Communication, Media & Theatre Arts

Biography

Deron Overpeck is a film historian and analyst who specializes in the American entertainment industry since 1950. His dissertation, "Out of the Dark: American Film Exhibition, Political Action and Industrial Change, 1966–1986," examines how organized activity by the nation's theater owners were crucial to the development of Hollywood in the latter half of the twentieth century. Articles based on this research have been published both in scholarly journals—Film History, The Moving Image and Screening the Past—and academic books—Explorations in New Cinema History (Wiley 2011). Dr. Overpeck has also published essays in the journals Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television and Horror Studies, and the edited anthology American Cinema of the 1980s (Rutgers 2007). He has also presented annually at the Society for Cinema and Media Studies conference and at the 2007 Glow in Their Eyes conference on film exhibition, held in Ghent, Belgium.

Dr. Overpeck's other research interests include Marvel comics (both the books themselves and Marvel as a company), horror cinema and Italian cinema. He looks forward to the opportunity to accompany students on the department's study abroad program in Rome.

Education

• Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, 2007
• MA, University of Arizona, 2000
• BA, Indiana University, 1993

Courses

• CTAT 145 Introduction to Film Appreciation
• CTAT 245 Survey of American Cinema
• CTAT 335 Studies in Film
• CTAT 345 American Film Genres
• CTAT 445 Film Theory and Criticism

Professional Affiliations

• Society for Cinema and Media Studies