UC Santa Barbara has been named to TheWrap’s 2026 Top 50 Film Schools list, now live in print and online. This recognition places our Film and Media Studies department among the most forward-looking programs in the country, and it reflects the innovation, rigor, and creative ambition that define our work together. You can view the … Continued
This edited volume draws attention to a dynamic field in which a wide variety of queer identities can be put on display and consumed by audiences rather than framed as marginal. Cementing a foundational understanding of queerness that is at odds with current shifts in media production, contributors present a broad variety of queer identities. … Continued
The department is incredibly proud that FAMST alumni Andy Jurgensen (’04) won the Oscar for Best Film Editing at the 98th Academy Awards for his work on the film One Battle After Another. This was his first Oscar nomination and win, recognizing his editing on the Paul Thomas Anderson-directed film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Teyana Taylor, … Continued
Jason Ludwig, a film and media-studies professor at UC Santa Barbara who has researched the digitization of education, told The Examiner “there is every reason to believe that Amira is capable of improving literacy-instruction outcomes.” But he said that at the same time, much of the results “depend on how [Amira] is implemented” and how … Continued
This special issue of Media Fields is an archive and critical distillation of the work presented at the Media Inside Out conference (April 2024) honoring the distinguished careers of Constance Penley, Janet Walker, and Charles Wolfe. The Media Fields research collective formed at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2007 to advance scholarship on … Continued
Professor Lisa Parks was invited to participate on a keynote panel during Digital Learning Week at UNESCO in Paris on September 4, 2025. The week of events brought ministers of education, corporate executives, scholars, and tech developers together to discuss “AI and the Future of Education.” Parks’ panel, “Challenging automated inequalities: Co-creating equitable learning futures … Continued
By Debra Herrick, UCSB’s ’The Current’ Tue Sep 23, 2025 On the 20th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, UC Santa Barbara assistant professor Mona Damluji wrote a poem to her daughters to explain why they cannot return to the places their ancestors once called home. That text has now become “I Want You … Continued
By Sally Shapiro When UC Santa Barbara professor Mona Damluji finished her first children’s book, “Together,” she imagined a parent sitting down with their child, opening the book, and reading her words aloud— filling the room with unity and action. “It’s something that enters someone’s home or a classroom, and it becomes part of a … Continued
Wendy is one of the Producers and has been with this project for 10 years!!!!! The film follows the incredible journey of Cara Yar Khan, a disability rights advocate, as she undertakes a courageous expedition through the Grand Canyon. It highlights themes of perseverance, inclusion, and advocacy. Wendy’s executive producers, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, joined … Continued
James McNamara‘s series The Artful Dodger, has been nominated for an incredible 7 AACTA Awards including Best Drama Series, Best Casting in Television, Best Costume Design in Television, Best Editing in Television, Best Hair and Makeup, Best Original Score and Best Production Design in Television.