Biography
David Martínez is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His M.A. thesis, “The Routes of Rootlessness: Tracing Monstrous Romani Representation in Literature and Film,” explores how the historical displacement and persecution of Romani people has led to the construction the archetypal “gypsy” in Western culture. He is also developing a book on the history of “Django” Italian films.
Education
- 2026 – M.A. in Film – University of Wisconsin-Madison
- 2024 – M.A. in Literature – University of Colorado-Boulder
- 2012 – B.A. in English – University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Classes Taught at UW-Madison
- CA355: Introduction to Film and Television Production (TA)
- CA300: Film Comedy (TA)
- CA100: Introduction to Speech Composition (Principal Instructor)
Classes Taught at CU-Boulder
- HIST1113: Introduction to British History to 1660 (TA)
- ENGL2026: Popular Culture and Critical Reading (TA)
- ENGL3310: The Bible as Literature (TA) [cross-listed as Humanities/Jewish Studies]
Research Positions at CU-Boulder
- 2023 – Research Assistant (RA) – Dr. Thora Brylowe – Department of English
Guest Lectures at CU-Boulder
- “Introduction to Semiotic Film Theory in Marvel’s Werewolf by Night!”
- “Replacing God: Jealousy, Seduction, and Pride in Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments”
- “Creating a Monster, Creating an Icon: Historical Context and Authorship in James Whale’s Frankenstein”
- “Death of the Author: An Introduction to Barthes and Foucault”
Conference Presentations
- 2026 – Horror Studies Now, “Blood on the Frontier: the Politics of Looking in the Female-Directed Vampire Western”
- 2026 – SCMS, “Once Upon a Time in Gypsy-Occupied Nazi Germany: The Function of the Constructed Gypsy Figure in World War II Spy Films”
- 2025 – Horror Studies Now, “Models of Perception: the Gypsy Curse in Horror”
- 2024 – SCMS, “The Routes of Rootlessness: Tracing the Romani in Horror Film”
- 2024 – RAW, “Representations of Romani and the “Gypsy Curse” in Horror”
Honors/Awards
- 2025 – Peter Hutchings Award for Outstanding Contribution to Horror Studies [Honourable Mention] – Northumbria University Horror Studies Research Group
- 2024 – Community of Graduate Research Scholars (CGRS) Fellow
- 2023 – Frederick C. and Eleanor Ruth Hager Graduate Fellow