Faculty



The Film and Video Studies Faculty come from many units across campus. Faculty expertise ranges from film theory and history to video production and management which is what makes the Film and Video Studies multidisciplinary degree so rich and exciting.

The FAVS faculty teach everything a graduate needs to enter the film industry: scriptwriting, acting, management, critical theory and history, production (multimedia, sound, video, digital), ethics, management, and presentation of their materials. Through the faculty, the program itself, gives students the academic and experience with real film industry professionals both in the classroom as well as in the field.


FULL-TIME FAVS FACULTY:

Cynthia Lont
PhD, 1984, University of Iowa , Professor, Communication Department, Video Production, Women and Media, Visual Communication Theory

Dr. Lont is a Director of Film and Video Studies and Professor in the Department of Communication. Courses taught include: Radio Workshop, Television Workshop, Yearbook Workshop, Mass Communication Advertising, Advanced Television Production, Theories of Communication, Theories of Mass Communication, and Theories of Telecommunications Production. Her degrees include an A.A. from Auburn Community College, a B.A. from the State University of New York at Oswego, MA from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. She taught previously at SUNY Oswego and had professional positions including: Producer-Director, SUNY Oswego, and Managing Producer for The Agency for Instructional Television in Bloomington, Indiana. Dr. Lont is the past chair of the SCA Feminist and Women Studies Division and past chair of the SCA woman's Caucus. Her most recent book is Women and Media, Content: Careers and Criticism (1995). Her most recent chapter is
"The Face of the Front Page: A Content Analysis of U.S. Newspapers" with M. Junior Bridge for Rebecca Lind's book, Considering Diversity Across Audiences, Content and Producers, A-B Longman, 2008. Presently she is writing a book on women's music. Dr. Lont has won over 10 video awards for various pieces including videos on media literacy, women and media, and theories of visual communication.

Tommy Britt
MFA, 2005, Ohio University, Assistant Professor,
Film & Video Studies, Script Writing, Documentary

Tommy Britt's work as a filmmaker includes narrative and documentary production on film and video. He has
directed several short films and has also served as producer and/or director of photography on several short films and videos. His recent feature credits include "Join Us" (2008) as a camera operator and field producer and "Lost in Winesburg" (2008) as director and editor.

Additionally, he has presented scholarly work and research at the Cine-Excess II, the Annual Meeting of the Cultural Studies Association, the Literature/Film Association Conference, and the Appalachian Studies Association Conference. His co-authored work was recently published in "Americana: The Journal of American Popular Culture."

Ben Steger
MFA, 2005, Columbia College Chicago, Assistant Professor, Film and Video Studies.

Assistant Professor Benjamin Steger joined GMU’s FAVS Department in the fall of 2010. Previously, Benjamin lived in Chicago, Illinois, working as a director, videographer and location sound mixer on documentary, fiction, and corporate films and videos.

Benjamin also served as an adjunct professor at Columbia College Chicago and Loyola University Chicago.His first feature length documentary, Left Field (www.leftfieldthemovie.com), was well received on the film festival circuit and will be distributed by Washington D.C. based company, SnagFilms. He is currently in postproduction on his next feature length documentary, Stage Four, a film chronicling six years of a family coping with the mother's terminal breast cancer.

Benjamin has an MFA in Film and Video from Columbia College Chicago and a BA in Theatre and Film from the University of Kansas.

ADDITIONAL FAVS FACULTY:

Clayton Austin
MFA, 1986, Yale School of Drama, Assistant Professor, Chair, Department of Theater, Set Design and Technical Theater

Julie Christensen
PhD, 1978, University of California , Berkeley , Associate Professor, Russian, Modern & Foreign Languages, Russian Film

Mark Cooley
MFA, 1998, East Carolina University , Assistant Professor, Art and Visual Technology, Internet Multimedia Art

Lynne Constantine
MPhil, 1977, Yale University , Term Assistant Professor, Associate Chair, Art and Visual Technology, Visual Culture, Critical Theory and Performance

Edgar Endress
MFA, 2001, Syracuse University , Assistant Professor, Art and Visual Technology, Digital Video Arts

Peggy Feerick
MFA, 1989, University of New Mexico , Associate Professor, Art and Visual Technology, Photography

Cynthia Fuchs
PhD, 1989, University of Connecticut , Associate Professor, English Department, Director of Film and Media Studies

Edward Gero
BA, 1976, Montclair State College, Associate Professor, Theater Department, Acting and Script Analysis

Tim Gibson
Ph.D., 2001, Simon Fraser University
Assistant Professor, Department of Communication
Communication

Steve Groening
PhD, 2008, Comparative Studies in Discourse and Society, University of Minnesota. Assistant Professor, English and Film & Media Studies. Television studies, global media flows, history of communication technologies, critical theory, mobility studies, film studies, cultural studies

Carma Hinton
PhD, Harvard University , Robinson Professor, Chinese Documentary Filmmaker

Richard Kamenitzer
J.D., 1971, LaSalle University , Chicago , Associate Professor, Arts Management

Howard Kurtz
MFA, 1989, Pennsylvania State University , Assistant Professor, Theater Department, Costume Design and Make-up.

Alison Landsberg
PhD, 1996, University of Chicago , Assistant Professor, History and Art History, History and Film

Harold Linton
MFA, 1972, Yale University, Chair and Professor, Art and Visual Technology

Carla Marcantonio
PhD, 2007, New York University, Assistant Professor, Film and Media Studies

Scott Martin
DMA, 1996, University of Maryland , Associate Professor, Arts Management, Music Media Technology

Heather McDonald
MFA, 1984, New York University's Tisch School of the Arts
Professor, Department of Theater, Playwriting
Theater

David Miller
Faculty/Student Video Ctr Sup/Mason Cable Advisor
Communication

Kristina Olson
Ph.D. Columbia University
Assistant Professor of Italian, Department of Modern and Classical Languages Italian

Paula Petrik
PhD, 1982, State University of New York at Binghamton , Professor, History and Art History, History and New Media

Janine Ricouart
PhD, 1986, University of California , David, Professor of French, Modern & Foreign Languages, French Film

Mark Sample
PhD, 2004, University of Pennsylvania , Assistant Professor, English, New Media and Digital Culture

Jessica Scarlata
PhD, 2004, New York University , Assistant Professor, English and Cinema Studies

Gail Scott White
MFA, 1983, Tufts University , Associate Professor, Art and Visual Technology, Multimedia and Digital Design

Martin Winkler
PhD, 1982, University of Southern California. Professor, Classics,Modern & Foreign Languages, Classics and Film

Sue Wrbican
MFA, 1996, Rhode Island School of Design, Assistant Professor, Art and Visual Technology, Documentary Photography