Dr. Petr Szczepanik has joined the School of Journalism and Communication for the winter term 2019 as a Visiting Professor in Communication and Media Studies.
Dr. Szczepanik is an Associate Professor in Film Studies at Charles University in Prague. He has written books on the Czech media industries of the 1930s (Konzervy se slovy, 2009) and on the state-socialist production mode (Továrna Barrandov, 2016). In 2015 he was the main author of an industry report on practices of screenplay development for the Czech Film Fund, and was awarded the DAAD Visiting Professorship (Gastdozentur, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Summer Semester 2018), a Fulbright Fellowship (University of California, Los Angeles, 2009-2010), and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft post-doctoral scholarship (Bauhaus University, 2005-2006). Dr. Szczepanik also led the EU-funded FIND project (www.projectfind.cz, 2012–2014), which used student internships for a collective ethnography of production cultures.
How are you enjoying Ottawa so far?
I arrived in Ottawa with my family right before Christmas, and was able to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Eve here. We have rented a house in the Glebe, a beautiful Victorian house. It’s my first time in Canada, and I like it a lot. I have experienced how Canada is keeping its liberal values in everyday life, and have noticed how kind and nice people are to each other; people are respected. I expected the cold temperatures, but so far it hasn’t been bad. I have even gone skating and cross-country skiing.
Why did you apply for the Visiting Professor position at Carleton University?
I decided to apply for the Visiting Professor position to make new connections and to further develop my research projects. While in Ottawa, I’d like to study the ways Canadian screen industries and policy-makers deal with digitalization, and the perspective they have on the issues of Digital Single Market and on international co-production. A stay in Canada’s capital city is ideal for learning more about how Canada is addressing questions on film and television policy related to cross-border digital distribution.
What will you be working on while you’re at Carleton University?
In addition to my research I will be working with Professor Ira Wagman in support of two courses: a graduate seminar, Foundations of Communication Studies, and an undergraduate course called “Media and Communication in Regional Contexts: Europe”.
What else are you currently working on?
I am working on two research papers: one on post-socialist film and TV producers, and the other on the impacts of digitalization and the European Commission’s Digital Single Market strategy on audiovisual distribution in small European media markets. My current research focuses on post-socialist producer practices in East-Central Europe. Some of my findings are published in Behind the Screen: Inside European Production Culture (Palgrave, co-edited with Patrick Vonderau, 2013).
Friday, January 11, 2019 in Communication News, News
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