Faculty & Staff Directory

EXPERTISE

New Media
Transmedia
Memory
Public

FACULTY PROFILE

Deborah James holds a Ph.D. in Communication with a focus on emerging cross-platform documentary, the intersection between public memory and transnational lived experience, and women's production practices. She currently serves GSU as Associate Professor of Media Studies and Chairs the Center of Community Media Steering Committee. James is a 2019 National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) Faculty Fellow. She is a Part 107 certified FAA Small Unmanned Aircraft Remote Pilot and holds Open Water SCUBA certification with PADI.

Having completed her documentary BELGRADE LIVE (2018) James extended her research into matters pertaining to amateur media practice and the production of human experience of underwater life at a time of increased access to technology and social media and public awareness of climate change. Her current field work study of the Great Florida Reef and the coastal community of the Florida Keys examines the coral reef environment from a documentary film studies perspective to understand how amateur first-person documentary communicates the ways in which humans inhabit, interact with, and interpret the ocean. This new direction is influenced by her service as associate producer on 24 HOURS OF REALITY hosted by Al Gore, broadcast to 80 countries and watched by 93 million households in 2018. Her research emerges from her forthcoming publication, ‘Facebook for community, direct action and archive: Diaspora responses to the 2014 floods in the former Yugoslavia’ coming out in 2019.

Prior to this study, James conducted ongoing field research in Southeastern Europe exploring Belgrade's enduring creative energy, where the cultural underground meets the post-industrial city. Her interactive documentary work, (RE)ACTIVE CITIES, was chosen for a Central European University's summer 2015 incubator program. Her research is published in Feminist Media Studies, Journal of Communication, and Studies in Documentary Film.

View Deborah James Curriculum Vitae

EDUCATION

Ph.D. Communication, Wayne State University, 2011

M.A. Media Studies, New School for Social Research, 2003

B.A. Honors Fine Arts and Art History, University of Guelph, 1999

PUBLICATIONS

Journal Articles

(*writing as D. James Smith)

James, D. (2015). Drawn out of the gutters: Nina Bunjevac's Fatherland, A collaborative memory. Feminist Media Studies. (15)3. 1-6. DOI: 10.1080/14680777.2015.1031966

James, D. (2013). Social networking Sarajevo Roses: Digital representations of post-conflict civil life in the (former) Yugoslavia. Submitted to Journal of Communication (JOC). Digital early view. DOI: 10.1111/jcom.12057

Ali, S.,James, D., and Vultee, F. (2013). Strike a pose: Comparing Associated Press and UNICEF visual representations of the children of Darfur. African Conflict and Peacebuilding Review. (3)1.

*Smith, D. J. (2009), Big-eyed, wide-eyed, sad-eyed children: Constructing the humanitarian space in social justice documentaries. Studies in DocumentaryFilm. (3)2. 159–175.

Book Chapters

James, D. (2019). Facebook for community, direct action and archive: Diaspora responses to the 2014 floods in the former Yugoslavia. In R. Tsagarousianou and J. Retis (Eds.) The Handbook of Diasporas, Media and Culture. Wiley-Blackwell and IAMCR.

James, D. (2012). What it takes to screen her film: A feminist study of UNESCO's audiovisual E-Platform. In Gajjala, R. (Ed.). Where Have All the Cyberfeminists Gone? New York: Peter Lang.

Other Publications

*Smith, D. J. (2008), Film review: Shake hands with the devil. Scope: An Online Journal of Film & TV Studies.11.

*Smith, D. J. (2007), Catfight in My Name is Earl as a site of feminist resistance. Flow: A Critical Forum on Television and Media Culture. 5:9. Available at < http://flowtv.org/?p=99 >
  

HONORS & AWARDS

Faculty Fellow. National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) 2019

Sabbatical. Project: Divers who document: Restoring found footage to place, 2019
experience, and story in the Florida Keys
State of Illinois Show Case Panel Award. Artmaking and/as/is Resilience? Illinois Com &
Theatre Association. Convention, Peoria, Ill 2017
Top Panel Award: Shared with P. Santoro and MST 4990 students. Illinois Com & Theatre Assoc. Convention, Lisle, Ill 2016

Excellence Award 2014 – 2015

Provost's High Impact Practices Course Dev'p Grant (Integrating drone technology into media studies), GSU 2013 – 2014

Provost's High Impact Practices Course Development Grant, GSU 2013 – 2014

GSU Research Grant. Fieldwork in Serbia 2013 – 2014

GSU Intellectual Life Grant. Media Studies and Social Work connect through experience: A cross discipline transmedia collaboration2013

GSU Intellectual Life Grant. Women make media: Collaboration as public memory 2013

GSU Research Grant. Fieldwork in Montenegro 2012 – 2013

Top Paper award. ICA, Global Communication and Social Change 2011

Top Graduate Student Paper award. ICA,Global Com. and Social Change2011

2^nd, Graduate School Research Exhibition, (with Sadaf Ali), Humanities Div.,WSU 2011

Humanities Center Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, WSU 2010 – 2011

PRESENTATIONS

James, D. The gin-clear waters of the Florida Keys: Regarding underwater life in amateur first-person documentary. Conference on Communication and Environment, Vancouver, B.C.

James, D. (2018). *Old current: The social construction of ex-Yugoslavia on YouTube. National Communication Association Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah.

James, D. (2017). *Facebook for community, direct action and archive: Diaspora responses to the 2014 floods in the Balkans. National Communication Association Conference, Dallas, TX.

James, D. (2017). *Hulu, Netflix and Atwood: Video on Demand in Troubled Times. National Communication Association Conference, Dallas, TX. 

Santoro, P., James, D. Panel Co-Chairs. (2016) Illinois Theatre and Communication Association Convention, Naperville, IL.

James, D. and D. Erich. (2015). (RE)ACTIVE CITIES. Central European University (Competitive merit-based project incubator). The City Uploaded: Urban intersections of film and new media. Budapest, Hungary. Beta Project Site: http://beograd.derichdjames.com/

James, D. and D. Erich. (2015). Featured Speaker / Video installation. Sitting on two stools | ne možeš sjediti na dvije stolice, BiH Diasporic Youth Conference, Chicago, IL.

James, D. (2014). Old current: The social construction of ex-Yugoslavia on YouTube. MWWHA Conference. University Park, IL.

James, D. (2014). All aboard the Ladies Special: A critical analysis of a documentary about a women-only commuter train in India. ICA Conference. Seattle, WA.

James, D. (2013). sitting on two stools | ne možeš sjediti na dvije stolice: (trans. You cannot sit on two stools): Networked between home and the homeland. ICA Conference. London, England.

James, D. (2013). PROVOKE Panel: Disruption and subversion in the digital: Women perform public memory. ICA Conference. London, England.

James D., Erich, D. (2013). sitting on two stools | ne možeš sediti na dve stolice: Digital tactics for negotiating between home and homeland. Documentary Now! Conference. London, England.

James, D. (2013). Disruption and subversion in the digital: Women perform public memory. Gender Matters Conference, GSU / DePaul U, Chicago.

James, D. (2012). The Container Project: Defining locally relevant community media production practice. International Communication Association (ICA) Conference, Phoenix.

James, D. (2012). Control and access embedded in the code: Screening communities of social justice media content and practice. Society of Cinema and Media Studies Conference. Boston.

Ali, S., James, D. (2012). Comparing AP images of children in Kosovo vs. Rwanda. Central States Communication Association Conference. Cleveland.

James, D. (2011).Social networking Sarajevo Roses: Digital representations of post-conflict civil life in the (former) Yugoslavia. Top Paper:Global & Com Social Change Division. ICA Conf. Boston.

James, D. (2011). International development documentaries: Institutional representations of women, work, and community. Feminist Scholarship Division. ICA Conference. Boston.

James, D. (2011). Producing Media, producing citizenship: The practice of digitizing the experience of everyday life in Jamaica.Society of Cinema and Media Studies Annual Conference. New Orleans.

Ali, S., James, D. (2011). Photojournalism in Conflict: A Comparison of Associated Press Images of Children in Kosovo versus Rwanda. WSU Graduate School Research Exhibition. 2^nd Prize.

James, D. (2010). Developing citizenship from the margins: Digitizing the experience of the everyday as political action in Jamaica. DIY Citizenship: Critical Making and Social Media. U of Toronto.

Ali, S., James, D. (2010).Strike a pose series: An examination of children in conflict through photojournalism. At WSU Dept. of Comm. Research Colloquium.

Ali, S., James, D., and Vultee, F. (2010). Strike a Pose: Comparing Associated Press and UNICEF Visual Representations. AEJMC Annual Conference, Denver. Presented by Sadaf Ali.

James, D. (2008). Big-eyed, wide-eyed, sad-eyed children: Western consumption of images of distant places. Media, Communication and Humanity Conference. London School of Economics.

James, D. (2008). The politics of global warming: Media, morality, and the culture of green in news documentaries. Society of Cinema and Media Studies Conference. Philadelphia.

RESEARCH

• Amateur first-person video practices
• Interactive documentary
• Environmental media
• Social construction of public memory
• Post conflict media in the former Yugoslavia
• Emerging digital cultures in post conflict regions
• Social construction of public memory
• Women's independent media
• Media, politics, and human rights
• Transnational media industries and production practices

SERVICE

Academic

Chair, Center for Community Media Steering Committee 2018 –
NCA Environmental Communication: Conference Paper Reviewer 2018
NCA Environmental Communication: Teaching Committee 2017 –
Writing Across Curriculum Committee 2017 –
GNSX Program 2016 – 18
CASLO / General Education Council 2015 – 18
Motion Picture/Television Program, College of DuPage 2014
Animal Care and Use Committee, GSU 2014 – 18
Academic Coordinator: Media Studies Program 2013 – 17

• Ad hoc peer-reviewer. Journal of Communication 2013
• Ad hoc peer-reviewer. Special Issue of Crossings: Journal of Migration & Culture 2013
• Ad hoc peer-reviewer. PLATFORM: Journal of Media and Communication 2013
• Faculty Advisor, Phoenix Student Newspaper, GSU 2013 –
• Carnegie Classification Committee, GSU 2013 –
• Committee Member: Gender Matters Conference 2014 2013 –
• Team Member, AC&U Institute on High-Impact Practices, U of Oregon 2012
• Co-Chair: B.A. Media Studies, New Unit of Study Committee, GSU 2011 –

Community

• Membership Director, Chicago Public Media, Community Advisory Council 2014 – 2015
• Vice President, Chicago Public Media, Community Advisory Council 2012 - 2013

Memberships

• National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) 2019 –
• International Environmental Communication Association (IECA) 2018 –
• National Association of Television Arts Society (NATAS) Chicago/Midwest Chapter 2018
• National Communication Association (NCA) 2016 –
• International Communication Association (ICA) 2011 – 2015

SELECTED PROFESSIONAL CREDITS