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Dr Marijke de Valck (Programme Coordinator)

Marijke de Valck is Programme Coordinator of the Film and Television Cultures Master's programme. She is Associate Professor of Film and Media Studies with expertise in critical theory, media industries, global screen cultures, art cinema, activism, and children’s/youth media cultures. She is best known for her work on film festivals and their impact on the cinematic landscape. As the co-founder and leader of the  she is committed to advancing scholarship in the field. She also edits the festival reviews section of the open-access journal and actively supports and collaborations with the professional field.

Dr Alec Badenoch

Alec Badenoch is Assistant Professor of Media and Cultural studies. Primarily a cultural historian of media, his current research focuses on the intersections of internationalist women’s movements and broadcasting in the mid-20^th Century, as well as critical research into the ways archival collections, infrastructures, and interfaces shape access to broadcasting heritage. He sits on the steering committee of the  network, and until recently was Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision Professor of Transnational Media at the VU Amsterdam.

Dr Sandra Becker

Sandra Becker is Assistant Professor of Media Industries & Cultural Diversity. Her research focuses on the dynamics of on- and off-screen representation of gender and diversity, (transnational) TV drama series production and reception, and developments in the European Video on Demand (VoD) markets. She is an active member of the research network  and has undertaken commissioned research for the Dutch foundation ‘Vrouwen in Beeld’.

Dr Laura Copier

Laura Copier is an Assistant Professor of Film and Media Studies, specializing in film analysis, film theory, Hollywood cinema, religion on screen, disaster movies, and queer critique. Her research explores how contemporary audiovisual culture reinterprets and transforms religious themes, figures, and symbols within a popular, secular context. Passionate about the power of close textual analysis, Laura advocates for a rigorous focus on film form as an essential component of critical inquiry.

Dr Giovanna Fossati

Giovanna Fossati is Professor of Media, Technology and Heritage. Her research focuses on film history, film restoration and digitization, history and theory of audiovisual archival practice, with a recent emphasis on developing a more global and sustainable approach to audiovisual heritage. She has worked as curator, chief curator and director of knowledge and sharing at the EYE Film Museum in Amsterdam.

Dr Jasmijn van Gorp

 is Assistant Professor of Audiovisual Heritage and Digitale Culture. She is the co-founder of the Dutch audiovisual research infrastructure CLARIAH Media Suite. Her research is part of Utrecht’s Centre for Digital Humanities and revolves around television heritage, programming and curation, and the use of digital methods and AI in education and research.

Dr Dan Hassler-Forest

Dan Hassler-Forest (he/him) works at Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ in the department of Media and Culture Studies. He has published books and articles on many of his interests, including superhero movies, comics, transmedia storytelling, Star Wars, critical theory, and Janelle Monáe. His most recent project is a monograph on the Fast & Furious franchise, media brands, and the industrial logic of the 21^st-century blockbuster.  

Dr Philipp Dominik Keidl

Philipp Dominik Keidl is Assistant Professor of Screen Media in Transition and Principal Investigator of the research project When Queer Cinema Came to Germany, funded by the NWO. He has previously published on film heritage and institutions, media fandom, and cinephilia in the digital age. Philipp chairs the  at Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ and is the tutor for our pre-Master students.

Dr Judith Keilbach

 is Associate Professor of Television and Media Studies. Her current research focuses on sustainability and the media, with a particular interest in , , and preservation.  Her interests include television history, documentary film, and the representation of the past. She is a member of the  and co-leader of the Sustainable Media workgroup of the  (NECS), for which she was on the steering committee from 2015 to 2021.

Dr Eggo Müller

Eggo Müller is Professor of Media and Communication. His current research includes environmental media, , food communication, and cultural pathways to sustainable, just and healthy futures. His projects are attached to Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ's strategic research themes  and the .

Dr Cyd Sturgess

Cyd Sturgess is an Assistant Professor in Media Literacy and Education. Cyd specialized in gender, queer and transgender visual cultures, discourse and knowledge production. Their current research focuses on festivals for transgender, non-binary and gender-non-conforming filmmakers and films in Amsterdam, Berlin, and Sheffield. They are committed to exploring methods of creating for the archive, as well as queering practices of archival acquisition.

Dr Hanna Surma

 is Assistant Professor of Television and Media Studies, with a focus on streaming video, media industries studies, television theory, and television genres/reality television. She is co-principal investigator of the  and researches . Hanna is dedicated to  and coordinator of the faculty-wide teaching qualification programme.

Dr André van der Velden

André van der Velden is Assistant Professor of Film and Media History. His research is dedicated to media industries in the early twentieth century with a key interest in Dutch cinema history, archival research and discourse analysis. André is expert on 

Dr Diantha Vliet

Diantha Vliet is a critical-cultural media scholar with a focus on racial representation, postcolonialism, collective memory, journalism, and social media. Diantha champions the notion of scholarly activism and putting academic knowledge to practical use, be it media representation, politics and policy, or workplace equity issues. She teaches courses on cultural representation from a variety of critical theory perspectives, as well as qualitative methods such as interviewing and discourse analysis.

Dr Abby Waysdorf

Abby Waysdorf is Assistant Professor in Media Studies with expertise in sport media, fandom and film tourism. Her general research interests are audience practices and uses of media, fandom, the television industry, and how all of these things intersect.

Dr Ari Purnama

Ari Purnama is Assistant Professor of Screen Media Studies. His research centers on three key areas: transnational screen media aesthetics and production cultures—particularly in the Global South; interracial narratives in global film and television; and the role of screen media in shaping youth mental health and well-being, both in content production and audience reception. Ari is a member of In addition to his academic work, Ari is an active and a committed practitioner of creative practice as research, seeking to bridge theory and practice within screen media studies.

Prof. dr. Jaap Verheul

Jaap Verheul is Assistant Professor of Screen Media. His research focuses on European, British, and American cinema; media industries; digital screen cultures; and popular culture. Among other publications, Jaap has edited a collection on The Cultural Life of James Bond: Specters of 007 (Amsterdam ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ Press, 2020), which received the Publication Award for Best Edited Collection from the British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies (BAFTSS). He is currently completing his monograph on the regulation of European screen cultures and transnational flows of film and television in European media industries. Jaap is the Co-Chair of the Screen Industries Work Group of the European Network for Cinema and Media Studies (NECS), and a member of the Nominating Committee of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS).