Studying with me

First of all, you should be very, very clear-eyed that an advanced degree in the humanities is, from a pragmatic point of view, a bad-to-catastrophic decision for many people. Perhaps you don't really want a PhD.

That said, if you do wish to come to the University of Toronto to study with me, here's a primer on how to do so. Please don't email me until you've read this; I get many emails from prospective students. This will very probably answer your questions. If it doesn’t, feel encouraged to reach out.

Postdoctoral or visiting student opportunities

I cannot take on new students of any kind outside of PhD students at U of T; I simply do not have the bandwidth. If you do digital work, you may be interested in the CDHI Postdoctoral program at U of T. If you do queer work, you may be interested in the QTRL postdoctoral program. Best of luck in your search.

MA Program in Cinema Studies

Just go ahead and apply, you wonderful keener! You don’t need to talk to me about your program of study for the MA, and I’m not on the committee making MA admissions decisions. Note that we cannot accept MA students who are not citizens or permanent residents of Canada.

PhD Program in Cinema Studies

To come to U of T to study with me, you’ll normally need to be admitted to the Cinema Studies Institute’s (CSI) PhD program. Our PhD program does not admit students to work with specific supervisors; instead, admission is based on a holistic assessment of fit between students, their program of study, and—crucially—CSI faculty members’ [plural] ability to support that program of study. Students select a supervisor in their second year in the program, and it’s not guaranteed a particular faculty member will be available, or agree, to serve as supervisor.

If indeed you apply to the CSI PhD program, in your statement of purpose, you ought to discuss multiple Cinema Studies faculty members you may wish to work with. Be specific about the ways your research interests overlap with at least two faculty members in CSI. Our understanding of cinema studies is very capacious indeed—any study of screens that is grounded in questions of aesthetics is welcome; but it is also tied to our particular people and their interests and expertise.

Please note that CSI does not admit students who do not have a master’s-level degree (MA, MFA, or similar) to the PhD program.

If you are not a Canadian citizen or permanent resident

Please also note that, given the province of Ontario’s funding framework in which we operate, we cannot admit international MA students, and we are allowed only a small number of international students in our PhD program. In a typical year, we are able to admit one or maybe two international students to the PhD program in Cinema Studies. That means that admission for students without permanent status in Canada (PR or citizenship) is extremely competitive. Take the above advice especially to heart if you’re coming from outside of Canada.

Fields I supervise

These days, my work is primarily in (digital) media theory and the history of computing and media art, with particular attention to the aesthetics of early interactive computing and the emergence of computational structures of subjectivity. I still, obviously, direct dissertations related to film theory, queer theory, affect theory, and experimental media aesthetics. If you are working in the history of computing with a project grounded in aesthetics, please feel very encouraged to apply to CSI, despite the slant rhyme in your interests. That said, if you are working on the history of computing or digital media in ways that are not centrally grounded in aesthetics and wish to study with me, you may wish to consider pursuing a PhD either in the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology or the Faculty of Information, where I am also eligible to direct dissertations. These paths come with some specific speed bumps; please contact their graduate offices for more information.

If there’s anything else you’d like me to know or to tell you, you can write. Please be specific about what you might need. Sadly, I cannot make appointments to discuss your program of study. If you’re admitted, I’ll be delighted to talk to you then.