Pamela O'Brien
Program Director, Electronic Media
Assistant Professor of Media and Public Affairs

Phone: (202) 994-0042
Fax: (202) 994-5806
E-mail: pcobrien@gwu.edu
Office: MPA 433

Expertise

Cultural Analysis of the Relationship between Media Texts and Society; Animation for Children and Adults; Media Management; Television Production Process; Commercialization of Broadcasting

Courses Taught

EMDA 100, American Electronic Media
EMDA 129, Television and Politics
EMDA 141, Scriptwriting
EMDA 144, Sound Design
EMDA 145, Image Design
EMDA 181, Electronic Media Management
EMDA 186, Commercialization of Broadcasting
EMDA 197, Electronic Media Internship

Selected Works

"The Happiest Films on Earth: A Textual and Contextual Analysis of Walt Disney's Cinderella and The Little Mermaid," Women's Studies in Communications, O'Brien, P. (1996).

"King of the Hill and South Park: A Renaissance of Underground Comix on Television." O'Brien, P. (1998). Presented at the annual meeting of the Popular Culture Association, Buena Vista, FL.

"Bringing HUAC to Hollywood: Walt Disney's Involvement in the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals." O'Brien, P. (1996). Presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Chicago, IL.

"The Birth of The Simpsons: Why FOX Brought Animation Back to Prime-Time Television." O'Brien, P. (1996). Presented at the annual meeting of the Popular Culture Association, Las Vegas, NV. Panel Moderator.

"Everybody's Busy Bringing You a Disney Afternoon: The Creation of a Consumption Community." O'Brien, P. (1995). Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Animation Studies, Greensboro, NC.

Background

Not many people can make a living watching cartoons but Pamela O'Brien has spoken around the country on animation and it's effect on popular culture-from Disney to The Simpsons. She has shared her research with The Louisville Courier-Journal and Des Moines Register, and has appeared on The Discovery Channel's "Amazing America."

O'Brien came to The George Washington University in 1996 as a visiting assistant professor after five years with the department of telecommunications at Indiana University. Her courses there focused on radio and television; telecommunications; and race, ethnicity, and media. She also served as assistant editor of the Federal Communications Law Journal and as an undergraduate advisor while at Indiana. O'Brien spent her summers from 1989 to 1992, as Instructor and Senior Faculty member for the National High School Institute at Northwestern University where she taught audio and studio production.

Her media knowledge also draws from work experiences outside of academia. Since 1996 O'Brien has served as a media and research consultant for the Episcopal High School science department. In 1991 she was the writer and talent coordinator for the "Meadows Award Tribute to Arthur Miller," and a year later she was the executive producer for "Our Perspectives," a teen-oriented talk show pilot. A member of the Student Media Governing Board from 1990-1991, she supervised the operation of the newspaper, radio stations, yearbook, and video annual for Southern Methodist University. An ambitious college freshman, O'Brien was associate producer of Grosse Pointe Cable in Grosse Pointe, Mich. where she was writer, producer, director, camera, and audio for various local programs.

O'Brien is an active member of the International Communications Association, the Broadcast Education Association, the Popular Culture Association, the Midwest Popular Culture Association, and the Society for Animation Studies.

Education

Ph.D, Mass Communications, Indiana University, 2003
M.A., Telecommunications, Indiana University, 1994
B.A., Radio-Television, Southern Methodist University, 1991