podcasts
New Books Network | “The Digital Border” (January 2, 2023) I interview Dr. Lilie Chouliaraki and Dr. Myria Georgiou about the contributions of their book The Digital Border: Migration, Technology, Power (NYU Press, 2022), including what frameworks and toolkits can be useful to rethink global migration against the “crisis of imaginary.” Listen here.
Talking TV in a Pandemic | “Ideology” (June 2, 2020) I join television scholars to discuss how the pandemic renewed interest in conversations around TV’s modes of address and how viewers make meaning from particular kinds of programming content. Listen here.
Aca-media | “Pretty Good for the Dog Days of Summer” (July 15, 2019) I am interviewed by host Chris Becker about my Journal of Cinema and Media Studies article, how a seminar paper becomes a peer-reviewed publication, and how the Mexico-based theater chain Cinépolis has spread a luxury cinema model around the globe. Listen here.
media interviews
“The House of Flowers Is Proof That Telenovelas Are Changing—and So Is the Way We Watch Them” | TIME Magazine (June 23, 2021) I am interviewed by Suyin Haynes about the changes to the genre of the telenovela, in particular the presence of more LGBTQ+ stories in series such as Netflix’s La Casa de las Flores. Full article available here.
“Merger set to create world’s largest Spanish-language media company” | Marketplace [American Public Radio] (April 14, 2021) I am interviewed by Andy Uhler about the announcement of the Televisa-Univision merger and what that may mean for the future of Spanish-language streaming media. Full radio segment available here.
symposiums & workshops
Encoding Steps, Decoding Stories (April 22, 2022) Co-organized by Dr. Kim Brillante Knight and myself, this one-day workshop brought together members of the UT Dallas and DFW community to think through the politics of migration narratives and how we connect to those narratives. Wrap-up reflection by one of the participants found here.
Platforms to the World (Jan. 30 – Feb. 1, 2020) During this three-day symposium, twenty scholars interested in the intersections of media, urbanism, and migration convened to address an essential contradiction in 21st century media: How do media technologies that promise faster and more intimate connections with people around the world also actively contribute to the reinforcement of social divisions and political borders? Description and reflection of the event available here.
screenings
The Global Media Festival (November 20, 2019) A one-night screening of international shorts organized and presented by the students enrolled in my Global Media Cultures course, with friends and members of the community in attendance. I gave a brief introduction explaining the project and the work students had put into it. Description and photos from the event available here.
La Revolución de los Alcatraces (April 21, 2016) A screening of the 2013 award-winning documentary by Mexican filmmaker Luciana Kaplan at UC Santa Barbara’s Pollock Theater. During the Q&A, Kaplan and I discussed the limits of identity politics, the parallels between this story and the 2016 U.S. presidential hopefuls, and the role of artists and academics in interrogating these ideals. Description and video from the Q&A available here.
juan llamas-rodriguez 