Michael Cowan is a Professor of Film Studies, as well as DEO in the Department of Cinematic Arts.

Dana Alston is a Ph.D. candidate in Film Studies. He received his MFA in Film and Television Studies from Boston University and his dual BA's in Cinema Studies and Media Studies from the University of Oregon. His current work focuses on contemporary forms of film authorship, cinephilia, and industrial media commodification.

Rick Altman teaches courses on film sound, film genres, and narrative theory. In recent years he has taught courses on silent film sound and exhibition, Hollywood's conversion to sound, genre theory, the musical, the films of Rouben Mamoulian, and narrative theory.

Paula Amad is an Associate Professor of Film Studies in the Department of Cinematic Arts.

Zachariah Anderson is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Film Studies in the Department of Cinematic Arts.

Dean Bakopoulos is an Associate Professor of Cinema and Screenwriting Arts, as well as Head of the Screenwriting Arts Program.

Michael Castelaz is an Assistant Professor of Instruction for Screenwriting in the Department of Cinematic Arts.

Corey Creekmur is an Associate Professor of Film Studies in the Department of Cinematic Arts.

Geoff Daniels is a first year Masters student in the Cinematic Arts program as well as serving as a TA in the department.

Bruce Elgin is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Screenwriting in the Department of Cinematic Arts.

Malik is pursuing an M.F.A. in Film and Video Production. He completed a BA in Film Production and Anthropology from Hampshire College. Malik is invested in the restorative qualities of documentary media and narrative cinema.

Laura Gede is an Assistant Professor of Instruction for Film and Video Production in the Department of Cinematic Arts.

Christopher Goetz is an Associate Professor of Film Studies and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Cinematic Arts.

Yuqin He received her M.A. in East Asian Studies from New York University in 2023 and B.A. in Chinese Language and Literature from Beijing Normal University in 2017. Her research interests include film history, Chinese cinema, modern Chinese literature and affect theory.

Will Hella is a second-year doctoral student in Cinematic Arts, studying the representation of government in film and television and how it shapes public knowledge and discourse.

Arman Hodasefat is an independent filmmaker. He received his M.A. in Film Studies from the Art University of Tehran in 2017, and his B.A. in Architecture from the University of Guilan in 2013. His recent work focuses on an interdisciplinary idea of using the technical principles of architectural design in long-take shots and continuous shot feature films.

Jacob Kessler is an Assistant Professor of Instruction for Film and Video Production in the Department of Cinematic Arts.

Ruedi Kuenzli taught courses at the University of Iowa in contemporary theories, literatures and cultures of the 19th and 20th centuries, interarts, and the avant-garde. He has published books on Marcel Duchamp, Dada and Surrealist Film, André Breton, Surrealism and Women, and New York Dada. He served as the editor of Dada/Surrealism and the Director of the International Dada Archive at the University of Iowa.

Jonathan R. Lack is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Iowa’s Department of Cinematic Arts. He earned his B.A. and M.A. summa cum laude from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and has written, published, and podcasted on film and media since the age of 10. His research specializes in East Asian cinema, with a particular focus on Japanese film and animation, and has written extensively on directors such as Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. His approach aims to study film and media in ways that are uniquely personal, interdisciplinary, and accessible for a wide audience of both scholars and casual viewers. Alongside Sean Chapman, he is host of The Weekly Stuff Podcast, a long-running show about movies, TV, and video games, and Japanimation Station, a seasonal anime podcast. You can read his work at www.JonathanLack.com.

Jeremy Laughery (he/they) is a first-year MA in Film Studies student at the University of Iowa, where he also teaches introductory Rhetoric courses in the Department of Rhetoric.

Ariana Martinez is a freelance film critic and culture writer. They have contributed to publications including Little White, TheWrap, and Little Village. Ariana’s work often gravitates towards explorations of the 1980s, gender, and sexuality in cinema.

Franklin Miller has been making films, videos, and television programs with over 100 major credits since 1961. His early experience was in documentary and narrative forms, including writing and producing a theatrical feature film. Since 1970, he has been working in shorter, more experimental forms that combine and layer live-action footage into collages that fall somewhere between photography and painting. He has also explored techniques in 3D modeling and animation.

Julia Anna Morrison is an Assistant Professor of Instruction for Screenwriting Arts in the Department of Cinematic Arts.