TORONTO, June 23, 2004 -- This summer is promising to be chock full of box office blockbusters for moviegoers and budding cinematic critics alike with such films as Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Troy, The Stepford Wives, Shrek 2, and Super Size Me.
York University has professors from a variety of disciplines – including film studies, children’s literature, history, and women’s studies – ready to comment on what’s hot, and what’s not, on the big screen this summer.
Documentary Film
Super Size Me
Laurence Green, a professor of film studies, is an award-winning filmmaker with professional credits in all aspects of film production including documentary. His awards include a Silver Hugo at the 1996 Chicago International Film Festival and a National Film Board/John Spotton Award at the 1995 Toronto International Film Festival.
Fahrenheit 9/11
Seth Feldman is a professor of film studies with York University’s Faculty of Fine Arts and has written extensively on documentary film making. Feldman met Michael Moore in 1989 during the release of his documentary “Roger and Me.”
Women’s Studies, Feminist Thought
Stepford Wives
Andrea O’Reilly, a professor of women’s studies, is an expert on feminist theory, mothering and mothers, the study of Anglo-American and African-American feminist thought and the work of Toni Morrison.
Children’s literature, folklore, fantasy
Harry Potter
Carole Carpenter, an English professor, specializes in children's literature and culture, folklore as a discourse of identity.
Chinese and Asian Cinema
Zhou Yu's Train
Suzie S.F. Young is a film scholar and cultural theorist specializing in Asian cinema, the horror genre and feminism and popular culture. Originally from Hong Kong, she has lectured on a variety of cultural topics including the New Wave Cinemas of the three Chinas, television and exilic identities of the Chinese diaspora in Canada, and the oeuvre of Canadian director David Cronenberg.
History of the Roman Empire
Troy
Jonathan Edmondson, a history and classical studies professor, has written numerous books and articles on the Roman Empire. His teaching interests include Roman history, especially Roman imperialism, Roman spectacle, literature and culture in the age of Augustus and the self-image and later representation of Roman emperors such as Caligula, Claudius and Nero.
Comics and Cartoons in Popular Culture
Spider-Man 2
Jonathan Warren, an English professor, teaches a course on comics and cartoons. He specializes in cosmopolitan modernism and its precursors, early-twentieth-century American literature, and literary theory.
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For additional experts or to arrange interviews, media should contact:
Ken Turriff, York University Media Relations, 416-736-2100, ext. 22086 / kturriff@yorku.ca
YU/081/04
