Graduate Student Spotlights
Current Spotlight
Tara Lenertz
Ph.D., Screen Studies
Tara Lenertz is a 3rd year PhD student in the Screen Studies program at Oklahoma State University. She is an Assistant Director for the OSU Writing Center and also tutors student-athletes with OSU’s ASSA program. She enjoys working one-on-one with peers and students and has been doing so since she was a Writing Fellow during her undergraduate at Clemson University and a tutor during her master’s program at North Carolina State University. Tara attributes her passion for teaching to her early experiences tutoring. She has taught composition at both NCSU and OSU, and she is also teaching Introduction to Film and Television this semester. Tara is a first-generation, non-traditional student, which has shaped her perspective on the importance of education, and access to education, for all individuals. She is currently beginning her dissertation work, and her research interests include reception and carceral studies, with a focus on useful cinema and the power of film in critical spaces. She published a paper which discusses her initial ideas for applying these theories within a carceral setting to explore the potential of film and education in improving current rehabilitation models and positively impacting lives. Tara recently presented at the SCMS conference in Boston (Society For Cinema and Media Studies) and is looking forward to presenting at the Southern Plains Conference in April.
Read "Film as Rehabilitation: Reception Studies and Captive Audiences" by Tara Lenertz
