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 current project 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 Capital Theater collection.
Recent Presentations:
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
Honors/Awards:
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
Service:
Velvet Light Trap Reader Board 2020 – present
GSO Representation, 2023
Publications:
Review of Refocus: The Films of Albert Brooks ed. by Christian B. Long. The Velvet Light Trap 90 (2022): 75- 77.
Digital Projects:
Overture Center Collection – Digital Archive for the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, (upcoming)
Writer in Action: The Alvin Borez Collection – Digital Archive for the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, 2023-2024
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, Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 – TA
- COM155 – Introduction to Digitial Media Production, Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 – TA
- COM465 – Editing and Post-Production, Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 – Instructor
- COM465 – Editing and Post-Production, Summer 2024 – Instructor