Theresa M. Senft, Ph.D.
Master Teacher, Global Liberal Studies Program • New York University 726 Broadway, Room 615 • New York, NY • 10003 [email protected] • website: http://www.terrisenft.net
Education
2004 Ph.D., New York University, Performance Studies. 1997 M.A., New York University, Performance Studies. 1990 B.A. State University of New York at Albany, Political Science.
Publications
Books: Single Author Camgirls: Celebrity & Community in the Age of Social Networks. Revised dissertation. New York: Peter Lang Publishers: 2008.
Books: Co-Written
History of the Internet: A Chronology, 1843-Present. New York: ABC-Clio Publications. Co-authored text. Received American Library Association Award, Research Division. 1999.
Books: Edited Collections
“Global Selfie Culture.” Special Section (19 articles) for International Journal of Communication, Vol.9. Co-edited with Nancy Baym. Spring 2015.
Routledge Handbook of Social Media. Co-edited with Jeremy Hunsinger. New York: Routledge: 2013.
“Sexuality and Cyberspace: Performing the Digital Body.” Special Issue of Women & Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory. Winter 1996.
Book Chapters
“The Skin of the Selfie.”Ego Update: The Future of Digital Identity. Alain Bieber, eds. Dusseldorf: NRW Forum Publications. 2015.
“From Media Abstinence to Media Production: Sexting, Young People and Education.” Coauthor with Kath Albury and Amy Hassinoff. Palgrave Handbook of Sexuality Education. Palgrave.
The Selfie Course: More than a MOOC.” Massive Open Online Courses and Higher Education: Where to Next? Rebecca Bennet and Mike Kemp, CV: Theresa M. Senft 1 eds. Ashgate. In press, due Feb. 2016.
Race, YouTube, and Sh*t People Say.” Co-author with Safiya Noble. In Routledge Handbook of Social Media. Routledge: 2013.
“Microcelebrity and the Branded Self.” In Blackwell Companion to New Media Dynamics. Eds. Jean Burgess and Axel Bruns. Blackwell, 2012.
“Sex, spectatorship, and the “Neda” video: a Biopsy.’” In New Visualities, New Technologies: The New Ecstasy of Communication, Eds. Hille Koskela and J. Macgregor Wise. Blackwell, 2012.
"Four Rooms." In VOICE: Vocal Aesthetics in Digital Art and Media. Eds. Norie Neumark and Ross Gisbson. MIT Press, 2011.
"Shockingly Tech-splicit: Orlan and the Politics of Shock in a Digital Age." In Reload: Rethinking Women and Technology. Mary Flannagan, ed. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2002.
"Baud Girls and Cargo Cults" In World Wide Web and Contemporary Theory. Thomas Swiss and Andrew Herman, Eds. New York: Routledge, 2000.
"Spare Parts." In The Ends of Performance. Peggy Phelan and Jill Lane, Eds. New York: New York University Press, 1997.
Journal Articles
“What Does the Selfie Say? Studying a Global Phenomenon.” With Nancy Baym in International Journal of Communication, Vol. 9., Spring 2015.
“Sexuality and Cyberspace: A Ghost Story.” In Women and Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory 17, Spring 1997.
"Modem Butterfly." With Kaley Davis in Women and Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory 17, Spring 1997.
"Gayatri Spivak and the Dark Continent of French Feminism." In Women and Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory 14, Spring 1995.
"What's Love Got to Do With It? Reading Linda/Les and Annie Through Lacan." In Women and Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory 11, Spring 1993.
Commissioned Essays
“Hating Habermas: On Exhibitionism, Shame & the Life on the Actually
CV: Theresa M. Senft 2 Existing Internet.” Either/And: New Theories of Exhibitionism & Display. British Media Museum. 2014.
“From Personal Property to Speaking Citizen: Youth, Microcelebrity, and Credit in an Attention Economy." Berkman Center, Harvard University. Publius Series: Spring 2010.
Encyclopedia Entries
Encyclopedia of New Media (Steve Jones, ed., New York: Sage, 2003.) Contributed twenty articles to this project, including entries on:
• Obscenity • Broadband • Cyborg Manifesto • Gender • Minitel • Cathedral and the Bazaar • Internet relay chat (IRC) • Bulletin board system (BBS) • Donna Haraway • Sherry Turkle
Honors and Awards
2015 NYU President’s Service Award (Advisor Global Media and Creative Production Club) Spring
NYU travel grant, Faculty Resource Conference in Athens, Greece, January
2014 NYU travel grant for Teaching Global Liberal Studies conference, NYU Paris, July 25-29.
2013 NYU Liberal Studies Dean’s Global Initiative Grant ($2000) for travel to Shanghai, Paris & London for the Hey Girl Global Project.
2011 Harvard University commissioned essay for Berkman Center on Internet and Society’s “Publius” Series ($1000 USD).
University of East London “pump priming” award (2,700 BPS~ 2010 $4,000 USD) for preparing Economic Research Council grant for Future Sex conference.
2003 Paulette Goddard Fellowship ($4,600 USD) for promising dissertation research.
1999 American Library Association Award, Research Division, for History of the Internet: A Chronology, 1843-Present.
NYU President's Service Award, for outstanding service to New York 1992 University as Chief Archivist, Performance Studies.
CV: Theresa M. Senft 3
1991 Merit-Based five-year scholarship and graduate assistantship, New York University.
Invited Talks and Conferences
2016 Microsoft Research Social Media Summit. New York. Invited guest for closed-door research summit limited to fifty participants. January.
Keynote Speaker: Jornada Internacional Geminis Journey, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Forthcoming: May.
Keynote Speaker: Launch of Digital Humanities Platform, University of Pretoria, South Africa. Forthcoming: June.
2015 Women in the World Summit, London, England. Tina Brown World Media. Invited panelist: Selfies and Self Esteem. October.
Affect Theory Conference. Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Invited Guest Speaker for PhD workshop entitled, “From Clickbait to Triggers: Theorizing the Grab.” October.
Association of Internet Researchers Conference, Arizona. Invited speaker for panel devoted to developing a Social Justice Caucus. October.
2014 Digital Labor Conference, New School University, NYC Invited speaker. Talk title: Digital Labor and Sex Work: Let’s Set Some Research Agendas.”
Association of Internet Researchers Conference, Daegu, Korea. October 6-10. Organizer of three interlocked panels on “Selfie Culture.”
Re-Materializing Feminisms. London, U.K. June 5-8. Institute of Contemporary Art, The Showroom, & Arcadia Missa Gallery. Keynote speaker. Talk title: “Selfie Lucida.”
International Communication Association, Seattle, WA. Preconference on GLTB Issues. Talk title: “Epistemology of the Second Selfie.”
Rutgers Symposium on Social Media & Psycho-Social Well- being.” Rutgers University, New Jersey. Plenary speaker. Talk title, “When I Hear the word ‘Empower,’ I Reach for my Revolver.”
CV: Theresa M. Senft 4 2013 Studying Social Media Activism: Special Workshop. Manchester University, U.K. Keynote speaker. Talk title: “My Belongs to Me? Femen and the Trouble with Socially Mediated Shock Politics.”
2012 Association of Internet Researchers Conference, Salford, UK., October 2012. Plenary Speaker Talk title: “Hating Habermas: On Exhibitionism, Shame & the Life on the Actually Existing Internet.”
Digcult 13 Conference, Salford University, UK. June 2012. Keynote speaker. Talk title: “Everything I Know about Internet Research Methods, I Learned from the Camgirls.”
Research Digital Media Conference, University of Manchester, UK. April 2012. Keynote speaker. Talk title, “
2011 Association of Internet Researchers Conference, Seattle, WA. October 2011. Affective Labor and Teen Sexual Display on Fubar. Installation organizer: “Internet Kissing Booth.”
South by Southwest Interactive Conference, Austin, TX. April 2011. Panel presentation entitled, “F*cking the Old Spice Guy: Race, Gender and Micro-celebrity on Twitter.”
Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green Ohio. May 2011. Invited speaker for conference entitled “Race, Labor and Affect on the Internet.”
2010 TED Salon Event. London, U.K. November 2010. Invited speaker. Talk entitled, “Fame to Fifteen: Reframing Celebrity.”
Association of Internet Researchers, Sweden. October 2010. Organized panel entitled “Brand Me Online: Sustaining Personal Identity through Strategies of the Corporate.”
2009 Berkman Center, Harvard University Law School. Autumn 2009. Invited speaker for Youth and Media Policy Working Group initiative. Topic: “What can we learn from youth engagement with celebrity?”
Oxford Internet Institute. Autumn 2009. Invited speaker for OII Forum on Relationships and the Internet. Subject of talk: “From intimate strangers to strange intimacies: theorizing encounters with the other online.”
University of Copenhagen. Autumn 2009. Invited speaker for conference on 'Mediatization of Intimate Experiences.’ CV: Theresa M. Senft 5 Subject of talk: “New Media Romance in the time of Snuff: Thinking through the Media Martyrdom of Neda.”
Association of Internet Researchers, Vancouver, CA, Autumn 2009. Roundtable presentation entitled, “Being Difficult? Imagining the Futures of Internet Studies.
2007 Telic Gallery, Los Angeles, Fall 2007. Invited speaker for “Showing,” an exhibition curated by Jordan Crandall. Speech topic: “Tele-ethicality in the age of social networks.”
University of Ottawa Law School, Ottawa, CA, Fall 2007. Invited panel speaker. Talk title: “YouTube Booty Dancing: A Meditation.”
2006 Jewish Funders Network. Boulder, Colorado, Spring 2006. Keynote speaker for Annual Conference. Talk title: “Youth, Judaism, and LiveJournal’s ‘WeirdJews’ Conference: an Informal Ethnography.”
2005 SITE Contemporary Art Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Fall 2005. Invited speaker in conjunction with digital artist Kiki Soror.
Franklin University, Lugano, Switzerland. Spring 2005. Caribbean Unbound Conference, Presentation title: “ Braiding as Identity Performance on St. Thomas.”
2004 Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), Chicago, Ill. Participant, Pre-Conference Workshop. Organized by Michele Chang, Elizabeth Goodman and danah boyd. Topic: Identity and Community
2002 National Communication Association, New Orleans, LA, Fall 2002. Poster panel on “Mardi Gras and Communication.” Paper title: Throw me something, Mister: Webcammed sexual display and theories of carnival.”
Kunsten Festival des Arts, Brussels Belgium, Spring 2000. Invited speaker for Junctions-Ver., multi-media conference sponsored by Constant VZW. Speech topic: "Women Webcammers."
1998 Modern Language Association, San Francisco, Winter 1998. Paper title: "Four Rooms."
Duke University Dept. of English, Fall 1998. Keynote speaker for conference entitled, “Discipline and Deviance: Technology and Gender for the Future.” Paper topic: "Orlan and the Trouble with Cyborgs."
CV: Theresa M. Senft 6 Freedom Forum, New York, NY. Invited speaker. Topic: "Cyber- rights in the Digital Age."
Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa, Fall 1998. Invited speaker, “World Wide Web: Metaphor, Myth, Magic” conference. Paper topic: "Baud Girls and Cargo Cults: Waiting for the New Media Money Gods."
Press
1999- Regularly interviewed regarding Internet studies and online culture Present for The New York Times, Wired, The Huffington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Sydney Morning Herald, and others. See links to press citations at www.terrisenft.net/wordpress
2015 Featured on New York Times Live. “Women in the World Summit: Selfies Panel” Online at http://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2015/10/07/selfies- the-high-cost-of-low-confidence/women-in-the-world-london- summit-55/
Featured in New York Times profile, “The Scholarship in Selfies.” Online at http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/education/edlife/the- scholarship-in-selfies.html?_r=0
Featured on National Public Radio, “Selfies in 2015: A Woman Thing?” Online at http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2015/12/31/46130893 3/selfies-in-2015-a-woman-thing
Featured on MacArthur Foundation’s DML Central : Selfie Pedagogy. http://dmlcentral.net/selfie-pedagogy-iii-networked-spaces-slut- shaming-and-putting-selfies-in-dialogue-with-theory/
2008 Featured on “Spark” CBC Radio program devoted to micro- celebrity. Airdate 13 April 2008.
2005 Featured in and consulted for documentary film, Camgirls (Aerlyn Weismann, director.) W Network, airdate February 2005.
2003 Featured in 21C television broadcast, “Watch Me Generation.” CTV Network, airdate 3 January 2003.
2001 Featured in Lingua Franca Magazine, February 2001. See Scott McLemee's article, "I am a Camera." Available online: http://www.mclemee.com/id36.html
CV: Theresa M. Senft 7 2000 Guest speaker, National Public Radio's Diane Rehm Show, October 2000. Topic: Webcams and Surveillance Culture.
Service
2005-current Manuscript reviewer for Yale University Press, MIT Press, Stanford University Press, Wiley Press, New Media & Society, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Journal of Television and New Media, and Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies.
2014- present Faculty Advisor, Global Media Club, Liberal Studies
2014-present Education Technology Committee, Liberal Studies
2014-2015 Faculty Hire Search Committee, NYU Liberal Studies
2012-2014 Faculty Advisor, Pop Culture Wing, NYU Dormitories.
2008-2009 Program Leader (Equiv. Department Chair), Media Studies, University of East London.
2005-2006 Faculty Advisor, Communication Club, and First Annual Student Issues Conference, University of the Virgin Islands.
1991-1992 NYU President’s Service Award. For role as Chief Archivist, Performance Studies, New York University.
Performance as standard "look" for the journal.
Consulting and Curatorial Experience
2015 Microsoft Research, Boston, MA.
Invited scholar in February and July; worked with Nancy Baym on “selfie” project, including academic network.
2013 Saatchi & Saatchi International
Led writing and creative workshops devoted to trends in social media and branding campaigns. 1996 Digital Art Guest Curator, P.S. 122, New York, N.Y.
Curated four performance pieces entitled, "Sexuality & Cyberspace” for Virtual Culture series, co-sponsored by Echo Communications and the Whitney Museum of Art, October 1999
CV: Theresa M. Senft 8 Editorial Experience
1998- Columnist, Prodigy Internet 1999 Wrote weekly column on digital culture.
1997- Editor in Chief, Women & Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory 1998 Responsibilities included soliciting writers, editing copy, and implementing grant-writing and advertising campaign to offset costs, and designing print layout.
1993- Freelance Writer Present Writer of feature articles on digital lifestyle for the New York Times, Village Voice, Nerve, and others. Complete list of publications available at www.terrisenft.net/writing
Professional Associations
Editorial Board, Social Media & Society Editorial Board, Journal of Persona Studies Ethics Committee, Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) International Communication Association (ICA), member National Communication Association (NCA), member Performance Studies International (PSI), member Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE), member
Teaching Experience
2011- Master Teacher, Global Liberal Studies, New York University. present Led the following classes at Global Liberal Studies, an undergraduate interdisciplinary program that mixes a “Great Books” curriculum with contemporary inquiry and global scope.
Class Description
GLS Senior In this two-semester Senior year seminar, Global Thesis Liberal Studies undergraduates propose, research, Colloquium and execute a final thesis project. The project is (AY 2013- expected to cast a comparative, cross-cultural focus 2014; 2014- on some issue in cultural or media studies. The 2015) ‘traditional’ thesis is text-only; the ‘creative’ thesis features a mix of text and photography, video or other media forms. Syllabus and assignments are available at terrisenft.net
CV: Theresa M. Senft 9 GLS This Sophomore seminar is designed to show Sophomore undergraduates in the Contemporary Culture and Research Creative Production “major” how to conceptualize Approaches self-directed research projects, engage in close Seminar reading practices, choose appropriate theoretical (Spring paradigms for their inquiries in the field of cultural 2014) and media studies, and conduct basic fieldwork in anticipation of students’ Junior year abroad. Syllabus and assignments are available at terrisenft.net
Sublime This Sophomore undergraduate seminar is the Revolutions: final installment of the “Cultural Foundations” The Modern series. It covers developments in art, music, and its theatre, advertising, fashion, photography, and Discontents cinema occurring from 1776 to the present. (aka CFIII, Focusing on the appearance of an aesthetic known Fall 2011, as “the sublime” during this period, we track how Spring 2012, political and social revolutions have correlated Fall 2012, with aesthetics that emphasize shock, overwhelm Spring 2013) and awe. Drawing on their own interests in either the sublime or revolution (broadly construed), students write papers that make genealogical links between historical material and contemporary aesthetic concerns. Papers, including formal proposals, are drafted and re-drafted, enabling students to learn how to support their lines of argument, display dialectical movement in their thinking, and develop pith and craft as writers. 25 students. Syllabus and assignments available at www.terrisenft.net
Researching This Year 1, Semester 2 undergraduate writing and Writing workshop draws on publications in digital media Digital culture to teach skills needed for university-level Media research paper writing. Drawing on their own Cultures interests, students brainstorm, develop (WRI II, manageable research questions, utilize journal Spring 2012, databases, draft proposals that detail Spring 2013) methodological and ethical considerations, engage in limited primary research (interviews, questionnaires, semiotic/textual/musicological analysis, or auto-ethnographic study), draft a literature review, write an abstract, and complete a 15 page research paper of their own. Papers are drafted and re-drafted, enabling students to learn how to support their lines of argument, display dialectical movement in their thinking, and develop pith and craft as writers. 14 students.
CV: Theresa M. Senft 10
Researching This Year 1, Semester 2 undergraduate writing and Writing workshop draws on publications in popular music Popular cultures to teach skills needed for university-level Music research paper writing. Drawing on their own Cultures interests, students brainstorm, develop (WRI II, manageable research questions, utilize journal Spring 2012) databases, draft proposals that detail methodological and ethical considerations, engage in limited primary research (interviews, questionnaires, semiotic/textual/musicological analysis, or auto-ethnographic study), draft a literature review, write an abstract, and complete a 15 page research paper of their own. Papers are drafted and re-drafted, enabling students to learn how to support their lines of argument, display dialectical movement in their thinking, and develop pith and craft as writers. 14 students. Syllabus and assignments are available at www.terrisenft.net
Writing This Year 1, Semester 1 undergraduate writing NYC and workshop uses New York City’s streets, shops, the World restaurants, photos, buildings, movies and tourist (WRI I, venues to teach students how to conduct scholarly Fall 2011, inquiry in the areas of humanities and social Fall 2012, sciences. Students are exposed to best practices in Fall 2013 semiotic critique, textual and discourse analysis, Fall 2014) performance and film analysis, historiographical analysis, ideology critique, interview technique, and ethnographic investigation. Short essays and assignments are drafted and re-drafted, enabling students to learn how to support their lines of argument, display dialectical movement in their thinking, and develop pith and craft as writers. Syllabus and assignments are available at www.terrisenft.net
2006- Senior Lecturer, Media Studies. University of East London, U.K. 2010 Led the following graduate and undergraduate modules at this Grade 5 (research) “new” university with cultural studies focus:
Title Description
Research Master’s level seminar designed to introduce Issues and students to major methods employed by researchers Methods for in media and cultural studies: discourse analysis; Postgraduate ideological frame critique; visual methods; CV: Theresa M. Senft 11 Study performance analysis; interviewing techniques; (Spring 2009) ethnographic approaches and practice as research. 15 students.
Digital Year 3 undergraduate seminar devoted to issues in Media new media: the ‘Web 2.0’ debate; the wane of aura in Cultures a digital age; the legalities of remix culture; hyper- (Spring 2008, reality and the ethics of game culture; the Internet as 2007, 2006) new public/counter-public sphere, and the role of self-branding in social networking online. 35 students.
Preparing Year 2 lecture/seminar designed for undergraduate New Media students in Interactive and Games Design Dissertations departments to develop research projects. Exercises & Projects included brainstorming objects for research, (Spring 2008, designing measurable research questions, and 2007) locating appropriate theoretical lenses for analysis. 60 students.
Media Year 1 undergraduate lecture/seminar designed to Meanings introduce students to theoretical arguments in the (Spring 2009, media. Lectures cover semiotics, ideology and 2008, 2007, discourse, psychoanalysis, feminist theory, 2006) postmodern and postcolonial critiques of media. Managed three graduate assistants responsible for running post-lecture seminars. 200 students.
Media, Year Two lecture/seminar focused on issues of Culture & representation of self and other. Authors read Identity included Goffman, Lacan, Foucault, Hall, Mulvey, (Fall 2009, Said, Baudrillard, Haraway, and Turkle. Managed 2008, and two graduate assistants responsible for post-lecture 2007) seminars. One hundred students.
Identity, Race Year 1 seminar designed to introduce theoretical & Difference issues in race and postcolonial studies. Writers read (Spring 2006) included Hall, Mercer, Said, Shohat, Bhaba, Spivak, and Dyer. Managed one graduate student responsible for seminars. 60 students.
Critical Class for Year 1 students in Media Studies, Thinking and Interactive Studies, and Computer Games Design. Study Skills Developed 100 page workbook, focused on close for Media reading, outlining, précis writing, basics of Students quantitative analysis, abstract writing, drafting (Fall 2006, academic essays, assessing scholarly sources, online Spring 2007, research techniques, grammar usage, and the editing Fall 2008) process. Supervised three visiting tutors who led CV: Theresa M. Senft 12 seminars. 200 students.
2004- Visiting Assistant Professor of Communication, University of the 2006 Virgin Islands, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.
Title Description
Public Speaking Year 2 undergraduate seminar in which students research, outline and deliver academic lectures and persuasive speeches. Updated this course to include code-switching exercises for West Indian accents. 25 students.
Team Year 2 undergraduate seminar in which Communication students researched, designed, publicized and and Conference ran a half-day conference devoted to student Techniques concerns at the University of the Virgin Islands. 6 students.
Reporting Year 2 undergraduate seminar in which II:Profiles and students researched and wrote print and radio “Think Pieces.” pieces about the Caribbean. 10 students.
2000- Adjunct Instructor: New York University 2003 Title Description
Subcultures in Self-designed seminar for ten graduate students Cyberspace at New York University’s Interactive (Fall 2003) Telecommunications Program. (ITP)
Acting, Technology Self-designed seminar for twenty-five students and Reality (Fall in Undergraduate Drama Program, Tisch School 2000) of the Arts, New York University.
1999- Adjunct Instructor: Pratt Art Institute, Brooklyn, NY 2000 Title Description
Autobiography Co-produced syllabus and team-taught studio in Art class of fifteen students in Pratt’s Program of Art (Spring 1999) and Design Education. 15 students.
Internship Ran weekly ‘check-in’ class for students, Seminar supervised construction of portfolios/journals, (Fall 2000) ran workshops on career planning, goal setting and time management for college students.
CV: Theresa M. Senft 13 References
Provided on Request.
CV: Theresa M. Senft 14