Robert Sloane Instructor, American Culture Studies Ph.D., Communications, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign M.A., American Culture Studies, Bowling Green State University B.A., English, University of Virginia Office: 107 East Hall Phone: 419-372-2785 E-mail: rsloane

Research Interests: Media studies; popular music; cultural studies; political economy of communications; sociology of art, aesthetics, and taste Recent and Reoccurring Courses: Introduction to American Culture Studies (ACS 200); Teaching American Culture Studies (ACS 602) Biography: After receiving a B.A. in English Literature, Rob Sloane went to work for a small documentary film production company in Washington, DC. Over the course of two years there, he held a number of different positions--production assistant, associate producer, researcher/writer--and ultimately garnered credits on three films (on Edgar Allan Poe, the Fourth Amendment, and the National Cathedral) that aired nationally on PBS. When he returned to graduate school, he pursued his interests in the study and analysis of popular culture, earning an M.A. in American Culture Studies and writing a thesis on "lounge" music. Currently, he is finishing his dissertation on the economics and culture of an independent record store. He has published two articles in book anthologies about television and media studies, respectively. His research interests include popular music, cultural/media studies, aesthetics and taste, and the relationship between mass media and democracy. Selected Publications: "Who Wants Candy? Disenchantment in The Simpsons." (2004). In Leaving Springfield: The Simpsons and the Possibilities of Oppositional Culture (ed. J. Alberti), pp. 137-171. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. "Tensions Between Popular and Alternative Music: R.E.M. as an Artist-Intellectual." (2003). In The Blackwell Companion to Media Studies (ed. A. Valdivia), pp. 72-90. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.