Profile

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Biography

David Slocum completed ten years as an administrator and faculty member at New York University in 2008. Most recently the Director of the university-wide Center for Teaching Excellence, he was previously an Associate Dean in the Graduate School of Arts and Science. There, he was co-founding director of the Diversity Studies Program, operated jointly with the University of Cape Town (UCT), and coordinated the school’s global outreach efforts. Before arriving at NYU, he directed and taught in the Graduate Media Studies Program at the New School for Social Research. A sociologist and historian of film and media, David's research and teaching in the Cinema Studies Department and the Art & Public Policy Program in the NYU Tisch School of the Arts focused on the U.S. and global media representation of difficult and controversial topics such as violence, war, and terrorism. His publications have examined a range of cultural, historical, and industry issues in media and entertainment and include four books, most recently the edited collection, Hollywood and War: The Film Reader (Routledge, 2006). David has presented his research widely at more than 85 professional meetings and public lectures in 25 countries; he has also held visiting professorships at UCT and the University of Tehran. David's current research includes: 1) the development of cases and a book on creative leadership (with Doug Guthrie); 2) producing articles on the emergence and contemporary importance of global film festivals, building on fieldwork at African festivals in Zanzibar (ZIFF) and Ouagadougou (FESPACO); 3) continuing analysis in articles and a book-length study of film violence and the Hollywood film industry; and 4) the development of articles and a special journal issue on comparative and intercultural studies of diversity, and the idea of “diversity literacy” (with Melissa Steyn). David earned his baccalaureate from the University of Michigan, a masters degree from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in American Studies from New York University.