Faculty Member, Communications
Assistant Professor of Communications
Jeremy Wallach
Vivian Patraka
Awad Ibrahim
About
(I will be updating this "about" section this summer, 2009)
(Update, maybe autumn, 2009...)
I am a recent PhD candidate in American Culture Studies with emphases in Popular Culture, Media Studies, and (New) Media Technology. My dissertation, entitled "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). I will defend the dissertation in the spring of 2009 and have PhD in hand soon after. I recently accepted an assistant professor position with the Department of Communications at Elizabethtown College and will begin in August of 2009. Please see homepage and/or CV for more information. I also have two cats and a lovely fiance.
Contact Information
colinhelb@gmail.com
