Joan E. Thiel
Associate Professor of Media and Public Affairs

Phone: (202) 994-6699
Fax: (202) 994-5806
E-mail: jthiel@gwu.edu
Office: MPA 406-C

Expertise

Radio and TV Performance, TV Directing, Media Criticism, Aesthetics of Media, Acting

Courses Taught

EMDA 75, Sight and Sound
EMDA 141, Scriptwriting
EMDA 142, Radio and Television Performance
EMDA 146, Television Directing

Selected Works

Our Story. One-hour video documentary on the men who witnessed the Pearl Harbor attack on Dec. 7, 1941: includes interview of 60 survivors, archival footage, and photos surrounding the event. 1994.

Pearl Harbor Remembered. Four-part, mini-series in local-news format. Aired by fifteen network affiliates in markets across the country, Dec. 4-7, 1991. Arbitron estimated viewership at five million per segment. Co-producer and Director.

The Fifth of July. Student-directed from stage to screen theatrical production mounted by the Theatre Department; team-taught with Alan Wade; awarded first prize in the student entries by the District of Columbia Chapter of the International Television Association. Producer. 1991.

Days of Infamy. Thirty-minute video documentary on the effects of trauma for the community and for the person (1963 Dallas residents after the Kennedy assassination and Pearl Harbor survivors). Co-producer/Director. 1990.

A Look at American Families. A video documentary funded by the United States Information Agency, crewed by visiting media professionals from China; aired by Chinese Central Television in 1987. Washington field producer and seminar director on American media production. 1986.

Background

Nominated three times for the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences' Excellence in Teaching Award, Joan Thiel is a prime example of quality and leadership at SMPA. Associated with The George Washington University since 1977, she made quite an impact on the school. Thiel founded the Radio and Television program (now known as the Electronic Media program) and served as its director for 14 years. She also established the Radio/Television Summer Institute where she served as director from 1978 to 1993. She was chair of the curriculum committee, a faculty search committee member, and a member of the by-laws drafting committee for undergraduate and graduate schools within the newly-formed Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. A member of the original team-teaching program, Thiel helped introduce GW's first political communication course.

Previously, Thiel worked for the Catholic University of America where she started as an instructor in the speech and drama department and later became assistant professor for the theater department. She directed the theater department's graduate program in costume design and designed for three to four departmental theater productions a year. While at CUA, Thiel also managed a professional career in theatrical design, directing, and stage decorum with regional performing arts groups and New York productions. Past collaborations include: "The Contrast," Pearl Theatre, New York; "1600 Pennsylvania Ave.," Bernstein and Lerner, Whitehead-Stevens Producers, New York; and the "Nutcracker" and "Giselle" with the Washington Ballet Company.

From 1980 to 1992, Thiel provided senior executives at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management with workshops and lectures on media performance and uses, and Congressional testimony presentation techniques. She was an editor for the media chapter in the Handbook on Preparing and Delivering Congressional Testimony.

Among other accomplishments, Thiel was nominated for the John Lennon Endowed Scholarship and the Rhythm Nation/Janet Jackson Endowed Scholarship finalist. She was also a panelist for the Radio-Television News Directors Association Regional Conference, "A Perspective on Media Careers."

Education

Ph.D., Radio, Television, Film, University of Michigan, 1977
M.F.A., Theatre, Catholic University of America, 1971
B.A., Journalism, Marygrove College, 1961