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In celebration of National LGBTQ+ History Month, we are shining a spotlight on MDJ’s Queer Cinema course taught by Assistant Professor of Media and Journalism and Communication Studies, Dr. Karisa Butler-Wall. The course focuses on queer filmmaking and spectatorship as a critical practice that reflects shifting understandings of gender and sexual nonnormatively across space and time.  

“From classical Hollywood cinema to contemporary independent and documentary filmmaking, this class examines how particular historical and cultural moments, geographical spaces, and political contexts have shaped the conditions for representations of queerness on screen,” Butler-Wall says.  

The course allows students the chance to learn to critically analyze and discuss queer films from a queer theoretical point of view. They focus on how gender and sexuality intersect with other categories of power including race, class, and citizenship. Some films highlighted in the course are The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Two Spirits (2010), and Moonlight (2016).  

Butler-Wall says that Queer Cinema allows students to actively engage with questions of identity, representation, performance, and activism from an interceptional perspective.  

“Film is one of the most impactful mediums that has the power to shape our understandings of identity and culture, and for marginalized populations it can be a tool of oppression or of liberation.” 

Two Communication Studies faculty members were honored at the Ohio Communication Association's 2021 Conference, "Resilience Through Communication," Oct. 1-2, 2021, at Youngstown State University.

Growing up in a country annexed by the Soviet Union, Ruslanas Iržikevičius grew up with a well-developed sense for recognizing propaganda and disinformation. As a visiting Humphrey Fellow, he visited Kent State’s School of Media and Journalism, September 18-24, 2021.

As they prepare for careers as directors, writers and cinematographers in an industry that’s dominated by men, female filmmakers at �鶹��ý empower and support one another through the Female Filmmaker's Initiative (FFI).

The College of Communication and Information joins �鶹��ý in recognizing National Hispanic Heritage Month by shining spotlights on CCI friends and st

Senior journalism major Morgan McGrath has been awarded the inaugural Michael J.  Gallagher II Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship was established in late 2020, in memory of

Influenced by artists like René Magritte and Piet Mondrian, �鶹��ý alumnus Jermaine Jackson Jr. believes the best way to get the point across in a photo is by keeping it simple.

A research team from �鶹��ý's School of Information working in partnership with Kent State’s College of Nursing received a National Leadership Planning Grant for Libraries from the Institute of Museums and Library Services (IMLS) for $99,982. The funds will support the first stages of what investigators have named Project SHIELD (Supporting Healthy Infant Early Learning and Development).

This fall, �鶹��ý and its College of Communication and Information (CCI) will welcome Roseann “Chic” Canfora, Ph.D., as a Professional-in-Residence in the School of Media and Journalism.