Betsy WaltersAssistant Visiting Professor

Dr. Elizabeth (Betsy) Walters recently completed her PhD in American Studies at Boston University, where she also earned an MFA in Film and Television Studies. Her research and teaching interests focus on the American film and television industries and their historical and contemporary practices, with an emphasis on the prestige industry of film festivals and media awards. Her dissertation analyzes how the Academy Awards have navigated social and industrial change in the 21st century, and she is currently developing a book based upon the project. Her research has been published in the Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, New Review of Film and Television Studies, and The Velvet Light Trap.

Before graduate school, Betsy worked in the film festival and entertainment awards industry. In 2019, Betsy co-founded the Marvin Hamlisch International Music Awards, which annually celebrate youth and emerging composers from around the world in the fields of film and media scoring, classical composition, jazz composition, musical theatre composition, and contemporary pop and R&B, and she serves on its Board of Directors. Betsy also served as the Director of Awards and Operations and the Executive Director at CINE, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit organization. 

She has served on screening committees for the Peabody Awards and on the international jury of the Ekotopfilm Festival in Bratislava, Slovakia. 

Associations

Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS)

American Studies Association (ASA)

Education

PhD, American Studies, Boston University

MFA, Film and Television Studies, Boston University

BA, Electronic Media, George Washington Universiry