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:
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:
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 Dying of Laughter, University of Wales Press, (forthcoming).
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-present
Velvet Light Trap Reader Board 2020 – 2024
GSO Representation, 2022-2023
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