HESBURGH LECTURE SERIES 2012 Program - Alumni Association ...

Donald Crafton
Department Chair, Professor, Film, Television, and Theatre; Notre
Dame Professor of Film and Culture (Endowed Chair); Fellow,
Nanovic Institute for European Studies
Biography
Donald Crafton is an endowed professor in the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre,
specializing in film history and visual culture. He earned his B.A. from the University of
Michigan, his M.A. from the University of Iowa, and M.A. and Ph.D. from Yale University.
He was the founding director of the Yale Film Study Center, and served as director of the
Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research. Crafton joined the University of Notre Dame
faculty in 1997. Before his appointment at Notre Dame, he taught at Yale University and at the
University of Wisconsin. He chaired the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre at Notre
Dame from 1997-2002 and 2008-2011. He was chair of the Department of Music from 2005-
2008.
Crafton’s research interests have focused on the early history of motion pictures and the history of animation. Among his books
are The Talkies: American Cinema’s Transition to Sound, 1926-1931 and two books on animation. One of these, Before Mickey:
The Animated Film 1898-1928, has been in print for 25 years. A third book on animation, Shadow of a Mouse: Animation
Performance, is in progress. His current research explores the often-overlooked involvement of Joseph P. Kennedy as an executive
and financier in the early movie industry.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences named Crafton an Academy Film Scholar in 2001, and he has been the
recipient of two National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowships. The World Festival of Animation presented him with an
award for his contributions to animation theory, and he is the recipient of the French Jean Mitry prize in film history. Crafton is
on the advisory board of Film Quarterly and Cinema Journal. He received Notre Dame’s Presidential Award in 2007.
Lecture
Notre Dame in the Movies
Categories
Communications, Notre
Dame
The hallowed halls and storied playing fields of Notre Dame have been the subjects of American cinema since at least 1924 (a
Mack Sennett comedy, “The Half-Back of Notre Dame”). This 90-minute lecture traces the history of the University’s many
representations through “Rudy” (1993), and includes some speculation as to the significance of the subject in film and American
life. The PowerPoint presentation is illustrated with many video clips, so a large screen TV with computer inputs is required.
The Hesburgh Lecture Series, 2012 Program 27