Chris Robé, Ph.D.
Professor
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters
School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Boca Raton Campus
Courses
Radical Film and New Media
Hollywood, Censorship, and Regulation
Education
PhD, Film and Media Studies/Literature, Lehigh University
Areas of Expertise
- Film and Media Studies
- Historical Materialism
- Cultural Studies
- Media Activism
- Community Media
About
Robé's primary research concerns the use of media by various communities and social movements. In the twenty-first century, media does not simply offer a representational platform for different communities but more importantly serves as a material practice to engage in collective struggles for a wide variety of purposes.
He has written about U.S. radical film culture in the 1930s in his book (U of Texas Press, 2010). (PM Press, 2017) explores the emergence of anarchist-based video activism. His co-edited collection with Stephen Charbonneau (Indiana University Press, 2020) investigates global trends in media activism through a historic lens. His most recent book (PM Press, 2023) concerns the relationship between video/digital media activism and state repression pertaining to animal rights campaigns, counter-summit protesting, Latinx copwatching and community organizing, and Muslim-American youth resistance. If you would like to set up a speaking engagement related to the newest book, feel free to contact his via email.
His new research concerns three areas of interest: conservative digital media activism—particularly related to Florida; street art, graffiti, and political murals mediating tensions around Brexit, neoliberalism, and the Troubles in Northern Ireland; and continuing archival research for a long-term project related to Raymond Williams’ work on film and television.
Robéoccasionally scribble for Cineaste and the online journal PopMatters.
He feels fortunate to be a part of a program that stresses how media production must be linked to theoretical analysis and historical concerns, that trains students in counter-cinema, alternative media, and avant-garde traditions as viable alternatives to solely commercial concerns, and that explores how media, in all its forms, can be an agent of social change as well as a politically reactionary force.
Recent Publications
‘,” PopMatters (June 2024)
“,” Public Seminar (October 2023)
“,” PopMatters (May 2023)
“,’ PopMatters (January 2023)
, PM Press (2023)
Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media(2021).
With Stephen Charbonneau, (2020)
”JCMS: Journal of Cinema and Media Studies (2020)
With Todd Wolfson, Media, Culture & Society (2020)
(PM Press 2017).
(U of Texas Press 2010)
Talks & Interviews
“,” Cultural Studies (May 2024)
“,” Anarchist Essays (February 2024)
“,” Coffee with Comrades (August 2023)
New York University, Spring 2021.
Aca-Media podcast, August 2020.
on The New Architects, May 2017.