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Teaching and research interests: Digital video and audio production, science and technology studies, media history, digital photography, motion-capture, interactive media, mediated performance, human-computer interaction, theatre, video games, animation, robotics, puppetry, gender and masculinity studies, and aesthetic philosophy.

Michael Meindl received his M.F.A. in Dramatic Media from the University of Georgia and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Science and Technology Studies from Virginia Tech. He also holds an M.A. and B.A. in Theatre Studies from Oklahoma State University and the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, respectively. He has done practical and scholarly work in a variety of areas, including theatre, film, and animation.

As a scholar, Michael focuses primarily on the relationship between media, science, and technology. He has presented at a variety of regional, national, and international conferences, including those sponsored by the Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S), the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT), the Society for Animation Studies (SAS), and the Popular Culture Association (PCA). He currently has two essays accepted for publication. One focuses on the representation of science and technology in both Jaws and Mythbusters and will be part of a collection of works celebrating the 50th anniversary of Jaws. The other explores the use of specific types of sources when doing history of animation research and will be part of a special “doing animation history” issue of Animation: An International Journal. Finally, he is working on a book-length analysis of early Disney animation technology.

As a video artist, he has worked with the National Geographic Channel, providing motion-capture services, as well as the New York Public Library and the Carnegie Corporation of New York, filming special events (some of his footage has been shown to the United States Congress). He has also worked on commercials and short documentaries. Through his own production company, he is currently working on a feature-length documentary investigating the intersection between puppetry and the LGBTQ community. Since its inception in 2014, Michael has been a judge for the International Red Dirt Film Festival held in Stillwater, OK.