Stone Center Post-Doctoral Fellow Receives Prestigious Governor General's Award

Dr. Irene Rozsa, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Fellow at the Stone Center, was recently recognized for exemplary achievements during her graduate career. This past June, Dr. Rozsa received the Governor General’s Academic Gold Medal from her alma mater Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. This award, one of the most prestigious in the Canadian Academy, honors “the student who achieves the highest academic standing at the graduate level.” It is awarded to only one Concordia graduate student per graduating cohort.

Dr. Rozsa, who received her degree in Film and Moving Image Studies earlier this year, earned the distinction for her work on mid-twentieth century Cuban cinema. Her dissertation, “On the Edge of the Screen: Film Culture and Practices of Noncommercial Cinema in Cuba (1948-1966)” employs archival research to trace the development of Cuban cinema in the years preceding and immediately following the establishment of the Cuban Film Institute (ICAIC) in 1959. It expands the focus of Cuban media studies both temporally and thematically. Integrating examinations of exhibition, distribution, promotion, and knowledge dissemination, Dr. Rozsa highlights the continuities in Cuban cinematic traditions before and after the Revolution. This approach sets Dr. Rozsa at the forefront of developments in her field, and her work has been published in the Canadian Journal of Film Studies, Studies in Spanish and Latin American Cinemas and the edited anthology Cosmopolitan Film Cultures in Latin America, 1896-1960.

The Stone Center is excited to welcome Dr. Rozsa this Fall to apply her innovative methodology to other Latin American film histories. Working closely with Associate Provost, Professor of Communication, and Cuban and Caribbean Studies Director Ana López, Dr. Rozsa will embark upon a new project to examine the impact of the Catholic Church on Cuban, Peruvian, and Brazilian cinema from the 1940s the 1980s. While in residence, she will also enrich the intellectual environment through her teaching and engagement with speakers’ series, talks, and symposia.