April 2: Adam Ochonicky, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
Please join the Chicago Film Seminar at 6:30 on Thursday, April 2nd to welcome Adam Ochonicky (University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh) for his talk "Nostalgic Frontiers" Spatiality, Violence and the Midwest in Badlands and A History of Violence." Ochonicky received his PhD from University Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Zoran Samardzija (Columbia College) will provide the response. Ochonicky describes his talk as follows: As a region, the Midwest is situated uniquely within the American popular imagination. Often labeled as being “flyover country,” this space and its inhabitants are considered to be both “authentically” American and a cultureless mass. In response to such regional perceptions, this talk examines two intertwined areas of focus: the cultural formation of the Midwest in film and the ever-shifting spatial and violent dimensions of nostalgia. From the closing of the Western frontier to the development of virtual environments online, the distinctive ...