Drew Ayers, Ph.D.

Curriculum Vitae
Education
PhD
MA
BA

2012
2007
2003

Georgia State University

University of Texas-Austin
Carleton College

(CommunicationMoving Image Studies)

(Radio-TV-Film)
(Classical Languages, Magna cum Laude)

Employment
2015-Present Assistant Professor of Film, Department of Theatre and Film, Eastern
Washington University, Cheney, WA
2015
Adjunct Faculty, Interdisciplinary Studies in Liberal Arts, California
Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA
2015
Instructor, Department of Film and Media Studies, Santa Barbara City
College, Santa Barbara, CA
2014-2015
Adjunct Faculty, Bachelor of Arts Degree in Liberal Studies Program,
Antioch University, Santa Barbara, CA
2012-2014
Assistant Teaching Professor, Media and Screen Studies Program,
Northeastern University, Boston, MA
2011-2012
2nd Century Initiative New and Emerging Media Fellow, Georgia State
University, Atlanta, GA
2007-2011
Teaching Assistant (Instructor of Record), Department of Communication,
Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
2005-2007
Test Preparation Instructor and Private Tutor, Kaplan Test Preparation,
Austin, TX
2004-2005
Substitute Teacher, Monroe County Community School District,
Bloomington, IN
2003-2004
EFL Instructor, Easy English/ILC Brno, Czech Republic
Research Specializations
Cinema Studies, New Media and Digital Culture, Visual Effects, Visual Culture, Material
Culture, Popular Culture, Hollywood Action Films, Non/Posthumanism, Phenomenology,
Animal Studies
Scholarly Publications
Refereed Journal Articles
The Multilocal Self: Performance Capture, Remote Surgery, and Persistent
Materiality. animation: an interdisciplinary journal 9.2 (2014): 212-227.
Humans without Bodies: DNA Portraiture and Biocybernetic Reproduction.
Configurations 19.2 (2011): 287-321.
Bodies, Bullets, and Bad Guys: Elements of the Hardbody Film. Film Criticism
32.3 (2008): 41-67.
Book Chapters
Chimeras and Hybrids: The Digital Swarms of the Posthuman Image.
Handbook of Posthumanism in Film and Television. Ed. Michael

Current as of 7/17/15

Ayers 1 of 5

Hauskeller, Thomas D. Philbeck, and Curtis Carbonell. Palgrave.

Forthcoming.
Bleeding Synthetic Blood: Flesh and Simulated Space in 300. Special Effects:
New Histories, Theories, Contexts. Ed. Michael Duffy, Dan North, and
Bob Rehak. BFI/Palgrave Macmillan. Forthcoming.
In Progress
The Digital Logics of Visual Culture: Vernacular Posthumanism and the Hybrid
Image. (Book-length study)
The Composite Body: Action Stars and Embodiment in the Digital Age. A
Companion to the Action Film. Ed. James Kendrick. Wiley Blackwell.
(Book Chapter)
Book Reviews and Conference Reports
Conference Report: Rendering the Visible Conference. Co-Authored: Drew
Ayers and Steven Pustay. Scope: An Online Journal of Film & Television
Studies 20 (June 2011): n. pag. Web.
The Real Gaze: Film Theory After Lacan by Todd McGowan. The Velvet Light
Trap 61 (Spring 2008): 57-59.
Online Publications
Repetition, Nostalgia, and the Obsessive Joy of LEGO Video Games. In Media
Res. 25 June 2014. http://mediacommons.futureofthebook.org/imr/2014/
06/25/repetition-nostalgia- and-obsessive-joy-lego-video-games
Whats the Point of a Reboot?, or, Waiting for Godot in a Comic Book Shop. In
Media Res. 7 August 2012. http://mediacommons.futureofthebook.org/imr
/2012/08/07/what-s-point-reboot-or-waiting-godot-comic-book-shop
Digital Materialism: 300 Bodies in Virtual Space. In Media Res. 9 November
2011. http://mediacommons.futureofthebook.org/imr/2011/11/09/
digitalmaterialism-300-bodies-virtual-space
Curated Online Publications
Anti-intellectual Property: Objects in the Information Age Theme Week
Administrative Liaison. In Media Res. 17-21 September 2012.
The Avengers and the Multi-Film Franchise Theme Week Coordinator. In
Media Res. 7-11 May 2012.
Digital Comics Theme Week Administrative Liaison. In Media Res. 20-24
February 2012.
Special Effects Theme Week Administrative Liaison. In Media Res. 7-11
November 2011.
The Contemporary Summer Blockbuster Theme Week Coordinator. In Media
Res. 13-17 June 2011.
Labor in the Media Industries Theme Week Coordinator. In Media Res. 2-6
May 2011.
Posthumanism and Media Theme Week Coordinator. In Media Res. 7-11 March
2011.

Current as of 7/17/15

Ayers 2 of 5

The Harry Potter Franchise Theme Week Coordinator. In Media Res. 15-19
November 2010.
Action Movies & Masculinity Theme Week Coordinator. In Media Res. 9-13
August 2010.
Awards and Honors
Fellowships
2011-2012

Second Century New & Emerging Media Research Initiative

($22,000; Georgia State University)

Teaching Awards
2011 Carol Winkler Outstanding Teaching Award, Georgia State University
2006 Teacher of the Year, Austin Kaplan Center
Conference Presentations
Digital Swarms, Composite Images, and the Posthumanity of Visual Effects. Society
for Cinema and Media Studies Conference. Montreal, Canada. 25-29 March 2015.
Theory as Killer App. Flow Conference 2014. Austin, TX. 11-13 September 2014.
David Cronenbergs Techno-Organic Cinema. Society for Cinema and Media Studies
Conference. Seattle, WA. 19-23 March 2014.
Crowd Simulation, Digital Agents, and the Threat of Swarm Intelligence. Rendering
the Visible Conference II: Figure. Atlanta, GA. 7-8 February 2014.
Seeing and Being through Time and Space: Performance Capture, Remote Surgery, and
Technologies of Presence. Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference.
Chicago, IL. 6-10 March 2013.
Damien Hirst and the Limits of the Nonhuman. The Society for Literature, Science,
and the Arts Conference. Milwaukee, WI. 27-30 September 2012.
Drawing Blood: Surface and Depth in DNA Portraits and Human Migration Maps.
Cultural Studies Association Conference (Visual Culture Division). San Diego,
CA. 28 March-1 April 2012.
Fast, Cheap & Out of Control: A Baroque Mapping of Digital Experience. Society for
Cinema and Media Studies Conference. Boston, MA. 21-25 March 2012.
The Prismatic Subjectivities and Material Imagination of Kielowskis Decalogue.
Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference. New Orleans, LA. 10-13
March 2011.
Virtual Digitality and the Posthuman Crisis of the Image: Cronenbergs Fleshy
Imagination. Rendering the Visible Conference. Atlanta, GA. 11-12 February
2011.
After the Self: Kubrick as Vernacular Posthumanist. The World Picture Conference.
Stillwater, OK. 29-30 October 2010.
Humans Without Bodies: DNA Portraiture and Biocybernetic Reproduction. The
Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts Conference. Atlanta, GA. 5-8
November 2009.
Planet Earth and the Televisual: Strategies of High Definition TV Aesthetics. The
World Picture Conference. Stillwater, OK. 23-24 October 2009.

Current as of 7/17/15

Ayers 3 of 5

The Cartography of Race: Human Migration and the Genetic Archive. National
Council for Black Studies Conference. Atlanta, GA. 19-21 March 2009.
Modern Hybrids in Popular Discourse: The Visuality of Global Climate Change. The
World Picture Conference. Stillwater, OK. 24-25 October 2008.
Demanding Perversion: The Conflicted Desires of 300. Society for Cinema and Media
Studies Conference. Philadelphia, PA. 6-9 March 2008.
Are All These Movies Really in Black and White?: A Non-Chronological Approach to
Film History. GTA Pedagogy Conference. Atlanta, GA. 25-26 January 2008.
Swift Boats and Censorship: The 2004 Election and the Marketplace of Ideas. Midwest
PCA/ACA Conference. Indianapolis, IN. 27-29 October 2006.
Invited Talks
How Screen Studies Can Help Students Navigate a (New) Media World. NU@Noon
Alumni Presentation. Northeastern University. 25 April 2013
Deans Event: interACTIONS. Northeastern University. 21 March 2013.
A PechaKucha-style presentation of faculty work, hosted by the Dean of the
College of Arts, Media, and Design.
Teaching Experience
Eastern Washington University
Film and the Humanities (2 sections)
California Polytechnic State University
Introduction to Media Arts and Technologies (Special and Visual Effects)
Santa Barbara City College
Master Filmmakers (Kubrick, Kielowski, and Cronenberg)
Introduction to Film Studies
Antioch University, Santa Barbara
Exploration of Film
Great Directors (Auteur Theory)
Northeastern University
Cinema Studies Capstone Seminar: Cronenberg and Cinemas of the Posthuman
Cinema Studies Capstone Seminar: Stanley Kubrick
Introduction to Film Analysis
Special Topics: Special Effects
Television: Text and Context (3 sections)
Media, Culture, and Society (5 sections)
Screen Icons and Popular Culture
Independent Study: Contemporary Celebrity Culture
Georgia State University (Instructor of Record Unless Otherwise Noted)
Auteurs: Kubrick and Kielowski
Film Genres: B-Movies and Exploitation Cinema

Current as of 7/17/15

Ayers 4 of 5

Film Genres: Cronenberg and Cinemas of the Posthuman

History of Motion Pictures (2 sections instructor; 4 sections TA)
Film Aesthetics and Analysis (8 sections)
Service
Professional Contributions
2013-Present Manuscript Reviewer for Cinema Journal
2013-Present Manuscript Reviewer for Television & New Media
2013-Present Proposal Reviewer for Palgrave Macmillan
2012-Present Alumni Consulting Committee, In Media Res
2010-2012
Editorial Board, In Media Res
2005-2007
Editorial Board, The Velvet Light Trap
Departmental Contributions
Northeastern University
Faculty advisor for the Media and Screen Studies Program
Georgia State University
Co-Organizer for the Rendering the Visible Conference. 11-12 February
2011.
Coordinated with Allied Integrated Marketing to bring film talent to the
GSU campus for Q&A sessions with students, as well as
facilitating advance screening opportunities
Continuing Education and Engagement
National Science Foundation Communication Ethics and the Responsible Conduct of
Research Seminar. Georgia State University. 19 August 2010.
Public Speaking Engagements
Moderator, Up in the Air Q&A with director Jason Reitman. Atlanta, GA. 11 November
2009.
Academic Organizations
Society for Cinema and Media Studies
The Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts

Current as of 7/17/15

Ayers 5 of 5