Ashton Leach is a Film PhD candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her primary research explores how age and aging are reflected in romantic and sexual relationships in contemporary media. She is particularly interested in how these themes are shaped by and reflective of social movements and audience engagement. Her broader work investigates many themes including true crime media, regionality and location-based identity, and gender in genre, specifically in horror and comedy. She is especially attentive to how media invites viewers to engage with taboo, discomfort, and affect, as well as how genre conventions evolve in response to shifting social contexts.Research Interests
Age and Aging, Sexuality, Romance and Love Studies, True Crime, Regionality, Genre Studies, Hagsploitation, Horror, Comedy, Archival Preservation
Education
M.A. Communication Arts–Film, University of Wisconsin– Madison, 2023
B.A. History with distinction and English– Film and Media Studies with distinction, Hendrix College, 2020
Service
Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research Project Assistant, Spring 2023 – present
Wendy Clarke collection
Chuck Kleinhans and Julia Lesage Jump Cut collection
Elfrieda Abbe and Angles: Women Working in Film and Video collection
Michael Douglas collection
Media History Digital Library
Editorial Board Member for The Velvet Light Trap, 2022 – present
Peabody Awards Screening Committee Member – Non-Fiction Radio and Podcast, 2026
Society for Cinema and Media Studies, Graduate Student Organization Mentor, 2026
Committee Member for Third Annual Graduate Midwest Film and Media Studies Symposium, 2026
Courses
CA 100: Introduction to Public Speaking
CA 250: Introduction to Contemporary Media (TA)
CA 313: Hollywood Blockbusters (Summer) (grader)
CA 313: Crime Film (Summer) (grader)
CA 355: Introduction to Film and Television Production (TA)
CA 499: Sound Cultures: Podcasting and Music (grader)
Guest Lectures
CA313: Romantic Comedy, “Aging & Aesthetic in the films of Nancy Meyers”, co-lectured with Sam Janes
Awards
Sharon Sites, Spring 2023, Spring 2026
Awarded to outstanding graduate students concentrating in Film and Media and Cultural Studies
Elliott Dissertation Scholarship, Spring 2026
Awarded to students who pass their dissertation proposal defense no later than one year after completing their preliminary examinations
The Graduate School’s Student Research Grant, Spring 2026
Conference Presentation Award
Helen K. Herman, Spring 2025
Awarded to graduate students who demonstrate academic ability and participation in extra-curricular activities.
McCuistion English Prize, Hendrix College, Spring 2020
Award to the outstanding senior English major.
Conferences
SCMS, “Southern Slayings: Regionality as Commodity in True Crime”, 2026
Pop Culture Association, “Midwest Murders and Southern Slayings: Regional Identity as Commodity in True Crime Television,” 2026
Television Comedy Conference, “Over the Hill and Under the Sheets: Geriatric Sex in Modern Television Comedy,” 2025
SCMS, “Love, Links, Archives: Digitizing and Curating the Wendy Clarke Tape Collection,” 2025
American Literature Association, “A Dark Gray Overcast: Recurring Representations of Confederates throughout Scooby-Doo Properties,” 2025
SCMS, “Defining the Indefinable: an Archival Exploration of Love in Wendy Clarke’s Love Tapes,” 2024
