Middleton Essay in Cinema Journal
Cinema Journal (2010) will publish Professor Jason Middleton's essay, "The Subject of Torture: Regarding the Pain of Americans in Hostel." Middleton is an assistant professor of English.
Jennifer Creech, assistant professor of German has published "A Few Good Men: Gender, Ideology and Narrative Politics in The Lives of Others and Goodbye, Lenin!" in Women in German Yearbook 25 (October 2009): 100-26.
Filmmaker Scheffner presents The Halfmoon Files
"There once was a man. This man came into the European war. Germany captured this man. He wishes to return to India. If God has mercy, he will make peace soon. This man will go away from here." Mall Singh's crackling words are heard as he spoke into the phonographic funnel on 11th December 1916 in the city of Wünsdorf, near Berlin. 90 years later, Mall Singh is a number on an old Shellac record in an archive - one amongst hundreds of voices of colonial soldiers of the First World War. The recordings were produced as the result of an unique alliance between the military, the scientific community and the entertainment industry. In his experimental search "The Halfmoon Files", Philip Scheffner follows the traces of these voices to the origin of their recording.
Filmmaker Philip Scheffner presented his award-winning film, The Halfmoon Files, on October 28th. The event included a question and answer period followed by a reception with the filmmaker. Sponsored by the Film and Media Studies Program, the Visual and Cultural Studies Program and the Mellon Foundation. For more on this film, see The Halfmoon Files site.
Jason Middleton Receives Teaching Award
Jason Middleton, assistant professor of English has received the 2009 G. Graydon '58 and Jane W. Curtis Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Nontenured Member of the Faculty. Middleton, known for his dynamic teaching style and the wide-ranging knowledge that he brings to the classroom also programs an annual series of experimental films at the Visual Studies Workshop.Here is the complete announcement about Commencement 2009 Teaching Awards. 
Douglas Crimp, recipient of Visual AIDS Vanguard Award
On May 11, 2009, Professor Douglas Crimp was presented with the Visual AIDS Vanguard Award. Also honored were Nayland Blake and Hunter Reynolds. The Vanguard Award is presented to individuals who have made a commitment
to HIV/AIDS advocacy, education, prevention, and their support of artists with HIV/AIDS. The award is presented as part of Visual AIDS Spring Benefit which takes place at a bowling alley. Founded in 1988, as a response to AIDS and as a way of organizing the art world towards direct action, Visual AIDS has evolved a two-part mission. 1) Through the Frank Moore Archive Project, the largest slide library of work by artists living with HIV and the estates of artists who have died of AIDS, Visual AIDS historicizes artists' contributions while supporting their ability to continue making art and furthering their professional careers. 2) In collaboration with artists and organizations, Visual AIDS produces contemporary art exhibitions, publications, and events to spread the message "AIDS IS NOT OVER." For more information about Visual AIDS, click here.
Crimp is the Fanny Knapp Allen Professor of Art History and a Professor of Visual and Cultural Studies.
4th Annual Gollin Film Festival Results
A diverse slate of films was on tap for the 4th annual Gollin Film Festival. The festival took place on April 30, 2009. First place was awarded to Lyndsey Godwin('10) for her film, "Synchronized Living". Second place went to Amy Warden('09) for "The Phantasmagore", and third place was awarded to Derek Murphy('11) for "Chronological Reversal: The Spreading Epidemic". The Gollin Film Festival is named for Professor Emeritus of English Richard Gollin. Sponsored by the Film and Media Studies Program with the assistance of Studio Arts and generous support from the Office of President Seligman. To read the complete press release, go here.
From left: Amy Warden, Lyndsey Godwin, and Derek Murphy/Photo by Richard Baker/University of Rochester
Professor Joanne Bernardi's new course, "Film as Object" is the subject of a story in the latest issue of Currents. Titled "The 'Thingness' of Film", the article details the unique collaboration between the University and The George Eastman House. Read the whole story here.
24 Hour (Low Tech) Film Festival Results
February 28th-March 1st was the University of Rochester's first 24 hour [Low Tech] Film Festival. The event, which required students to use digital still cameras to shoot and edit short films in only 24 hours, was a huge success. Seven groups entered and created seven wonderful and unique films. Professors Jason Middleton, Joanne Bernardi and Greta Niu judged the films. Rachel Hock won the festival's top spot for her experimental film "Dot", about a dot on the lens of her camera. Honorable Mentions were given to two films. The first, "The League of Magicians" created by Lyndsey Godwin, Spencer Holstein, Harry Ledley and Derek Murphy is a Christopher Guest inspired look into a group of struggling magicians. The second, "Bite Outta Crime", created by Frank Colaruotolo, Stanley Monu, Maura Rapkin and Tyler Scowcroft, follows a student as he hunts for someone who is taking single bites out of pieces of food and leaving them around campus.
Greg Carlson elected editor of Language
Greg Carlson, professor of linguistics, philosophy, and brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester, has been elected the editor of Language, the official journal of the Linguistic Society of America, the largest professional linguistics organization in the world. Carlson's seven-year term began January 11, 2009. Read the full announcement.
UR Professor Talks Film Preservation on WXXI
Professor Joanne Bernardi and Jeff Stoiber of the Selznick School of Film Preservation talk about film preservation with Bob Smith on WXXI's 1370 Connection.
Selznick Graduate Program featured on WHAM TV Morning Show
Professors Joanne Bernardi and Patrick Loughney on the WHAM TV morning show talking about the Selznick Film Preservation program and the collaboration between the University of Rochester and the George Eastman House.
