The Harvey Mudd College Board of Trustees has approved the recommendation of the Reappointment, Promotion, and Tenure Committee and President Maria Klawe that Associate Professor of Media Studies Rachel Mayeri be promoted to full professor.<\/p>\n
Mayeri teaches courses in humanities, art and media studies that help promote critical thinking and creative expression. In her fall course, Contemporary Topics in Art, Science, and Technology, she challenged students to produce maps and artifacts for a futuristic island of California. Their experimental cartography and speculative anthropology document food, language, infrastructure and geography. The class’ exhibit, “Life After the Great Separation: California as an Island,”<\/a> is on display through Oct. 29 in the North Gallery of Honnold\/Mudd Library.<\/p>\n Mayeri\u2019s teaching and artwork situate media at the center of culture and politics and serve as a conduit for personal expression. As an artist, she often makes videos about the intersection of science and art. Her videos, installations and writing projects explore topics ranging from the history of special effects to the human animal.<\/p>\n For several years, Mayeri has been exploring the primate continuum and has created experimental videos titled Primate Cinema. Commissioned by The Arts Catalyst, the project received financial support from a Wellcome Trust Arts Award as well as the Arts Council England, the Institute for Advanced Studies at Aix-Marseille University and a research grant from Harvey Mudd. Her film Primate Cinema: Apes as Family was selected for the Sundance and Berlinale film festivals as well as Ars Electronica and Abandon Normal Devices contemporary art festivals.<\/p>\n