Samantha Janes is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her research interests include classical Hollywood films, B-films, gender studies, media industries, and archival work in trade papers and ballyhoo. Her dissertation focuses on the creation of B-film stars of the 1930s—1950s. She works at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research as a project assistant and digital curator on the digital archives of the Alvin Boretz Collection and the Overture Center Collection.
Recent Presentations:
The Hollywood Conference, “Supernatural Voodoo Woman: Situating Sugar Hill in 1970s Blaxploitation Horror,” 2025
SCMS, “Burlesque Goes Hollywood: Creating B-Film Stars in the 1940s,” 2025
Wisconsin Historical Society IDEA Board, “Writer in Action: The Alvin Boretz Collection,” 2024
SCMS, “Guiding Early Television: TV Guide‘s ‘As We See It’ Column and Advertising Tensions,” 2022
Digital Projects:
Overture Center Collection – Digital Archive for the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, 2024
Writer in Action: The Alvin Boretz Collection – Digital Archive for the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, 2023-2024
“Globalizing and Enhancing the Media History Digital Library”, Summer 2021 and Summer 2022— Post-production team
Honors/Awards:
Advanced Opportunity Fellowship, UW-Madison, Letters & Sciences, 2025-2026
Elliot Dissertation Scholarship (Awarded to graduate students for defending their dissertation proposal) , 2025
Robert J. Wickhem Scholarship (Awarded for achievements in media production), 2024
Helen K. Herman Memorial Fund Scholarship (Acknowledging graduate students who demonstrate academic ability, need, and participation in extra-curricular activities), 2023
Sharon Sites Scholarship in Radio, Television, and Film (Acknowledging outstanding women in Film and Media and Cultural Studies), 2021
Advanced Opportunity Fellowship, UW-Madison, Letters & Sciences, 2020-2021
Publications:
“Let’s Get that R-Rating: Student Bodies and Early Horror Parodies” in Horror Spoofs and Parody: Dying of Laughter, Reece Goodall (ed.),(Cardiff: University of Wales Press, forthcoming 2026)
Writer in Action: The Alvin Boretz Collection,” Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research Blog, March 22nd, 2024.
““In Defense of Writers” from the Alvin Boretz Collection,” Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research Blog, June 6th, 2023.
Review of Refocus: The Films of Albert Brooks ed. by Christian B. Long. The Velvet Light Trap 90 (2022): 75- 77.
Service:
Velvet Light Trap Executive Board, 2024-2025
Velvet Light Trap Reader Board 2020 – 2023, 2025-present
GSO Representation, 2022-2023
“Observations on Film Art” Blog, Social Media Manager for David Bordwell and Kristen Thompson, 2023-present
Education:
- M.A. Film Division, Communication Arts, University of Wisconsin – Madison, 2022
- M.A. English with a Certificate in Film Studies, Texas A&M University, 2020
- B.A. English, Texas A&M University, 2018
Courses:
- COM100 – Introduction to Public Speaking, Teaching Assistant
- Fall 2021 and Spring 2022
- COM155 – Introduction to Digital Media Production, Teaching Assistant
- Fall 2022 and Spring 2023
- COM350 – Introduction to Film, Teaching Assistant
- Fall 2024 and Spring 2025
- COM465 – Editing and Post-Production, Lecturer
- Fall 2023 and Spring 2024
- COM465 – Editing and Post-Production (Asynchronous), Lecturer
- Summer 2024