, Denise Fulbrook, and Ben Saunders, eds., Rock Over the Edge: Transformations in Popular Music Culture (Durham: Duke University Press, 2002).

Reviews

• Ivone Margulies, ed., Rites of Realism: Essays on Corporeal Cinema. Quarterly Review of Film and Video 21.4 (2004).

Conference Papers and Presentations

• Panel Chair and organizer, “Documentary Victims,” Society for Cinema and Media Studies. Chicago, IL. March 8-11, 2007.
• “‘Bumfights’: Mondo Video’s Spectacles of Abjection,” Society for Cinema and Media Studies. Chicago, IL. March 8-11, 2007.
• Panel Chair and organizer, “Historicizing New Political Documentary,” Society for Cinema and Media Studies. Vancouver, BC, March 2-5, 2006.
• “Mondo Video and the Documentation of Atrocity,” Society for Cinema and Media Studies. Vancouver, BC, March 2-5, 2006.
• Formal Screening Panelist and Respondent, University Film and Video Association. Chicago, IL, August 2-6, 2005.
• Panel Chair and organizer (with Jay Beck), "Film and Popular Music: Theorizing the Rock Soundtrack," Society for Cinema and Media Studies. Minneapolis, MN, 2003.
• "The Audio-Vision of Found Footage Film and Video," Society for Cinema and Media Studies, Minneapolis, MN, 2003.
• Panel Chair and organizer (with Jane M. Gaines), "Documentary Affect." Visible Evidence, Brisbane, Australia, December 17-21, 2001.
• "Documentary Laughter." Visible Evidence, Brisbane, Australia, December 17-21 2001.
• "Generic Hybridity and Haptic Visuality in The Blair Witch Project." Society for Cinema Studies. Washington, D.C., May 2001.
• "Televisual Voyeurism in MTV’s Undressed." Console-ing Passions: International Television, Video, and Feminism. Notre Dame, IN, May 2000.
• "The Politics of Neo-Eclecticism in Contemporary Popular Music." International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM). Murfreesboro, TN, October 1999.
• "Heroin Use, Gender, and Affect in Rock Subcultures." IASPM, Los Angeles, CA, October 1998.
• "Heroin Use, Gender, and Affect." Discipline and Deviance: Bodies, Technologies, Machines. Durham, NC, October 1998.
• "After Teen Spirit: Authenticity Debates and the Continuing Effectivity of Subcultures in the 1990s." Interrogating Subcultures. Rochester, NY, May 1998.
• "Addiction and Everyday Life in Trainspotting." Clean Culture/Trash Texts. Rochester, NY, May 1997.
• "DC Punk and the Production of Authenticity." Representing Rock. Durham, NC, April 1997.

Editorship

• Medium Cool: Music Videos from Soundies to Cellphones, ed. Roger Beebe and Jason Middleton (Durham: Duke University Press, 2007).
• Issue editor, Polygraph 11: Margins of Global Culture.
• Member, Polygraph editorial collective, 1997-2001.
• Editorial Assistant, South Atlantic Quarterly, 1999-2000.

Teaching

University of Rochester

• English 117/Art History136/Film and Media Studies 132: Introduction to the Art of Film (Fall 2006, Fall 2007)
• English 259/459/Film and Media Studies 251A: Popular Film Genres: Comedy and Horror (Spring 2007)
• English 161/Film and Media Studies 161: Introductory Video and Sound (Spring 2007)
• English 265/465//Film and Media Studies 252C: Issues in Film: Documentary, Mock Documentary, Reality TV (Fall 2006, Fall 2007)
• Invited Guest Lecture for Professor Douglas Crimp, Art History 583: Visual and Cultural Studies Colloquium (Fall 2006)

University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

• Communication Studies 134: Narrative Film and Video Production (Spring 2004, Spring 2005, and Spring 2006)
•  Communication Studies 41: Media Criticism (Fall 2003, Fall 2002)
• Communication Studies 139: Experimental Media (Spring 2003)
• Communication Studies  91: Independent Study (Spring 2003)
• Communication  Studies 34.1 and 34.2: Audio/Video/Film Production and Writing (Fall 2002, Spring and Fall 2003, Spring and Fall 2004, Spring 2005)

Duke University

• Film and Video 101S: Experimental Editing: Theory and Practice (Summer I 2002)
• Film and Video 100S: Film and Video Theory and Practice (TA) (Fall 2001)
• Literature 120B: Bodies and Genders in Film and Television (Summer II 2001).
•  Literature 20: Blurred Boundaries: Truth and Fiction in Film and Television (Spring 2001).
• Literature 110: Introduction to Film (TA) (Fall 2000)
• Literature 161: Film, Photography and Mass Culture (Summer II 2000)
• Literature 20: Re-Thinking Rock and Roll (Summer II 1998)
• Literature 20: Subcultures (Spring 1998)
• University Writing Program (Fall 1998 and 1999)

Fellowships, Awards and Honors

• James B. Duke Fellowship, Duke University, 1995-1999.
• The Alice Guy Blache Award for Celebration of Film, Humboldt International Short Film Festival, 2005.
• International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM) conference writing award for graduate students, 1999.
• Departmental nominee, Duke University Named Instructorship, 1999, 2000.
• Honorable Mention, Hal Kammerer Memorial Prize for Film and Video, 2001.
• Hampshire College Threshold Grant, 1994.

Professional Service

• Graduate Studies Committee; Graduate Admissions Committee; Outside Speakers/Conferences Committee. Department of English, University of Rochester, 2007-2008.
• Curator and organizer, UNC Department of Communication Studies year-end student film and media showcase, 2004-2005.
• Faculty Adviser, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival Student Fellows Program, 2004-2005.
•  Co-director, UNC Department of Communication Studies ScreenArts series, 2003-2004.
•  Chair, Freewater Productions, the Duke University film production organization, 2001-2002.
• Member and Executive Committee, Freewater Productions, 1997-2002.
• Graduate Student Representative, Graduate Program in Literature Joint Student/Faculty Committee, 1999-2002.
• Founding member, Graduate Program in Literature Summer Teaching Committee, 1998-2002.
• Graduate Program in Literature student mentor to first year graduate students, 2001-2002.
• Conference Organizer, Representing Rock: an international interdisciplinary conference on rock music and culture, Duke University, April 1997.

Professional Organizations

• Member, Society for Cinema and Media Studies (1999-present)
• Screening Committee, Society for Cinema and Media Studies (2007-2008)
• Member, University Film and Video Association (2003-2006)
• Member, Duke University Student Union, 2001-2002.
• Screening Committee, Hi Mom! Film Festival, Carrboro, NC, 2006.
• Technical staff, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, Durham, NC, 2001-2006.

Film Screenings and Awards

In the Nick (Everything is Timing) (2006)

(Super 8mm, b&w, 3 min., Music Video Commissioned for Cantwell, Gomez, and Jordan)

Official Selection, Juried Festivals:

• Jacksonville Film Festival, Jacksonville, FL, May 17-20, 2007.
• Microcinefest, Baltimore, MD, November 9-12, 2006. (Nominee, Small Gauge Film Award)
• Antimatter Underground Film Festival, Victoria, BC, September 22-30, 2006.
• Bearded Child Film Festival, Grand Rapids, MN, August 18-19, 2006.

Other Screenings:

• Spark Con, Raleigh, NC, September 15-17, 2006
• Flicker: Bars and Tone screening, Carrboro, NC, May 2006

Postindustrial Symphony (2004)

(16mm, b&w and color, 16 min.)

Official Selection, Juried Festivals:

• Chicago Underground Film Festival, Chicago, IL, August 18-25, 2005.
• Artsfest Film Festival, Harrisburg, PA, May 28-30, 2005.
• Jacksonville Film Festival, Jacksonville, FL, May 19-22, 2005.
• Humboldt International Short Film Festival, Arcata, CA, April 2-9, 2005, Jury Award, The Alice Guy Blache Award for Celebration of Film.
• The Sarah Lawrence College Experimental Film and Video Festival (X-Fest), Bronxville, NY, April 16-18, 2005, Honorable Mention, Medium Category.
• Cucalorus Film Festival, Wilmington, NC, March 30-April 3, 2005.
• FLEXfest (Florida Experimental Film/Video Festival), Gainesville, FL, October 28-30, 2004, Jury Award, Second Prize in Film Over Ten Minutes Category.
• Red Bank International Film Festival, Red Bank, NJ, October 8-10, 2004, Nominee, Best Experimental Film.
• Bearded Child Film Festival, Grand Rapids, MN, August 6-7, 2004.
• High Point Independent Film Fair, High Point, NC. June 11-13, 2004.
• W.A.R.P. Film Festival, Durham, NC, June 3-6, 2004, Jury Award, best film in “Art” Category.
• Hi Mom! Film Festival, Chapel Hill, NC, April 22-4, 2004.

Television Broadcast:

• North Carolina Visions, an Independent Film Series on UNC-TV Public Television, Fall 2005 Season.
• MOOV hd, a non-narrative motion video and conceptual arts channel, Bala Cynwyd, PA, 2004-2005 Season.

Other Screenings:

• Lookalikeness Conference, Duke University, January 13-14, 2006.
• Bearded Child Film Festival tour, Durham, NC, November 21, 2005.
• Best of FLEX Traveling Film Festival, Echo Park Film Center, Los Angeles, CA, August 21, 2005.
• University Film and Video Association Formal Screening, UFVA Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, August 2-6, 2005.
• Senses of Escape: Collaborations between Musicians and Visual Artists, Durham, NC, September 18, 2004.
• Flicker, Winston-Salem, NC, April 30, 2004.
•  Flicker, Chapel Hill, NC, April 13, 2004.

A Letter (Reflections on Memory, Movement, and Bicycles) (2001)
(Super 8 to video, b&w, 6:40)

• Society for Cinema and Media Studies, juried member screening, Minneapolis, MN, 2003.
• X-Fest, Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY, April 11-13, 2002.
• Seattle Underground Film Festival, Seattle, WA, October 5-14, 2001. (Screened twice, including closing night festival highlights screening)
• Antimatter Festival of Underground Short Film and Video, Victoria, BC, September 14-21, 2001.
• Pedal In Film Fest, Somerville, MA, August 11, 2001.
• Factory Films, Charlotte, NC, May 10, 2001.
• Flicker at SECCA (Southeast Center for Contemporary Art), Winston-Salem, NC, June 7, 2001.
• Flicker, Chapel Hill, NC, April 9, 2001.

 Signal Transduction (2000)

(16mm, b&w, 7:40)           

• Dahlonega International Film Festival, Dahlonega, GA, June 28-July 1, 2001.
• Harrisburg Artsfest Film Festival, Harrisburg, PA, May 26-8, 2001.
• Glitter Film Nite. Raleigh, NC, February 26, 2001.
• Best of Flicker, Winston-Salem, NC, December 8, 2000.
• Flicker, Chapel Hill, NC, December 4, 2000.

Awards:

• Honorable Mention, Hal Kammerer Memorial Prize for Film and Video, 2001.

News Correspondence (2000)

(found footage video, color and b&w,  3:49)

• Glitter Film Nite, Raleigh, NC, May 5, 2000.                       

Teaching Interests

• Documentary Film and Video
• Experimental Film and Video
• Film and Television Theory
• American and World Cinema History
• Film and Video Production
• Gender and Sexuality
• Film Genres
• Cultural Studies
• Popular Music and Music Video

References

• Jane M. Gaines, Duke University. Professor of Literature and English.

Phone: (919)-660-3030            
Email: jmgaines@duke.edu

• Fredric Jameson, Duke University. William A. Lane, Jr., Professor of Comparative Literature, Professor of Romance Studies (French); Professor of Literature.

Phone: (919)-684-4155
Email: jameson@duke.edu

• Joanne Hershfield, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Associate Professor of Women’s Studies.

Phone: (919)-962-4961.
Email: hershfld@email.unc.edu

• William Balthrop, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Professor of Communication Studies.

Phone: (919)-962-4982
Email: vwb@email.unc.edu