The College of the Arts announces Dr. Greg Smith as founding director for the newly named School of Film, Media, & Theatre at Georgia State University. Dr. Smith brings a wealth of academic and professional experience to establish the new school and achieve its mission and goals. He transitions to the leadership role from Associate Chair at the Communication Department in the College of Arts & Sciences (the former home of film, media and theatre).
“With a deep skill set that includes scholarship and academic leadership experience, Dr. Smith has the full support of his colleagues, making him the ideal choice to lead the new School of Film, Media, & Theatre,” said Dean Wade Weast of the College of the Arts.
An authority on narrative and aesthetics in various media (including film, television, new media and comics), Dr. Smith is the author of What Media Classes Really Want to Discuss (Routledge 2010), Beautiful TV: The Art and Argument of Ally McBeal (Texas 2007), and Film Structure and the Emotion System (Cambridge 2003), among others. His work has appeared in the Cinema Journal, Quarterly Review of Film and Video, Television and New Media, Journal of Popular Film and Television, Animation Journal, and the Journal of Film and Video, Projections.
“I am honored to be entrusted with leading our world-class faculty of scholars, filmmakers, and theatre practitioners at a moment when Atlanta is becoming a world leader in media production,” said Dr. Smith.
Most recently, Dr. Smith presented at conferences in Australia, Great Britain, and Germany, and is currently working on a book project that examines narrative and aesthetics in contemporary comics.
Dr. Smith received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison (1998). Since 2009, he served as a professor in the Communication Department, where he twice received the Outstanding Faculty Achievement Award.
The School of Film, Media, & Theatre is the third arts school to join the College of the Arts, alongside the Ernest G. Welch School of Art & Design and the School of Music, as well as the Center for Collaborative and International Arts (CENCIA), and the Center for Educational Partnerships in Music. For information about the School of Film, Media, & Theatre, visit https://fmt.gsu.edu/