Recent News
PhD Candidate Yandong Li organized a virtual panel “Environmental Objects,” and presented his work on the solar cooker as a media object, concentrating on its visual appearance as novel, modern, even extraterrestrial.
Join us in congratulating Kenneth Zacher, who has been awarded a scholarship designed to assist students pursuing a degree in the humanities. He recently presented his research on AI songwriting at the Undergraduate Research Symposium in May 2025. Professor Rich Watts (French & Italian) supervised Kenneth’s research project on creativity, artificial intelligence, and music.
"What might the virtual assistant in your phone sound like if the artificial intelligence that powered it emerged from the consciousness of a Black girl from Chicago?" writes Timeka Tounsel, associate professor of Black studies in communication at the UW. Golden M. Owens, assistant professor of cinema & media studies at the UW, is quoted.
Imagine sitting in a movie theater watching a film youve been anticipating for months. Suddenly, the screen goes blank. It only lasts a second, but thats long enough to disrupt the experience. Its also long enough, says Mal Ahern, to remind you of the physical infrastructure behind what we so often see as an immaterial...
Virtual assistants, such as Apples Siri, can perform a range of tasks or services for users and a majority of them sound like white women. Golden Marie Owens, assistant professor of cinema and media studies at the University of Washington, says there is much to learn about a person from how they sound. The...
What is your project for the Mary Gates Undergraduate Research Symposium?
My project is a video essay titled "Queer Silence." I explore the meaningful use of silence within a small selection of contemporary queer films, directly experimenting with the relationship between image and silence.
How did you find the topic for your project?
For students that didn’t get a chance to work with you, what was your job and what did you do for the Cinema and Media Studies Department?