Ethan de Seife | Curriculum Vitae
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Ethan de Seife
Assistant Professor of Film Studies
206 Crown Street, Apt. 2
Brooklyn, NY 11225
c: 914-434-1958
ethan.deseife@gmail.com
Education
200 Dempster Hall
Hofstra University
Hempstead, NY 11549
o: 516-463-4634
ethan.deseife@hofstra.edu
Ph.D., Film Studies
2005, Communication Arts Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Dissertation, Cheerful Nihilism: The Films of Frank Tashlin, completed under the
direction of Professor Lea Jacobs.
M.A., Film Studies
2000, Communication Arts Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison
B.A., Art and Film Studies
Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut
Teaching and
Service
Syllabi and course
materials available
on request.
Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York
Assistant Professor of Film Studies
Fall 2008-present
Undergraduate courses taught
• Film Theory
• Japanese Cinema
• The Films of Brian De Palma
• History of World Cinema, 1895-1945
• History of World Cinema, 1945-present
• The Films of Werner Herzog
• Film Genres: Comedy
• Film Genres: The Musical
• History of Documentary Film
• The Films of Roger Corman and William Castle
• Introduction to Film Studies
˚ In alternate semesters, this course is taught as part of Hofstra’s
multidisciplinary “First-Year Connections” program.
• Two sections of “Culture and Expression,” a course in Hofstra’s Honors College
˚ This is a team-taught, theme-driven, multidisciplinary course that uses
discussion seminars to do close readings of various texts.
Independent Studies supervised
• The Films and Theory of Sergei Eisenstein
• Race and Disney Films
• The Films of Aki Kaurismäki and Jean-Pierre Melville
• Research Assistantship on Brian De Palma
Undergraduate Honors Theses supervised
Ethan de Seife | Curriculum Vitae
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• 2012: Benjamin Gelb, untitled thesis on the modern American musical film
Graduate courses taught
• Documentary Theory and History
˚ Part of Hofstra’s MFA Program in Documentary Studies and Production
Master’s degree committees
• 2012: Edel Malone, untitled thesis, MFA in Documentary Studies and Production
• 2010: Qianhe Zhao, “Black Humor in Crazy Stone and Contemporary Chinese Cinema”
Service
• Academic advisor to approximately 25 students per academic year
• Member, Department Personnel Committee
˚ Headed up faculty hiring committee in Fall 2011
• Member, Planning Committee, MFA Program in Documentary Studies and Production
˚ Consulted on curriculum, enrollment, and degree programs
• Member, School of Communication Planning Committee for Hofstra’s 75th
Anniversary Conference
• Senator-at-Large, Athletic Policy Committee
• Member, Planning Committee, Kapow! Symposium on Media and Popular Culture
• Judge, Hofstra Film Club student film competition
• Participant/supervisor, Peer Teacher program (Spring 2010, Fall 2011, Spring 2011)
• Faculty advisor, “Hofstra vs. Zombies,” a (very silly) campus-wide game
Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Visiting Assistant Professor of Film Studies
Fall 2007-Spring 2008
Undergraduate courses taught
• History of Animation
• Film Aesthetics and Analysis
• Introduction to Video Production
• History of Film, 1895-1945
• Introduction to Film Studies
Service
• Member, Gettysburg College Interdisciplinary Studies Faculty Committee
• De facto academic advisor to approximately 20 students
Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut
Visiting Assistant Professor of Film Studies
Spring 2006-Spring 2007
Undergraduate courses taught
• History of Animation
Graduate courses taught
Offered as part of Wesleyan’s Graduate Liberal Studies Program
• History of Japanese Film
Ethan de Seife | Curriculum Vitae
• Film Comedy
• Film Archives Class: The Films and Archives of Elia Kazan
Quinnipiac University, Hamden, Connecticut
Visiting Assistant Professor of Film Studies
Fall 2006
Undergraduate courses taught
• Hong Kong Cinema
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Graduate Instructor, Film Studies
Fall 1998-Spring 2005
Undergraduate courses taught
• Introduction to Film Studies
• Introduction to Video Production
• Introduction to Public Speaking
• Classical Film Theory (grader only)
Service
• Instructor, Grandparents’ University
˚ Taught one-day course in Hollywood animation in a university extension
program for grandparents and their grandchildren.
Minneapolis Public School District
1997
Courses taught
• Assistant Instructor, GED class, Minneapolis Adult Education Program
Film
Programming
Experience
Programmer, University of Wisconsin-Madison Cinematheque
Fall 2000-Spring 2002
Selected, promoted, hosted, and supervised all aspects of this weekly film series.
• Calendars and program notes available on request.
• See cinema.wisc.edu for more details.
Co-curator, Red Eye Collaborative Film Program, Minneapolis
1997-1998
Selected, promoted, hosted, projected, and supervised all aspects of this periodic
and highly diverse independent, 16mm film series.
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Ethan de Seife | Curriculum Vitae
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Member, Wesleyan University Film Series, Middletown, CT
1993-1995
Assisted in the selection, promotion, and hosting of a 100+ films/year campus film series.
Books
Excerpts available
on request.
Tashlinesque: The Hollywood Comedies of Frank Tashlin (Wesleyan University
Press, forthcoming, 2012).
This Is Spinal Tap (Wallflower Press, 2007).
Articles and
Chapters
I maintain the website ethandeseife.wordpress.com, on which I post short
essays about my scholarly work, and about topics in film in general.
Copies available on
request.
“John Smith and His Gargantuan Newt”*
Accepted for publication by Media Fields Journal, #4; to be published November 2011
An asterisk (*)
indicates a peerreviewed work.
Synoptic history of Hollywood Cinema*
Chapter in the forthcoming textbook U.S. Popular Culture: An Introduction to Media,
History, and Identity (ed. Rebecca Wanzo).
Untitled article on Methocel, a substance used for cinematic special effects*
Accepted for publication in the forthcoming anthology Special Effects: New Histories,
Theories, Contexts, to be published 2012.
“With an Attitude: The Development of the Star Persona of Ice Cube”*
Accepted for publication, forthcoming in Fall 2011, 16:9.
Untitled, collaborative article on the style and narrative techniques of NFL Films
Currently in progress; to be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal.
“Brutal Mathematics: Narrative Structure in the Films of Chang Cheh”
Submitted for publication August 2011; currently under review.
“Tish-Tash in Cartoonland”*
Chapter in the University of California Press anthology Funny Pictures (eds. Charlie
Keil and Daniel Goldmark; published July 2011).
“The Branding of an Author: William Castle and the Auteur Theory”*
16:9, #42 (June 2011)
Available at http://www.16-9.dk/2011-06/side11_inenglish.htm
“From Monkey to Maudlin: Jerry Lewis in the Films of Frank Tashlin”*
Chapter in Kylo-Patrick Hart, ed., Film and Television Stardom (Newcastle upon Tyne:
Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2008).
“Gremlins in the Mix”*
16:9, #25 (February 2008)
Available at www.16-9.dk/2008-02/side11_inenglish.htm
“Tashlinesquerie”*
Ethan de Seife | Curriculum Vitae
16:9, #16 (April 2006)
Available at www.16-9.dk/2006-04/side11_inenglish.htm
Short essays on fourteen films, including Play Time, Weekend, The Ladies Man,
Ugetsu, and The Spider’s Stratagem.
Steven Schneider, ed., 1001 Films You Must See before You Die (Barron’s Educational
Series, 2004).
“Chang Cheh”*
Part of Senses of Cinema’s “Great Directors” series (2003)
Available at archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/03/chang.html
“Frank Tashlin”*
Part of Senses of Cinema’s “Great Directors” series (2003)
Available at archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/03/tashlin.html
“What’s Sarong with this Picture? The Development of the Star Image of
Dorothy Lamour”*
Senses of Cinema, Issue 22 (September-October 2002)
Available at archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/02/22/lamour.html
“Big Trouble on the Magic Mountain”
“The Wing Kong Exchange” (2000) a site dedicated to Big Trouble in Little China
Available at www.wingkong.net/articles/paper/paper.html
“The Treachery of Images”
“SpinalTapFan.com” (2000), a site dedicated to This Is Spinal Tap
Available at spinaltapfan.com/articles/seife/seife1.html, et. seq.
Reviews
Copies available on
request.
Film/DVD review: The Makioka Sisters (Kon Ichikawa, 1983)
Forthcoming in Film International
Film/DVD review: All six Lone Wolf and Cub films
Film International, #49 (2010: 4)
DVD review: High and Low
Film International, #44 (2010: 2)
Film review: Three Monkeys (Üç maymun)
Film International, #40 (2009: 4)
Book review: Susan Delson, Dudley Murphy: Hollywood Wild Card
Film International, #29 (2007: 5)
Book review: Paul Clark, Reinventing China: A Generation and Its Films
Film International, #22 (2006: 4)
Book review: Michael Berry, Speaking in Images: Interviews with Contemporary
Chinese Filmmakers
Film International, #21 (2006: 3)
Book review: Nicholas Rombes, ed., New Punk Cinema
Film International, #20 (2006: 2)
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Book review: Stephen Glynn, A Hard Day’s Night
Film International, #18 (2005: 6)
Conference
Presentations
Transcripts and
supplementary
materials available
on request.
“Old Times Were Good Times: Neil Young Remembers Greendale”
Proposal submitted; currently under review.
Presentation on comic-book style in Mario Bava’s Danger: Diabolik
Kapow! Symposium on Media and Popular Culture, 7 October 2010
“The Cartoon at the End of the World: Frank Tashlin and The Way of Peace”
Proposal submitted; currently under review.
“This Is Your Brain on Animation: Cognition and the Animated Documentary”
Visible Evidence XVII, Bogaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey, August 2010
“Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, and the Changing Media Landscape of the 1950s”
Northeast Popular/American Culture Association Conference, Queensborough
Community College, 23 October 2009
“Suffering through Performances: How CGI Enhancement Affects Acting and
Directing in Contemporary Films”
Film and History Conference, Chicago, Illinois, 1 November 2008
“Rock ‘n’ Roll Creation: This Is Spinal Tap and the Hollywood Musical”
Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference, Chicago, Illinois, 10 March 2007
“Focus on and in the Films of the Brothers Quay”
Society for Animation Studies Conference, San Antonio, Texas, 7 July 2006
“The Director and the Bombshell: Jayne Mansfield in the Films of Frank Tashlin”
Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference, Vancouver, BC, 2 March 2006
“From Monkey to Maudlin: Jerry Lewis in the Films of Frank Tashlin”
Media Stardom Conference, Plymouth State University, New Hampshire, 8 October 2005
“Reëvaluating Frank Tashlin’s Animation”
Society for Animation Studies Conference, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, 30
September 2004
“Brutal Mathematics: Narrative Structure in the Films of Chang Cheh”
Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 9 March 2003
“What’s Sarong with this Picture? The Development of the Star Image of
Dorothy Lamour”
Society for Cinema Studies Conference, Denver, Colorado, 23 May 2002
“Cheerful Nihilism: Cahiers du Cinema on the Films of Frank Tashlin, 1956-1966”
Midwestern Conference on Film, Language, and Literature, Northern Illinois
University, DeKalb, Illinois, 5 April 2002
Miscellaneous
Review: “Emmylou Harris: A Conversation with Music at the Times Center,” 29
Ethan de Seife | Curriculum Vitae
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April 2011 (emdashes.com/2011/04/emmylou-harris-a-conversation.php).
Judge, 2011 Locust Valley, NY, High School Film Festival
Contributor to the “Masters of Cinema” Blu-Ray DVD edition of Frank Tashlin’s
Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?
Interviewee, European television documentary, produced by arte.tv, about
animator Ub Iwerks
Author, various videogame reviews at scum.co.uk, a gaming website
Languages
Spanish (intermediate)
French (intermediate)
Activities and
Professional
Organizations
Founding Member, Animation and Digital Media Special Interest Group,
Society for Cinema and Media Studies, 2010-present
Member, Editorial Board, Animation Studies, 2006-present
Member, Society for Animation Studies, 2004-present
Member, Society for Cinema and Media Studies, 2001-present
Member, University of Wisconsin-Madison Teaching Assistants’ Association, 1998-2005
Programmer, Wisconsin Film Festival, 2001-2002
Member, Madison Film Forum, 1998-2000
Awards
Alpha Delta Pi Teacher of the Week award, Gettysburg College, January 2008
McCarty Dissertation Award, 2003
Helen K. Herman Academic Award, 2001
McCarty First-Year Scholarship Award, 1998
References
Lea Jacobs (dissertation advisor)
Professor, Film Studies
University of Wisconsin-Madison
6152 Vilas Hall
821 University Avenue
Madison, WI 53706
608-262-1750
jacobs@wisc.edu
David Bordwell
Professor Emeritus, Film Studies
Ethan de Seife | Curriculum Vitae
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University of Wisconsin-Madison
4045 Vilas Hall
821 University Avenue
Madison, WI 53706
608-262-7723
bordwell@wisc.edu
Jeanine Basinger
Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan Cinema Archives
301 Washington Terrace
Middletown, CT 06459
860-685-2220
jbasinger@wesleyan.edu
Marta Robertson
Coordinator of Interdisciplinary Studies and Associate Professor of Musicology
Gettysburg College
Box 403, 300 North Washington Street
Gettysburg, PA 17325
717-337-6139
mroberts@gettysburg.edu
Vance Kepley
Professor of Film Studies
University of Wisconsin-Madison
6038 Vilas Hall
821 University Avenue
Madison, WI 53706
608-890-3274
vikepley@wisc.edu