Elizabethtown College

Faculty Member, Communications

Assistant Professor of Communications

About

Colin Helb is Assistant Professor of Communications and Faculty Advisor/General Manager of WWEC 88.3 FM at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. Dr. Helb teaches courses in visual communications, media production, audio production, new media, and critical cultural studies.

Dr. Helb's areas of research interest include media technology, popular culture, popular music, film, amateur and independent media production, experimental and conceptual media, media archives, documentary, and media history.

Colin earned his PhD from the American Culture Studies program at Bowling Green State University with emphases in popular culture and media studies. His dissertation, titled "Use and Influence of the Amateur Musician Narrative in Film, 1981-2001," is a survey of four films released between 1981 and 2001 in which narratives focus on the struggles of fictional amateur bands. It is an analysis of the presentation of "The Amateur" in relationship to "The Professional," the metaphoric use of these characters as story-telling devises (often created by hegemonically-marginalized filmmakers), the difficulties in marketing and distributing films (or other cultural products) critical of commercial media via orthodox commercial means, and the "real world" influence of the films and characters on musicians, arts, filmmakers, etc. The films are *Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains* (1981), *Ishtar* (1987), *Half-Cocked* (1995), and *Hedwig and the Angry Inch* (2001).

Colin lives in Philadelphia with two cats and his lovely wife.

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