Over the years, Dodge student films have received wide recognition–screening at hundreds of film festivals internationally and winning awards ranging from the Student Academy Awards to the College Television Awards. Dodge students not only excel in film production, however, they have proven success on the academic side of film as well.

Dodge Students Present at National Undergraduate Research Conferences

Over the past spring semester a few of Dr. Kelli Fuery’s students presented at prestigious national undergraduate research conferences. These are very difficult conferences to be accepted into and Dean Bassett supported these students with funding for their presentations.

Safwat “Safi” Nazzal (BFA/FP ’19) and Keshav Srinivasan (BFA/FP ’19) presented at the National Council for Undergraduate Research at Kennesaw State University in Georgia.

Safwat Nazzal (BFA/FP) '19

Safwat “Safi” Nazzal (BFA/FP) ’19

Safi’s paper was titled “Off-Script: Toward a Revolutionary Arab Cinema”.

Keshav Srinivasan Safwat Nazzal (BFA/FP) ’19

Keshav’s paper was titled “The White Man’s Burden and the Effects of Apologetic Othering in Cinema”.

These papers came out of Dr. Kelli Fuery’s film studies class (even though both Safi and Keshav are film production majors) and have both been accepted for publication in Film Matters.

Cedric Bobro (BA/FS ’20)

Cedric Bobro (BA/FS ’20) presented at Society for Cinema and Media Studies Undergraduate Conference at Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA.

His paper was titled “Worlds Under Watch: Surveillance Cameras as Boundary of the Inhuman”.

Dr. Fuery and Cedric are currently working to turn this paper into an article for publication.

The National Council for Undergraduate Research (NCUR)

NCUR is the most prestigious conference in the United States that brings together undergraduate students from all over country to share their work with their peers,” says Dr. Kelli Fuery. “Students have the opportunity to see what others in their field are doing, what the current topics of debate are, what trends are being followed and determined.”

The Society for Cinema and Media Undergraduate (SCMS-U)

SCMS-U is more disciplinary specific, but no less competitive, accepting only 30 students annually,” states Dr. Kelli Fuery. The society encourages excellence in scholarship and pedagogy and fosters critical inquiry into the global, national, and local circulation of cinema, television, and other related media. SCMS scholars situate these media in various contexts, including historical, theoretical, cultural, industrial, social, artistic, and psychological.

Dodge College’s Film Studies Program

“As Chapman University embraces its newly designated R2 status, our undergraduate research culture is burgeoning, combining a very high standard of scholarly activity with our mission of personalized education. Students who have presented at these national conferences represent the caliber of Dodge College’s Film Studies program and the many opportunities that exist for students to develop and follow their own scholarly and creative interests. Students go on to further graduate study at top-ranked universities and also to jobs in the industry. Specifically it is students who have learned how to speak about film critically and who can refer to many different types of films, which are the ones who we see landing jobs in their first year out of college and gaining acceptance into the most competitive graduate and doctoral programs.” – Dr. Kelli Fuery

Congratulations to Safi, Keshav and Cedric! We look forward to seeing more Dodge students present their research in the near future!