David Gracon Ph.D.
Associate ProfessorINTRODUCTION
My research and teaching interests include critical cultural studies (media and film studies, media literacy, documentary analysis, alternative media, visual communication, media/music based subcultures, DIY cultural production, punk studies), the political economy of communication and digital video, documentary (including expanded/experimental documentary) and experimental media production. I'm dedicated to the integration of critical studies, interdisciplinary knowledge and digital media production.
I completed my Ph.D. in “Communication and Society” at the University of Oregon in the fall of 2010. I completed my first feature length documentary video titled: Walls of Sound: A Look Inside The House of Records (63 min, 2012, Microcosm Publishing). The video is a collection of oral histories regarding the House of Records, an independent record store based in Eugene, Oregon (http://houseofrecords.wordpress.com/). I toured this film around the Pacific Northwest in October, 2012. I completed the Ordinary Video Series, a 2013-2016 collection of short observational documentaries that explored the intersection of nature, media and socially constructed spaces shot entirely on my Smartphone.
My film and video works have been screened widely at venues such as Porto Franko: International Festival of Contemporary Art (Ivano Frankivsk, Ukraine), Chicago Underground Film Festival, Seattle Underground Film Festival, New Art Film Festival (Champaign) and the Centro Mexicano para la Música y Artes Sonoras (Mexican Centre for Music and Sonic Art; CMMAS by its initials in Spanish in Morelia, Mexico) and many others (over 50 in total). I have also been a participant of the Robert Flaherty Documentary Film Seminar (Colgate University) and the Oberhausen Film Seminar (Oberhausen, Germany) and ran/programed film/media/art events at Hallways Microcinema in Champaign, Illinois. In September 2016, I programmed the films of Tony Conrad for the Basilica Soundscape in Hudson, NY.
I also have extensive international teaching experience. For the 2017-2018 academic year I was a U.S. Fulbright Scholar teaching media studies at Precarpathian National University in Ivano Frankivsk, Ukraine. I was a participant of the JET Program (Japanese Exchange and Teaching) and taught English in China, Poland and Lithuania via Bridges for Education, a non-profit organization based in Buffalo, NY.
I’m a native of Buffalo, NY and have been invested in post-punk, indie, experimental music scenes, zine communities and college radio; as well as activist orientated experimental film, video and documentary communities and collectives since the mid 90’s.
I was the recipient of the 2011-2012 Michael R. Hoadley Instructional Technology Award (for the innovative use of technology in the classroom).
For more detailed information download my CV from this page.
Professional Webpage: https://davidgracon.wordpress.com/about/
Education & Training
Ph.D, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon. Communication and Society. The School of Journalism and Communication. September 2010. Dissertation Title: Exiled Records and Over-the-Counter-Culture — A Cultural Political Economic Analysis of the Independent Record Store.
M.A, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York (SUNY). Humanities (the merging of Media Studies (experimental media/documentary video) and Sociology (Critical theory). September 2001. Thesis Title: Imperial Tourism: Documentary Video (29 min) and a discursive component: A Critical Discussion of Subjectivity, Representation and Experimental Ethnography.
B.A, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York (SUNY). Double major in Sociology and Media Studies (Documentary video/experimental media). May 1999.
Conference Presentations
Natural’s Not In It: The Transformative Impact of Punk, DIY Media Production and Critical Pedagogy. Keep it Simple Make it Fast (KISMIF) Conference. University of Porto. Porto, Portugal. July 2018.
Media Literacy Now! Reflections on Teaching Critical Media Studies in Ukraine as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar. International Association for the Humanities (MAG) Conference. Ukrainian Catholic University. Lviv, Ukraine. June 2018.
You’re Nothing — Punk and Death. First Global Conference: Music and Death organized by Progressive Connexions — Interdisciplinary Life in Vienna, Austria. November 2017.
Smartphone Video, Experimental Documentary and the Ordinary Video Series. What is Media Conference? University of Oregon. Portland, Oregon. April 2016.
See my CV for a complete listing of conference presentations.
Community
1. Walls of Sound — A Look Inside the House of Records Fall 2012 Pacific Northwest Film Tour:
http://projects.registerguard.com/web/entertainment/28835977-41/film-gracon-records-vinyl-music.html.csp
EIU 360 and Walls of Sound: http://www.eiu.edu/eiu360/story.php?id=57038
2. Co-Curator of the Tuff Stuff From the Buff Film and Video Bicycle Tour:
http://tuffstuffbuff.wordpress.com/
3. Social Docs! Screening Series:
http://www.dailyeasternnews.com/2015/11/03/film-festivals-to-look-at-social-issues/
4. Cut and Paste Zine Symposium:
http://www.dailyeasternnews.com/2014/03/05/students-%e2%80%98cut-and-paste%e2%80%99-during-zine-symposium-learn-importance-of-self-publishing/
5. Tony Conrad: Completely in the Present Screening/Hallways Microcinema:
http://www.smilepolitely.com/splog/tony_conrad_completely_in_the_present_screening_happening_april_9th/
6. Hallways Microcinema: https://davidgracon.wordpress.com/hallways-microcinema/
Publications
Gracon, D. (2018 in progress). Natural’s Not In It: The Transformative Impact of Punk, DIY Media and Critical Pedagogy in Andrew Wood's (Ed.) Punk Beyond Rock: Essays on the Continuing Influence of a Radical Cultural Scene, PM Press.
Gracon, D. (2018 in progress). Through Being Cool: The Political Economy of iTunes 2003-2012 in Randy Nichol’s and Gabriela Martinez’s (Eds.) in Profit, Power, and Paucity: Janet Wasko and the Political Economy of Communication, press TBA (In Progress)
Perini, J. & Gracon, D. (2013) Tough Stuff from the Buff in Miriam Paeslack's (Ed.) Ineffably Urban: Imaging Buffalo, Ashgate Publishing.
Gracon, D. (2009) The Independent Record Store as a Site of Cultural Resistance and Anti-McDonaldization — A Case Study of The House of Records in Robert C. Sickels (Ed.) The Business of Entertainment: Popular Music, Volume 2. Praeger Publishers.
Frequently Taught Courses
Undergraduate: CMN 2575 Field Production, CMN 4500 Documentary Production, CMN 3500 New Media Practices, CMN 4770 Television Criticism, CMN 4030 Alternative Media, CMN 3570 History of Documentary Film, FLM 3759 History of Cinema, CMN 4780 Communication and Culture, CMN 3270 Communication and Popular Culture, EIU 4174 Documentary Film and Society, CMN 3530 Film Communication.
Graduate: CMN 5160 Seminar in Mass Media: "Media, Commodity and Spectacle", CMN 5610 Media Criticism, CMN 5160 Seminar in Mass Media: "Alternative Media," CMN 5030 Methods of Critical Inquiry, CMN 5040 Graduate Research Methods, CMN 5160 Seminar in Mass Media: Documentary Film and Society.
Research & Creative Interests
See above.
Professional Affiliations
US Fulbright Scholar Program
The International Association for the Humanities (MAG)
Union for Democratic Communication (UDC)
Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center
The Art Theater Co-Op (Champaign)
Squeaky Wheel: Film and Media Art Center. Buffalo, NY.