As a media artist and educator, I have long operated under the conviction that the most vital intellectual and creative discoveries occur at the periphery of established disciplines. My career is defined by an unwavering advocacy for interdisciplinary and cross-departmental synthesis, a philosophy born from the realization that complex cultural phenomena cannot be fully interrogated through a single lens. My creative practice, encompassing fiction, documentary, and avant-garde modes across digital cinema, interactive multimedia, and photography, is inextricably linked to my academic pursuits in film history, genre studies, Irish cultural studies, and intercultural communication. I view myself not merely as a specialist in production, but as a perpetual student of the human condition, driven by a scholarly curiosity that necessitates the crossing of traditional institutional silos.
The genesis of my interdisciplinary methodology can be traced clear back to my graduate tenure at the University of Iowa, where I began to explore the porous boundaries between the stage and the screen. By staging large-scale cinema collaborations with the Theatre Arts Department, I initiated experiments in theatrical and filmic performance that challenged the ontological distinctions between “live” and “recorded” presence. These early inquiries were further expanded through research projects with the American Studies program, where I utilized multimedia frameworks to explore Midwestern iconography and the precarious politics of representation within documentary photography. These formative experiences solidified for my entire career my belief that the most robust art is produced when we allow different modes of address to inform and destabilize one another.
Throughout my faculty appointments at Monmouth College and Temple University, I sought to institutionalize this spirit of transdisciplinary cooperation. At Monmouth, I facilitated projects with the Departments of Art and Communication Studies that bridged the gap between fine art traditions and time-based media. At Temple, I expanded this scope significantly, orchestrating collaborative ventures for production students that reached into the Departments of Music, Journalism, and, notably, Medicine. This latter collaboration with the medical field underscores my belief in the utility of filmic practice as a tool for diverse professional inquiries, whether as a medium for narrative therapies, a vehicle for public health communication, or a means of humanizing complex scientific data. These partnerships demonstrate that filmmaking is not a cloistered craft, but a vital communicative infrastructure capable of enriching any field it touches.
My commitment to interdisciplinary leadership was further recognized during my time at Temple University, where I was invited to serve on the Provost’s Commission on the Arts. In this capacity, I functioned as a liaison between the creative arts and the broader university administration, advocating for a campus culture that prioritizes artistic integration. This role allowed me to contribute to the establishment of a new interdisciplinary MFA in Dramatic Writing, a program designed specifically to synthesize the divergent demands of playwriting, screenwriting, and nonfiction essay-based writing. This curriculum was built on the premise that the core of narrative excellence remains constant, even as the formal delivery systems shift.
My transition to Portland State University was motivated, in large part, by the institution’s structural capacity for interdisciplinary vitality, particularly the proximity of the film and theatre programs. I perceive these two disciplines as naturally intersecting domains, yet they often suffer from artificial segregation. I have been dedicated to dissolving these barriers, bringing together actors, lighting designers, and costume designers from the theatre department to collaborate with directors and cinematographers from the film program. This pedagogical approach does more than streamline production logistics; it fosters a shared vocabulary and a mutual respect for the distinct rigors of each craft. By placing these students in conversation, we create a laboratory environment where the synergy of diverse expertise produces a work of art that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Beyond the university walls, my interdisciplinary philosophy extends into the community through my service on the board of the Arts and Quality of Life Research Center and my directorship of the Greenfield Youth Film Festival and the Portland Music Video Festival. These roles have allowed me to examine how media education and production can intersect with social well-being and community identity. In particular, the Portland Music Video Festival serves as a unique site of investigation into the marriage of sound and image, highlighting a medium that is, by its very nature, a collaborative fusion of disparate artistic industries.
I am acutely aware of the institutional challenges that face the interdisciplinary student. In many contemporary university structures, credit-hour limitations often function as a deterrent to intellectual exploration, forcing students to choose between depth in their major and the breadth of a liberal arts education. Every year, I witness students petitioning for the opportunity to exceed these limits, driven by a genuine need to integrate their cinematic training with courses in sociology, history, or the physical sciences. I view it as my professional responsibility to support these students and to advocate for a more flexible academic architecture. To limit a filmmaker’s education to the technical aspects of the camera is to deny them the very subject matter that makes cinema meaningful. By championing interdisciplinary study, I am not merely encouraging my students to learn more; I am teaching them how to synthesize diverse forms of knowledge into a singular, powerful vision, a skill that is essential for the artist and the citizen in the twenty-first century.
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