Sarah Nilsen

BIO

Sarah Nilsen teaches classes in the history of film and television, on issues of race, class and gender in the media, the theories of popular culture, and critical race theory. Her areas of interest include Walt Disney, the popular culture of the Cold War, and cultural diplomacy. She is currently working on a book which is a cultural history of the Disney princesses. She is also co-editing an anthology currently titled The Colorblind Screen: Television in Post-Racial America. And she working on a screenplay about Harry Harlow.

Courses

• Development of  Motion Pictures I: Origin - 1930
• Development of Motion Picture II: 1930 - 1960
• Screenwriting I
• Seminar in Film and Television: Disney and Pixar
• History of Television
• Intro Special Topics in Film and Television: Walt Disney and American Culture
• Special Topics: Exploitation Cinema
• Intermediate Special Topics: Advanced Screenwriting
• Seminar: Animals in Film and Television
• Seminar: Nature Documentaries
• Seminar: Film and Television Celebrity Culture
• Seminar: Popular Music and Film
• Seminar: Critical Race Issues in TV
• History of Television
• Studies in Film/TV Genre: Teen Pics
• Studies in Film/TV Genre: Hip Hop Cult in Film & TV
• Film and Television Genre and Auteur
• Race and Ethnic in Literary Studies: D1 Race and Television
• Readings and Research
• Independent Study

Publications

Sarah Nilsen Publications (DOCX)

Awards and Achievements

• University of Vermont, Small Grant Research Award, Summer 2017: Research at the Walt Disney Archive, Burbank, CA.
• University of Vermont, Small Grant Research Award, Spring 2015: Research at The Strong National Museum of Play, Rochester, NY.
• University of Vermont, Lattie Coors Research Assistantship Award, Spring 2013: Research on the Disney Princess franchise.
• University of Vermont, Faculty Research Support Award, Fall and Spring 2011/12.
• University of Vermont, Faculty Development Grant, Fall 2005: Research on the plans by the U.S. State Department for the American Pavilion at the Brussels World’s Fair of 1958.
• Fulbright Scholarship, 1998/9: The Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program, research on American pavilions at Canadian international expositions.
• Vander Putten International Fund, Fall 2002: Funding to meet with British media organizations and institutions in order to develop a summer media studies program.
• University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Faculty Development Grant, Summer 2001: Research on the introduction of film technologies at the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893.
• University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Faculty/Student Collaborative Grant, 2000 and 2001: Research on Pare Lorentz’s Nuremberg Trial film and Vera Caspary’s filmic adaptation of Laura.
• Bernard Kantor Scholarship, 1998/9: University of Southern California.
• Cinema Circulus Scholarship, 1997/8: University of Southern California.

Area(s) of expertise

Walt Disney, the popular culture of the cold war, and cultural diplomacy