STEFANIA MARGHITU, Ph.D.

smarghitu@gmail.com| www.stefaniamarghitu.com

EDUCATION
University of Southern California, Ph.D. 2020.
School of Cinematic Arts, Division of Cinema and Media Studies Minor: Communication
Dissertation: Women Showrunners: Authorship, Identity, and Representation in US Television
Committee: Henry Jenkins (Chair), Aniko Imre, Christine Acham, Jennifer Holt

University College London, M.A. 2012.

School of European Languages, Culture, and Society— Film Studies

Indiana University Bloomington, B.A. 2010.

Art History–major; Journalism, Slavic Languages & Literatures, Romanian–minors

ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS

Visiting Assistant Professor, Loyola University New Orleans, Film and Digital Media
Fall 2021—

TEACHING POSITIONS
Pitzer College, Intercollegiate Media Studies, Media Studies Field Group
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Spring 2020—Spring 2021

California State University, Northridge, Department of Cinema and Television, Lecturer

Fall 2020—Spring 2021

Chapman University, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Visiting Lecturer
Fall 2019— Spring 2021

PUBLICATIONS

BOOKS
Teen TV, Routledge genre guidebook series, single author, May 2021 release
Confirmed forthcoming reviews: Celebrity Studies, International Journal of Communication.
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GUEST EDITOR, SPECIAL JOURNAL ISSUES

Guest editor with Sarah Louise Smyth, “Adaptation and Women’s Television Authorship,”
in New Review of Film and Television Studies, 22.1, accepted and forthcoming, 2022.
“Introduction,” with Sarah Louise Smyth &
“Masculine/Feminine: Negotiation in Sally Rooney’s Normal People Adaptation.”

PEER REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES & BOOK CHAPTERS

““Whiteness and the Ambiguous Racial Politics of Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale” with Kelsey
Moore Johnson, White Supremacy and the American Media, Eds. Sarah E. Turner and
Sarah Nilsen, Routledge, forthcoming, 2021.

“Broad City and Insecure’s Millenial Showrunners: From Indie Web Series to Cable
and Streaming Crossovers,” Feminist Media Studies, Commentary and Criticism:
Vol. 19, No. 7, 2019.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2019.1667075

“‘It’s just art’: auteur apologism in the post-Weinstein era,” Feminist Media Studies,
Commentary and Criticism: Vol.18, No.3, 2018.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2018.1456158

“Feminist Online Responses Against the Alt-Right: The Handmaid’s Tale as a Symbol
& Catalyst of Resistance,” with Kelsey Moore Johnson. Communication, Culture and
Critique, edited by Sarah Banet-Weiser & Laurie Ouellette, Vol.11, No.1, 2018.
https://doi.org/10.1093/ccc/tcx008

‘“But Seriously, I actually have a way normal life for a teenage girl’: The Teenage Female
Empowerment Payoff in Amy Heckerling’s Clueless,”
Second Author: Lindsey Alexander, Refocus on Amy Heckerling, edited by Frances
Smith and Timothy Shary. Edinburgh University Press, 2016.

“Mad Men’s Peggy Olson: A Prefeminist Champion in a Postfeminist TV Landscape,”

Smart Chicks on Screen: Representing Women’s Intellect in Film and TV, edited by Laura M.
D’Amore, Rowman and Littlefield, 2014.

“Body Talk: The Post-Feminist Discourse and Critical Reception of Girls,”

Second Author: Conrad Ng, Gender Forum. 2013.
http://genderforum.org/special-issue-early-career-researchers-i-issue-45-2013/

“The Romanian New Wave: Witnessing Everyday Life in the Ceausescu Era,”
UCLA Undergraduate Journal of Slavic & East European Studies, 2012.
http://international.ucla.edu/media/files/marghitu-vol-five-r3-ayy.pdf
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BOOK REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, & REPORTS IN PEER REVIEWED JOURNALS

Roundtable Discussion participant, “Scholarship, Creative Activity, and Cultural

Engagement following Graduate Work in the U.S.,”
The Projector: A Journal of Film, Media, and Culture, forthcoming, 2022.

Women in the Irish Film Industry: Stories and Storytellers, edited by Susan Liddy, book review,
in Cultural Trends, forthcoming, 2022.

Adaptation, Authorship and Contemporary Women Filmmakers by Shelley Cobb, book review,
in International Journal of Communication, 2016.
http://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/6481

Cable Guys: Television and Masculinities in the 21st Century by Amanda Lotz, book review,
International Journal of Communication, 2015.
https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/4087/1441

“The Business of Cause Marketing: A Conversation with Judi Ketcik,”

with Eleanor Huntington, The Spectator, Vol. 35, No.2, Fall 2015.
https://cinema.usc.edu/spectator/35.2/8_Huntington.pdf

“Making Television in the 21st Century conference report,” with Rossend Sánchez Baró,
in Nordicom Information, 2014.
https://www.nordicom.gu.se/sv/aktuellt/nyheter/making-television-21st-century

Music, Sound and Filmmakers: Sonic Style in Cinema, ed. James Wierzbicki, book review,
in Popular Music and Society, 2013.
https://doi.org/10.1080/03007766.2013.821745

Companion to Media Authorship, eds. Jonathan Gray and Derek Johnson, book review, in
Communication Review, 2013.
https://doi/full/10.1080/10714421.2013.839599#.VM_2MVp9WaM
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SELECTED PUBLIC SCHOLARSHIP

“Creating for Social Media: Biniam Bizuneh Interview,” Critical Studies in Television, 2019.
https://cstonline.net/creating-for-social-media-tv-an-interview-with-biniam-
bizuneh-by-stefania-marghitu/

“Remembering Gogglebox’s Leon Bernicoff,”Critical Studies in Television, 2017.

https://cstonline.net/remembering-goggleboxs-leon-bernicoff-a-beacon-of-hope-
and-progressive-attitudes-in-the-era-of-impending-brexit-by-stefania-marghitu/

“The Woman Behind Gogglebox: An Interview with Tania Alexander,”

Critical Studies in Television, 2015. https://cstonline.net/the-woman-behind-gogglebox-
an-interview-with-tania-alexander-by-stefania-marghitu/

“Nothing But The Truth: An Interview with Teyonah Parris,” The Hairpin, 2014.
https://www.thehairpin.com/2014/10/nothing-but-the-truth-an-interview-with-
teyonah-parris/

“Difficult Woman: A Conversation with Julie Klausner,” The Hairpin, 2014.

https://www.thehairpin.com/2014/06/difficult-woman-a-conversation-with-julie-
klausner/

“Skins: A Primer,”Antenna: Responses to Media and Culture, 2013.

http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2013/07/08/skins-a-primer/

“Making Television and Collaborative Authorship: Interview with Jim

Piddock, Co-Creator of HBO’s Family Tree,” Flow TV, 2013.
http://flowtv.org/2013/09/making-television-and-collaborative-authorship

“The State of the Humanities: Digital Humanities and Media Studies,”

Culture in Conversation, with Christine Becker and Kathleen Fitzpatrick, 2013.
https://cultureinconversation.wordpress.com/2013/09/01/the-state-of-the-
humanities-exploring-digital-humanities-and-media-studies/

“Discerning Authorship in Shonda Rhimes’ Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice and Scandal,”
In Media Res, Female Showrunners Week, 2013.
https://mediacommons.futureofthebook.org/imr/2013/05/08/discerning-
authorship-shonda-rhimes-greys-anatomy-private-practice-and-scandal

“Fruits of Labor: The Beginning of The Cinema of Moral Concern,

Andrzej Wajda’s Man of Marble,” Eastern European Film Bulletin, 2011.
https://eefb.org/retrospectives/andrzej-wajdas-man-of-marble-czlowiek-z-
marmuru-1976

“The Thaw Before the Storm: The Cranes are Flying,” Eastern European Film Bulletin, 2011.
https://eefb.org/retrospectives/mikhail-kalatozovs-the-cranes-are-flying-letyat-
zhuravli-1957/
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CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
“Transatlantic Showrunners and the Crossover Appeal of Sharon Horgan and
Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Women-Centered Series,”
Doing Women’s Film and Television History, Maynooth University, Ireland, 2021.
(Originally accepted: 2020, canceled due to Covid-19).

“How to be Broke: Authorship and Medium Specificity in Snapchat Originals,”

Society for Cinema and Media Studies, 2021.
(Originally accepted: 2020, canceled due to Covid-19).

“Theorizing the Showrunner-Star: From Gertrude Berg to Shonda Rhimes,”

Centre for Media & Celebrity Studies, New York, 2019.

“The Quarter-Life Crises of Sharon Horgan’s Pulling & Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Crashing,”
Gateway to Cinema & Media Studies, University of Notre Dame, London, 2019.

“Seeking Below the Line Visibility and Social Justice through Instagram:
The Case of The Handmaid’s Tale Costume Designer Ane Crabtree,”
Society for Cinema and Media Studies, Seattle, 2019.

“Gertrude Berg as a Proto Radio and TV Showrunner,”

Trailblazing Women On & Off Screen, University of Greenwich, London, 2018.

“Digital Social Activism and Sexual Misconduct in the Music and Media Industries,”
E-poster with Perry Johnson, USC Graduate Symposium, 2018.

“Making CW’s Riverdale ‘Quality’ Teen TV: An Exercise in Intertextuality,”

Society for Cinema and Media Studies, Toronto, 2018.

“Non-profit Funding and the Sabido Method in Hulu’s East Los High,”
Society for Cinema and Media Studies, Chicago, 2017.

“Difficult Women in Jenji Kohan’s Orange is the New Black,”

Console-ing Passions, University of Notre Dame, 2016.

“Gender, Genre and Value in US Post-Network Television,”

London Film and Media, 2016.

“From Self Promotion to Social Justice: Mapping Shonda Rhimes on Twitter,”

Gendered Politics of Production: Girls and Women as Media Producers,
Middlesex University, London, 2015.

“FX’s The Bridge: Strategizing Towards an Expanding Latino Demographic,”

Society for Cinema and Media Studies, Seattle, 2014.
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(CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS, CONTINUED)

“Product Placement Strategies in US Post-Network Television,”
Making TV in the 21st Century, Aarhus University, Denmark, 2013.

“Replacing Otherness with Reality TV Universality in Push Girls: On Gender & Disability,”
Reality Gender-vision, Indiana University Bloomington, 2013.

“The Imperfect Body of Girls,” Contemporary Gendered Performance and Practice,

Queen’s University Belfast, Ireland, 2013.

“Women Showrunners in Television,” Television Studies Research Symposium,

University of Georgia, Athens, 2013.

“40 Years After Roe v. Wade: Representations of Reproductive Rights in the Recession,”
Console-ing Passions, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK, 2013.

“Violet, Dowager Countess of One-Liners: Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey & Online
Stardom,” Exploring British Film and TV Stardom,
Queen Mary University, London, 2013.

“Women Protagonists in the Romanian New Wave,”

Research Roundtable on Women, Gender and Sexuality in Eastern Europe and Eurasia,
Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University, 2011.

AWARDS & GRANTS

USC Annenberg Fellowship, 2014–2019

USC Graduate School, Summer Research and Travel Grant, 2018

USC Center for Excellence Teaching Award in Cinema & Media Studies,
Nominated for University-Wide Award. 2017–2018

SCMS Women’s Caucus, Graduate Representative Travel Stipend, 2017–2018

King’s College London, Student Travel Grant, 2016

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COURSES TAUGHT (INSTRUCTOR OF RECORD)

Loyola University New Orleans

ENGL H295: Race, Media, and Culture
ENGL A470: Film and the Art of Literary Adaptation
ENGL T122: Critical Reading and Writing
In-Person teaching, 18-25 students

Chapman University
FTV140: Introduction to Film Aesthetics, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Spring 2021
In-person and Remote teaching, 35-75 students

Pitzer College
MS49: Introduction to Media Studies, Spring 2020, Spring 2021
In-person and Remote teaching, 20-25 students

California State University, Northridge

CTVA 413: Women as Filmmakers
CTVA305: Broadcast History, Fall 2020
CTVA319: Theory and Criticism in Cinema and Television, Fall 2020, Spring 2021
In-person and Remote teaching, 50-60 students

Columbia College Hollywood

CMST110: History of Motion Pictures I: Origins, Fall 2020
Remote teaching, 15-20 students

TEACHING ASSISTANT EXPERIENCE

University of Southern California

CTCS 201: History of International Cinema After World War II
Discussion sections, 20-25 students
Professor: Dr. Priya Jaikumar, Lead Teaching Assistant, Spring 2020

University of Southern California

CTCS 191: Introduction to Television and Video
Professors: Dr. Aniko Imre and Dr. Nitin Govil
Discussion sections, 20-25 students
Lead Teaching Assistant and Teaching Assistant, 2017–2019

University of Southern California

CTCS 190: Introduction to Film
Discussion sections, 20-25 students
Professor: Dr. Drew Casper, Teaching Assistant, 2015–2016
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INVITED TALKS

“Turning the Tides of TV Directing,” The Interchange: A Director’s Retreat,

American Film Institute, Los Angeles, CA, May 21, 2021.

“Streaming Irish Teen TV: Derry Girls and Normal People,” Topics in Streaming Media: Strong
Female Lead, Instructor Rochelle Miller, New York University, 2020.

“Authorship, Identity, and the Self-Reflexive Workplace Narrative,” Dr. Lara Bradshaw,
Broadcast History, California State University Long Beach, 2017.

“US Women Showrunners in the 21st Century,” TV Media Research Seminar,

Middlesex University, London, 2014.

GUEST LECTURES
“Labor, Capital, and the US Showrunner,” Dr. Aniko Imre,
Television Theory, Graduate Seminar, USC, 2019.

“Globalized Teen TV, National Identity, and Ideology,” Dr. Aniko Imre,
Introduction to TV, USC, 2018.

“A Brief History of the TV Showrunner,” Dr. Nitin Govil,

Introduction to TV, USC, 2017.

“The Body Under Surveillance in 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days,” Dr. Justyna Beinek,
Body/Film: Representing The Body in Contemporary World Film,
Undergraduate seminar, Sewanee: University of the South, 2015.

INTERVIEWS IN MEDIA/PRESS
VICE TV Documentary series, The Dark Side of the ‘90s, “Teen TV” episode, in production,
Summer 2021.

New Books Network, Pop Culture Channel Podcast, Interview by Rebekah Buchanan,
July 2021.

“Teen TV with Dr. Stefania Marghitu,” Three Gossip Girls Podcast, Totally Betty Media,
June 4, 2021.

“Women Mostly Shut Out Of Directing Television’s Most Popular Shows”

Buzzfeed News, Mary Ann Georgantopoulos, 2015.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/maryanngeorgantopoulos/women-mostly-shut-out-of-
directing-televisions-most-popular#.rwEqgYJee
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PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS & SERVICE

Women’s Film and Television History Network, 2021—

Television and New Media, Peer Reviewer, 2021

Mai: Feminism and Visual Culture, Peer Reviewer, 2021

Critical Studies in Television, Peer Reviewer, 2020

Chapman University, Internship Faculty Advisor, Creative Producing, 2019

Society for Cinema and Media Studies Member, 2013–

Auburn University, Computer Science for All summer camp, volunteer, 2013—

The Projector: A Journal of Film, Media & Culture, Editorial Board Member, 2018–

SCMS Gender and Feminisms (Formerly Women’s Caucus),

Graduate Student Representative, 2016–2018

Communication, Culture and Critique,Peer Reviewer, 2018

Senses of Cinema Dossier: Twin Peaks, Peer Reviewer, 2016

RELATED MEDIA & WORK EXPERIENCE

Curatorial consultant, Wende Museum of Cold War, “Watching Socialism: The Television
Revolution in Eastern Europe,” Culver City, CA, 2019

USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences, Writing Center Consultant, 2016–2019

King’s College London, Department of Culture, Media & Creative Industries

M.Phil./Ph.D. student, Supervisor: Harvey Cohen, 2013–2014

TV for Dinner blog, creator, editor, blogger, webmaster, 2012–2014

Secretly Canadian record label group, publicist, assistant, and intern, 2007–2011

The Kinsey Institute, Art Department intern, Indiana University, 2010

Indiana University, Co-created and organized Contemporary World Cinema course

with Dr. Justyna Beinek, 2010

Indiana Daily Student, editor; film, TV and music critic; blog creator;
Opinion, Arts and WEEKEND sections of student-run newspaper, 2006–2010
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LANGUAGES
Romanian (Native); Spanish (Intermediate, Conversational); French & Italian (Reading)

REFERENCES
Henry Jenkins, Ph.D.
Provost Professor of Communication, Journalism, Cinematic Arts & Education
Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism
University of Southern California
HJenkins@usc.edu

Aniko Imre, Ph.D.

Professor, Division of Cinema & Media Studies
School of Cinematic Arts
University of Southern California
Imre@usc.edu

Christine A. Acham, Ph.D.

Professor and Chair, Academy for Creative Media
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Acham@hawaii.edu

Sarah Banet Weiser, Ph.D.

Professor, Head of Department, Media & Communication
London School of Economics and Political Science
S.banet-weiser@lse.ac.uk

Shelley Cobb, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Film
School of Humanities
University of Southampton
S.Cobb@soton.ac.uk

Harvey Cohen, Ph.D.

Senior Lecturer, Cultural and Creative Industries
Department of Culture, Media and Creative Industries
King’s College London
Harvey.Cohen@kcl.ac.uk