From George Floyd to Laquan McDonald, video evidence has galvanized public reaction in recent cases of police violence. For University of Chicago scholar Salomé Aguilera Skvirsky, representations of police have also become an important subject of interdisciplinary study. As part of her new book project, she will explore how the disciplinarity-specific resources of cinema and media studies can also inform case law.

As a cinema and media scholar, Skvirsky thinks a lot about the evidentiary status of lens-based photographic recordings and the nature of point of view in the moving-image media. She hopes to bring some of the considerable theoretical insights that have been developed in cinema and media studies on the topic of point of view to legal discourses on body and dashboard cameras, as well as on citizen sousveillant filming practices.

“My hope is to develop scholarship that can serve as a bridge between cinema and media studies and legal studies,” she said.

The University of Chicago has honored nine instructors and graduate students for their exceptional work as teachers. Nominated by undergraduates in the College, these winners demonstrated the ability to push students to think beyond the classroom, and to share their disciplines in exciting ways.

Anne Beal, Benjamin Callard, Trevor Hyde, John Kennedy and Veronica Vegna have been awarded the Glenn and Claire Swogger Award for Exemplary Classroom Teaching, which recognizes outstanding teachers with College appointments who introduce students to habits of scholarly thinking, inquiry and engagement in the Core Curriculum—the College’s general education program.

Ian Bongalonta, Karlyn Gorski, Peishu Li and Marguerite Sandholm have been named the 2022 winners of the Wayne C. Booth Prize for Excellence in Teaching, awarded annually to University of Chicago graduate students for outstanding instruction of undergraduates.