Silver Terp Seminars: Early Cinema as New Media

Step back in time to the first decade of cinema with a fresh look at some of the earliest films, including the Edison Company production Life of an American Fireman (1903). In his engaging talk, Professor Jonathan Auerbach explores how this seminal movie experimented with time and space in unconventional ways, tracking men, machines, and horses as they move across streets, up ladders, down poles, and through doors and windows. Discover how this ambitious seven-minute film reimagines plot and action, creating a hybrid narrative that challenges our expectations about how films tell stories.

A renowned scholar of American literature, film, and culture, Professor Auerbach has authored five acclaimed books, including Weapons of Democracy: Propaganda, Progressivism, and American Public Opinion (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015), Dark Borders: Film Noir and American Citizenship (Duke University Press, 2011), and Body Shots: Early Cinema's Incarnations (University of California Press, 2007). A five-time Fulbright scholar and frequent international lecturer, he was named a UMCP Distinguished Scholar-Teacher in 2014.

Moderator: Charles Caramello, Professor Emeritus, College of Arts and Humanities

University of Maryland Retired Faculty Association (UMDRFA) presents programs of particular interest to retired faculty and those faculty who are nearing retirement; however our programs are open to the whole campus community (UMD faculty, staff, students and their guests). Please add guests in your RSVP.

If you require accommodations, please email umdfacretirees@umd.edu.