Welcome to Senior Seminar!

Welcome to the Spring 2014 495 Senior Seminar in Documentary, Experimental and Animation class.  As you've figured out already, it's going to be a diverse class and a busy semester!

In case you've never had a class with me before, here's a bit about myself. 

My name is Shannon Silva.  You can call me Professor Silva or Shannon.  Either is totally fine with me.

I have a BFA in Art - Photography from Texas State University, and received my MFA in Film Production from the University of Iowa.  My hometown is Austin, TX.  "Keep Austin Weird" is the actual city motto and I embrace it fully.

To give you a bit more about me as a person, not just your teacher, here are few things about me:

1) I LOVE FILM...like real FILM...like Super 8mm, 16mm, and 35mm.  Shooting it, editing it, watching it.  Love, Love, Love.

2) I have the super coolest kid in the world...Kai.  You'll hear about him sometimes.  Learn to humor me with smiles and nods about his greatness.

3) I love cycling.  I came to this realization later in life (like at 39 years old), but in the past two years its become something that I do 3-5x a week.  My goal is to eventually participate in a sprint triathlon.

4) I'm a non-zealous Whedonite...though I could really have done without Angel.

5) My humor is dark and dry...deal with it.

To give you a bit more information about my professional work, I've included my official bio below.

~Shannon

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Shannon Silva is an Associate Professor of Film Studies at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.  An experimental and documentary filmmaker, her principal areas of interest include issues of gender, consumerism, celebrity culture, fandom, and community building creative initiatives.

In addition to directing over 30 short films and videos, she has worked as Screenplay Competition Director for the Austin Film Festival, Marketing Director for Austin Cinemaker Coop, and was a founding member of the Iowa City Microcinema.

Her films have screened at the Dallas Video Festival, Atlanta Underground, Athens International, Humboldt Film Festival, FLEX, Docutah, LA Femme, Central Florida Film Festival, St. John's International Women's Film Festival and more.

She has participated in screening committees for the Ann Arbor Film Festival, SXSW, Iowa City Documentary Festival, Cinematexas, and the Cucalorus Film Festival.

In 2013, her film It’s A Girl Thing:  Tween Queens and The Commodification of Girlhood, completed its festival run and was awarded Best Social Documentary at the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival.  

She is currently in the research stage for a documentary that will look at the recent increase in life-threatening childhood allergies and their psychological impact on families.  She is also producing a crowd-sourcing project that her husband, animator Andre Silva is directing.