The Excellence in Teaching Awards celebrate and honor UFVA members who ignite a passion for learning among students through innovation, commitment to inclusive teaching, and demonstrate creative pedagogy for student engagement. All members are invited to nominate or self-nominate. The nominee will submit the following dossier by June 1st.

• Nominee’s current curriculum vitae, with teaching and pedagogical activities highlighted.
• One page teaching philosophy including your pedagogical efforts toward diversity and inclusion.
• Two sample syllabi AND two sample assignments created within the past 5 years.
• Two Letters of support: one from a senior colleague and one from a past student.

The dossier should be prepared by the UFVA Teaching Award nominee. If a member is nominating another member, then they are required to notify the nominee of the dossier requirements and submission deadline of June 1^st.  

Please combine and submit all materials in a single PDF document
to the Teaching Award Committee home@ufva.org
by the June 1^st submission deadline

For a detailed list of requirements and rules regarding the process and deadlines, please refer to the UFVA TEACHING AWARD Website.

.  .  .  .  .

The Excellence in Teaching Award winners will be announced at the Banquet of the 2026 UFVA conference at Augsburg University in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Award recipients will also receive an invitation to present their innovative pedagogy at the following year’s annual conference on a panel sponsored by the Teaching Award Committee.

[LIST OF PAST WINNERS]

The 2026 Teaching Award Committee:

James B. Joyce, UFVA Vice President 
Heather Addison, UFVA Treasurer
Sheila Schroeder, 2025 Senior Faculty UFVA Teaching Award Recipient
Munjal Yagnik,  2025 Senior Faculty UFVA Teaching Award Recipient
Jena Burchick, 2025 UFVA Teaching Award Recipient Junior Faculty
Milton Santiago, 2025 UFVA Teaching Award Recipient Junior Faculty

Dear UFVA Community: 

We are pleased to announce that registration is now open for the 80^th annual conference of the University Film and Video Association hosted by Augsburg University. The preliminary conference program is coming together and will be available soon.

Discounted Early Bird rate is $350
if you register by May 31st 

The UFVA 2026 registration fee is $350 if you register by May 31st.
After May 31st, the fee is $400.
After June 30th, the conference registration fee is $450.

The Student/Life Member/Guest fee is $175 if you register by May 31st.
After May 31st, the fee is $200.
After June 30th, Student/Life Member/Guest registration fee is $225.

Vendor registration is $700.

All attendees (except guests) must be current members. Join or renew your membership here.

All the details about conference registration (fees, lodging, transportation, etc.) can be found on the conference website. 

We look forward to seeing you in Minneapolis!

Thomas Brecheisen
2026 UFVA Conference Vice-President

Register Now!
Early bird Discount Ends on May 31st!

We are looking for graduate students to apply for the The University Film and Video Association Graduate Student Fellowship. Student Fellows will receive complimentary registration to the conference, including all special event fees/tickets, and a ticket to the annual UFVA picnic. It also includes lodging in a single dorm room and most meals. 

Participating in the program will afford you professional development, networking opportunities, and serve as your introduction to the University Film & Video Association. 

Our organization seeks to support applicants from all cinematic arts and media related disciplines. Practitioners and scholars are considered equally. Applicants must be a graduate student at the time of application. Please see the Graduate Student Fellowship page for more information and how to apply. You must also obtain a recommendation from one of your professors, using the recommendation submission form on that page.

Fellowship Applications
must be submitted by May 1, 2026

Application Information:
https://ufva.org/page/graduate-student-fellowship

Conference Theme & Mission

The University Film and Video Association (UFVA) invites proposals for presentations at the 2nd Annual UFVA Virtual Conference, to be held Friday, February 13, 2026. This year’s conference theme: “Global Frames: Cinema, Culture, and Collaboration”, explores how globalization continues to shape the practices, pedagogy, and politics of film and media education around the world.

As film and media educators, scholars, and practitioners, we find ourselves working within an increasingly interconnected creative ecosystem—where storytelling, technology, and pedagogy transcend borders. The 2026 UFVA Virtual Conference seeks to highlight best practices, innovations, and trends emerging from our global film communities. Together, we aim to:

· Share pedagogical models and teaching practices from diverse cultural contexts

· Discuss cross-border collaborations in filmmaking and education

· Examine the impact of digital globalization on film production, distribution, and reception

· Build pathways for sustainable global partnerships among UFVA and CILECT member institutions

Through this year’s virtual convening, we continue UFVA’s commitment to creating accessible, inclusive, and globally connected spaces for dialogue and discovery in film education.

Important Dates

Submission Guidelines

We welcome proposals for:

· Scholarly papers and presentations

· Teaching demonstrations and pedagogical roundtables

· Case studies of international collaboration

· Creative or practice-based research

· Short screenings or works-in-progress tied to the theme

Please submit a 250–300 word abstract and a brief (100-word) bio via the UFVA Virtual Conference submission portal (link to be provided on November 15).

Join the Conversation

The UFVA Virtual Conference offers an opportunity for educators and filmmakers from every region to engage in open exchange—without the barriers of travel or cost. Whether you’re reimagining film education in a global classroom, experimenting with transnational co-productions, or studying the shifting cultural geographies of cinema, we invite your voice in this timely conversation.

We look forward to your submissions and to connecting across borders, disciplines, and screens on February 13, 2026.

Michael Burke’s article, “Rewound Repression, Freaky Metamorphoses, Final Girls, and Downward Spirals: On the Rise of the Science Fiction Slasher,” contributes to genre studies and research on popular American cinema through its analysis of films such as Nahnatchka Khan’s Totally Killer (2023), Christopher Landon’s Freaky (2020), and Landon’s Happy Death Day films (2017 and 2019). These and other contemporary genre hybrids incorporate science fiction and fantasy elements (time travel, identity swaps, time-loop narratives) to reconfigure iconic killer-final girl confrontations in ways that speak to politically-aware, media-savvy audiences.

In the “Forum of Essays on Buster Keaton,” Diane Carson, William O. Huie, Jr., and Frank P. Tomasulo productively revisit the comedian’s films from the early twentieth century. Huie’s discussion clarifies the comedic logic behind Keaton’s inventive use of mechanical props. Tomasulo offers insights into Keaton’s work and theories of comedy by using selected moments in Keaton films as illustrations of comedic strategies (unexpected substitutions, incongruous juxtapositions, and more). Carson confirms Keaton’s relevance by demonstrating the comedian’s influence on contemporary screen performances by Oscar Issac, Adam Driver, Jesse Eisenberg, Mads Mikkelsen, and others.  

The “Forum of Award-Winning Films” curated by Michelle Glaros presents illuminating artistic statements that introduce excerpts from the outstanding films of Rana Kazkaz, Jessica McGaugh, Kate Balsley, Denise Iris, Vanessa Sweet, Broderick Fox, and Marci Mazzarotto. The collection includes creative work in the narrative, documentary, experimental, animation, and music video areas. The curated offerings explore the effects of climate change as well as the war in Syria. They also celebrate women’s lives, queer identities, and the natural world.

The issue concludes with a set of book reviews. The research in one publication documents ways that early twentieth-century tourist promotions established precedents for Hollywood mythmaking. Another shows how cinematic representations figured into conceptions of race and the nation during the fascist period in Italy. Other reviews introduce readers to recent academic books that shed new light on the multiple dimensions and iterations of popular culture offerings such as Batman and Star Trek.

Issue 77.3 of the Journal of Film and Video features articles that illustrate the value of reconsidering films in light of contemporary cultural insights and in-depth research. They should be useful to teachers, scholars, and practitioners because they illuminate how films convey underlying meanings in subtle ways. Peter A. Yacavone’s “Allusion, Intertext, and Ethnic Flattening in Groucho Marx and Carmen Miranda’s Copacabana” shows why the incisive commentary in this clever film might be better appreciated today than when it was released in 1947. Recognizing the film’s allusions to American nightclub and vaudeville traditions, Yacavone clarifies how its inventive narrative, cinematic, and performance choices expose and critique cabaret exoticism and entertainment industry demands for assimilated ethnic talent.

In “The Magnificent Fragility of the Empire in Karel Zeman’s Invention for Destruction (1958),” Felipe González-Silva guides readers through another amusing, cinematically rich film that might seem to recirculate dominant culture values, in this case, the wonders of European technologies and imperial ventures, but once again dismantles and destabilizes those ideas, in this case, through telling combinations of live action and animation that complicate assumptions about progress. In his detailed but accessible and well-illustrated article, González-Silva reveals how the Czech director, whose work influenced Terry Gilliam, Tim Burton, and others, uses editing, sound, and mise-en-scène to illustrate the tenuousness of imperial mapping regimes and the fragility of modern communication technologies.

   Mary C. Schmitt’s “Black Panther, The Wretched of the Earth, The Spook Who Sat by the Door, and the Endurance of Black Radical Politics” establishes a productive context for revisiting Ryan Coogler’s 2018 film Black Panther by considering it in relation to the anticolonial writings of Frantz Fanon, whose experiences of racism in the French army led him to write The Wretched of the Earth (1961), and Sam Greenlee, whose parallel experiences at the CIA led him to write the 1969 novel and the screenplay for the 1973 film titled The Spook Who Sat by the Door. As Schmitt’s analysis reveals, Coogler’s film sustains neocolonial narratives while also making a case for radical interventions that foster racial justice across the globe.

This issue of the journal includes five reviews of recent publications. They cover books such as Border Tunnels: A Media Theory of the U.S.-Mexico Underground, which identifies neocolonialism as one of many factors shaping practices at this border. New Rural Cinema: Landscape, Community and Poverty in Recent US Indie Films sheds light on new perspectives in writing and filmmaking about rural America. The books about Thelma and Louise and writers in popular culture highlight the importance of creative works’ cultural context. The Documentary Filmmaker’s Intuition: Creating Ethical & Impactful Non-Fiction Films clarifies that ethics in non-fiction filmmaking warrants careful consideration by scholars and practitioners.

Cynthia Baron, JFV editor
jfveditor@ufva.org

 Three-time Emmy & Peabody Award Winning Filmmaker
Celebrating of the Transformative Power of Storytelling

Dear UFVA Members,

It is with great pride and enthusiasm that we announce Laurens Grant, three-time Emmy and Peabody Award-winning documentary filmmaker, as the Keynote Speaker for the 79th Annual UFVA Conference, taking place July 22–26, 2025 at Prairie View A&M University.

Ms. Grant’s acclaimed body of work—The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution,Jesse Owens,Citizen Ashe, and most recently, Hollywood Black—exemplifies the kind of cinematic excellence, historical truth-telling, and powerful representation that embody the spirit of our 2025 conference theme:

“Amplifying Excellence: Illuminating Stories, Empowering Voices, Building Futures!”

Her keynote address will help us open the conference with a bold, inspiring celebration of the transformative power of storytelling—especially from voices and communities historically marginalized in mainstream media.

Immediately following her keynote on Tuesday, July 22, we are honored to present a special screening of an episode from the Spirit Award-winning docuseries Hollywood Black, directed by Justin Simien and co-executive produced by Ms. Grant. A Q&A conversation will follow the screening, offering deeper insight into the creative process and the documentary’s cultural impact. 

This year’s theme invites us all to:

• Amplify Excellence by elevating underrepresented brilliance
• Illuminate Stories that challenge, empower, and inspire
• Empower Voices that foster justice, equity, and inclusion
• Build Futures that ensure sustainable access and opportunity for the next generation of storytellers

Please join us for what promises to be a powerful keynote and an unforgettable conference experience.

Thank You!
INSPIRE!

Dr. Terésa Dowell-Vest
UFVA President
2025 UFVA Conference Host

• Registration for the 2025 Conference
• UVFA membership fee (or reimbursement if 2025 membership has already been paid)
• Conference Housing in the University Dorms
• Tickets to the Final Night Banquet

The articles in issue 77.2 of the Journal of Film and Video illuminate the strong connections among film, media, and cultural dynamics involving local as well as global constituencies. The scholars demonstrate the value of research that grapples with geopolitical forces, changing cultural norms, film aesthetics, and evolving media forms. In “Roasting Mulan: Chinese Cultural Confidence and Tucao Video Remixes on Bilibili,” Pengnan Hu deftly analyzes Chinese-authored videos that circulated widely when Mulan (Niki Caro, 2020) was released in China. Thoughtfully describing and contextualizing the shared twenty-first-century Chinese perspective disclosed in the videos that made fun of cultural oversights in the Disney film, Hu identifies a constellation of historical and contemporary sentiments that led Chinese audiences to have little patience for Disney’s cinematic imperialism.

John Robert Smith’s archival research in “Bedraggled Magnolias: Song of the South’s 1986 Return to Atlanta” moves the discussion from international developments and a Disney film to domestic politics and another Disney film, Song of the South (Wilfred Jackson and Harve Foster, 1946). In an inventive study of social dynamics in Atlanta, Smith explores the white nostalgia surrounding dominant culture’s appreciation of the film in 1946 and 1986 as well as African American responses to Disney’s racialized plantation genre film. As Smith documents, there were more protests to the 1946 release than those responding to D. W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation (1915), and the wide acclaim for Spike Lee’s 1986 film She’s Gotta Have It confirmed the rising import of Black-authored productions in 1980s American entertainment.  

In “Disability as Fear Factor: Stereotyping of Disability in Malayalam Horror Cinema,” Liyana E and Aju Aravind effectively identify thematic and visual patterns in contemporary Malayalam-language horror films, and they provide a useful overview (1960s to the present) of horror genre productions from the Indian state of Kerala. Examining the genre films’ evolving depictions of physical and mental disability in relation to the Indian state’s socioeconomic developments, the article considers portrayals of supernatural creatures, representations based on Kerala folkloric traditions, and psychological narratives about characters’ inner conflicts. 

Moving from films shaped by domestic circumstances to productions that reflect international factors, the article by Taha Hussein Ahmed Muaydh and Zhang Yong, “My Love Is in Cairo (1966): Pan-Arab, Commercial, and Asymmetrical Collaborations between Egypt and Yemen,” offers valuable insights into pan-Arab film and media production in the 1950s and 1960s. The research, which depends on archival materials and interviews with media professionals, reveals that the era’s coproductions included commercial South Yemeni ventures influenced by Egypt’s dominant cultural position as well as anticolonial radio communications that mobilized public support for revolutionaries backed by a strong Egyptian military presence in North Yemen. The research also sheds light on early Yemeni contributors to film and media.

Cynthia Baron, Journal of Film and Video Editor

Separation of Responsibilities
Yuxuan Ethan Wu, Stanford University

The Language of Silent Things
Blake Knecht, Northwestern University

Trapwork
Noah Amir Arjomand, University of California Riverside

Crowning Glory
Parker Beverly, Wake Forest University

Felt Presence
Mark Burchick, Towson University

The UFVA sponsored Carole Fielding Student Grant supports production or research proposals. The grant is open to undergraduate and graduate students in film, media, and/or related fields. Applicants must be enrolled students at the time the application is made. A faculty member who is an active UFVA member must sponsor the applicant. Categories are narrative, documentary, experimental, animation, new media, and research.

Congratulations to the awardees!

Submissions will open November 15th 
for Pre-constituted Panels and Workshops!

The panels can include panelists from the same institution but no more than two from the same institution. The workshops must be designed for virtual delivery and participation. The virtual program submission acceptance will be limited to offer the best possible attendance to each session. The submission window will close on December 15th with notification of conference acceptance distributed on January 2nd. The UFVA Virtual Conference provides an opportunity to exchange ideas and build community without the barrier that travel may present.

ANNOUNCING
the UFVA Summer Conference
HOST and LOCATION!

We are excited to announce the 79th annual UFVA Conference will be hosted by Dr. Terésa Dowell-Vest at Prairie View A&M University in Texas. The 2025 conference will be held from July 22nd to July 26th. Further details regarding submission deadlines will be included in future communications.

For documentarians and scholars:

“Contrasting Depictions in 1920s Italian and British Colonial Missionary Documentaries”
describes films by Catholic missionaries in Eritrea and Buganda (later Uganda) to shed new light on documentary filmmaking and European colonial ventures.

Key resource for documentary filmmakers:

“Ethics in Documentary Film Production: Asserting and Changing Norms” shares insights from the Documentary Accountability Working Group (2020–2022) and covers commercial
challenges to ethical procedures and the need for documentary work be grounded in equitable practices.

Useful resource on world cinema:

“Defining New Thai Cinema through the Filmographies of Nonzee Nimibutr, Pen-ek
Ratanaruang, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and Wisit Sasanatieng” identifies each filmmaker’s contributions and shows the influence of economic/political crises in the 1990s and 2000s.

Concise account of AI

The “Forum on Artificial Intelligence” features four short essays that discuss AI in fictional depictions, reflect on AI’s application in teaching environments, and offer pragmatic insights into the use of AI scriptwriting and editing tools.

Cynthia Baron, JFV editor
cbaron@bgsu.edu

We’re pleased to announce that registration is now open for the 78^th annual conference of the University Film and Video Association hosted by Cleveland State University. The preliminary conference program is coming together and will be available soon.

Early Bird Registration fee is $325

The UFVA 2024 registration fee is $325 if you register by May 31st. After May 31st, the fee is $375. After June 30th, the conference registration fee is $425.

The student/life member/guest fee is $175 if you register by May 31st. After May 31st, the fee is $200. After June 30th, student/life member/guest registration fee is $225.

All individual attendees (except guests) must be current members. Click here to join UFVA or renew your membership.

All the details about conference registration (fees, lodging, transportation, etc.) can be found on the conference website.

We look forward to seeing you in Cleveland, Ohio.

Sincerely,

Chrissy Guest
Conference VP, University Film & Video Association
(w) http://ufva.org/2024-ufva-conference/
(e) cguest@ithaca.edu

Anatomias Poeticas – Julia Friedman, Stanford University

Blue Bird – Yue Hua, Emerson College

Bukra – Nancy Aljouni, UCLA

One thousand and One Nights in Zanzibar – Asma Khoshmehr,Emerson College

The UFVA sponsored Carole Fielding Student Grant supports production or research proposals. The grant is open to undergraduate and graduate students in film, media, and/or related fields. Applicants must be an enrolled student at the time the application is made. A faculty member who is an active UFVA member must sponsor the applicant. Categories are narrative, documentary, experimental, animation, new media, and research. 

Congratulations to the awardees! 

Casey Hayward
UFVA Carole Fielding Grants Coordinator

Keynote Address: Decentralizing Hollywood: Film Production Outside the System

Tyler Davidson is an award-winning independent film producer, and the president of Low Spark Entertainment, a Los Angeles and Cleveland, Ohio based production and finance company that manages both Low Spark Films and Low Spark Television.

In recent years, Davidson has brought eight acclaimed features to the Sundance Film Festival, including this past year’s Independent Spirt winning and Gotham Award nominated hit Emily the Criminal, starring Aubrey Plaza and Theo Rossi, and written and directed by John Patton Ford. Davidson also recently produced Dash Shaw’s Independent Spirit Award nominated animated fantasy Cryptozoo; Jeff Brown’s horror-thriller The Beach House; and Mélanie Laurent’s Galveston, based on Nic Pizzolatto’s novel, and starring Ben Foster and Elle Fanning.

Davidson also produced Jeff Nichol’s breakthrough feature Take Shelter, which was nominated for five Independent Spirit Awards and won the Cannes Film Festival Critics’ Week Grand Prix; Craig Zobel’s Compliance; William Eubank’s The Signal; The Kings of Summer, written by Chris Galletta and directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts; Steven Caple, Jr.’s The Land; Sophie Goodhart’s My Blind Brother; and served as executive producer on Dash Shaw’s My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea. Davidson has worked with distributors including Focus, Sony Pictures Classics, IFC, Roadside Attractions, Universal, Netflix, Magnolia, Oscilloscope, Starz, RLJ, CBS Films, and Shudder, and is a longstanding member of the Producer’s Guild.

The 78th Annual University Film and Video Association Conference will be a four-day, in-person event hosted by the School of Film & Media Arts at Cleveland State University from July 30 to August 2, 2024. This year’s conference theme is Rock On: Urban Resilience, Cinema, and Sustainability. Submissions for the conference close on March 15^th, 2024.

Applicant must be an enrolled student at the time the application is made. An active faculty member of UFVA must sponsor the applicant.

For more information on eligibility, required materials and application visit:
http://ufva.org/carole-fielding-grant/

Deadline for applications is December 15, 2023

Casey Hayward
UFVA Carole Fielding Grant Coordinator

“According to the Narrator, It Was a Dark and Stormy Night” maps out how a narrator’s approach—as Journalist-turned-Advocate, Open Advocate, or Hidden Advocate—influences audience impressions.

Valuable supplement to EDIT Media material:

“‘White Girls, They Get You Every Time’: Get Out’s Horror of Miscegenation and Its Conception of the Black Bro’mance” is both accessible and thoughtful; it is excellent for class use because it offers new insights into the film and prompts a range of discussions.

Useful supplement to EDIT Media material:

“‘Why Don’t You Go Down to Wall Street and Get Some Real Crooks?’: Capitalism and Masculinity in GoodFellas, Casino, and The Wolf of Wall Street” is also accessible and useful for classes; it will stimulate new conversations about the American Dream and the lives of working-class men.

For fiction filmmakers and teachers:

“The Paradox of Steve Coogan: Performing Class in British Film Acting” can heighten readers’ understanding of screen acting because it illustrates the craftmanship behind the physical, gestural, and vocal signs that are the basis for viewers’ interpretations.

Cynthia Baron
JFV editor 
cbaron@bgsu.edu

Always Running (documentary short) – Susana Barrón, Stanford University

Desync (narrative short) – Chen Sing Yap, Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning

Syndromes of a Century (narrative short) – Sonia Gonzalez, UCLA

Untitled Miami Project (documentary short) – Enrique Pedraza Botero, Stanford University

When you arrive (new media) – Kat Navarro, Towson University

The UFVA sponsored Carole Fielding Student Grant supports production or research proposals. The grant is open to undergraduate and graduate students in film, media, and/or related fields. Applicants must be an enrolled student at the time the application is made. A faculty member who is an active UFVA member must sponsor the applicant. Categories are narrative, documentary, experimental, animation, new media, and research. 

Congratulations to the awardees! 

Casey Hayward 
UFVA Carole Fielding Grants Coordinator 

We join the American Association of University Professors, the American Federation of Teachers, and the National Coalition Against Censorship, in alarm over FL House Bill 999 ‘which would effectively silence faculty and students across the ideological spectrum and purge whole fields of study from public universities.’ Please join us as an individual signatory to this statement.

UFVA Board Members

March 15, 2023

Dear UFVA Members,

We are delighted to announce that our former Presidents,
Christina Lane (2020-2022) and Laura Vazquez (2018-2020), have successfully secured a new editor for our journal. Christina and Laura kindly volunteered to take on this responsibility during the 2022 conference, and we are deeply grateful for their valuable experience and expertise in the scholarly field.

We are writing to let you know that as of January, Cynthia Baron has assumed the position of Editor of UFVA's Journal of Film and Video. Please join us in welcoming Cynthia as JFV's new Editor.

A longtime member of UFVA, Cynthia has served on JFV's Editorial Board since 2005. She has made many contributions to the association (through the Journal, EDIT Media, and conference activities). She is a Professor in the Department of Theatre and Film at Bowling Green State University and was awarded BGSU Research Scholar of Excellence 2017-2020. Cynthia currently holds the position of Editor for The Projector: A Journal of Film, Media, and Culture and Series Editor for Palgrave Studies in Screen Industries and Performance. She serves on the Outreach & Diversity Committee for JCMS: Journal of Cinema and Media Studies and is co-chair of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies Caucus on Class.  

Michael Clarke served as JVF's Editor from 2018 to 2022. The board expresses its gratitude to Michael for his hard work and committed service.

For those interested in learning more about submitting to the Journal of Film and Video or finding out how they can best support its ongoing work, Cynthia can be reached at cbaron@bgsu.edu.

Cynthia has many inspiring ideas and goals to take JFV into the future. This is an exciting time for both JFV and UFVA!

UFVA Board Members

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) provides valuable information about reporting academicfreedom violations for investigation on your campus. Members can directly contact the AAUP’s Academic Freedom department with violations here academicfreedom@aaup.org

Additionally, the AAUP’s Professional Liability Insurance Program might be worth investigating if you feel you are at risk. https://www.aaupmercerinsurance.com/business-insurance/professional-liability/professional-liability/professional-liability.html  This is especially important if your institution has made no commitment to support and defend rights that could be threatened with lawsuits. We encourage department heads and deans to investigate purchasing and paying for professional liability insurance for all faculty, including adjuncts.

AAUP Academic Freedom Website:
https://www.aaup.org/our-work/protecting-academic-freedom

Statement drafted by Committee of Academic Freedom/Expression 

Approved by the UFVA Board Members

August 31, 2022 -- At the University Film and Video Association Annual Board meeting, held at the 76th Annual Conference, the results of the recent Board of Directors vote were announced. On July 27, the Chair of the Nominating Committee, Allie Sultan presented the names of the new board members as well as those who are rotating into new positions.

Kari Barber, Associate Professor at the University of Nevada, will be the new Secretary.

Three board members-at-large positions will be filled by Danielle Beverly (Assistant Professor at  Northwestern University), H.D. Motyl (Associate Professor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale), and Cigdem Slankard (Associate Professor at Cleveland State University).

Chrissy Guest, Associate Professor at Ithaca College, will be the Conference Vice President-Elect, having finished a term as board member-at-large. Abbey Hoekzema, Associate Professor at Georgia Southern University, will be the Editorial Vice President having also finished a term as board member-at-large.

Heather Addison, Professor at the University of Las Vegas Nevada, will continue to serve as Treasurer, a position she has held since 2021.

"We welcome the fresh perspectives these incoming board members bring," said outgoing UFVA President Christina Lane. "The upcoming board represents a great mix of those who are seasoned leaders and those who have new or different points of reference. It is a wonderful, energizing time for UFVA, which was palpable for all those who came together at the recent conference."

Completing their service on the board are Laura Vazquez (who finished a term as Past President), Bart Weiss (who finished a term as Editorial VP), Roslin Smith (who finished a term as Secretary) and board member-at-large Margaret Cardillo.

Wenhwa Ts'ao (Associate Professor at Columbia College Chicago) who begins as UFVA President on September 1, said she was grateful for the willingness of so many members to serve as volunteers. "I feel fortunate to collaborate with so many talented and dedicated people across the organization," Ts'ao said, "and I’m looking forward to continuing this very important work.

Comprised of more than 700 members, the UFVA is the leading association in the United States dedicated to the promotion and study of moving image practice in higher education.