Professional Summary
Dr. Megan Boyd primarily examines female audiences' relationship to comedy in film and media. Her research areas more generally encompass comedy and humor, American silent cinema, theater, genre classification and feminine taste cultures. Her forthcoming book, Sympathetic Humor: Feminine Taste Cultures and the Rise of American Feature Comedy, asserts that film producers' attempts to satisfy female patrons profoundly shaped the American film industry's development of feature-length comedy in the 1910s. Her peer-reviewed work has appeared in Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, Film History and Early Popular Visual Culture.
Education
PhD: University of Wisconsin-Madison 2021 (Communication Arts)
MA: University of Wisconsin-Madison 2014 (Communication Arts)
BA: Washington University in St. Louis 2012 (Film and Media Studies)
Research and Practice Interests
Comedy and Humor in Film and Media
Silent Cinema
Transitional Cinema
Women, Gender and Sexuality
Race, Ethnicity and American Nationalism
Theater
Genre
Audience and Fan Cultures
Distribution and Exhibition within Media Industries
Classical Hollywood
Archival Preservation
Non-Extant Media
Public Humanities
Positions and Work Experience
2022 - Assistant Professor of Film and Media, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
2021 -2022 Visiting Assistant Professor of Film Studies, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI
2012 -2021 Graduate Instructor, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
2023 - Director of Graduate Certificate in Film and Media, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
Research Support
2021 -2022 American Humor Studies Association Selection for Promising First Book: M. Thomas Hinge First Book Workshops Completed Level:National
2021 -2021 University of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate Summer Fellow Type:Fellowship Level:University
2019 -2019 University of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate School Fellow Completed Type:Fellowship Level:University
2018 -2018 University of Wisconsin-Madison Communication Arts Research Grant Completed Type:Grant Level:Department
2017 -2017 University of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate School Fellow Completed Type:Fellowship Level:University
2017 -2017 University of Wisconsin-Madison Sharon Sites Scholarship Completed Type:Grant Level:Department
2016 -2016 University of Wisconsin-Madison Charles C. Pearce Scholarship Completed Type:Grant Level:Department
2016 -2016 University of Wisconsin-Madison Elliott Dissertation Scholarship Type:Grant Level:Department
2012 -2012 University of Wisconsin-Madison First-Year McCarty Scholarship Completed Type:Grant Level:Department
Publications
Peer Reviewed Publications
Boyd, Megan (2022. ) "A Ripple of Mirth, Feminine in Sound: Female Audiences and the Rise of Feature Comedy" .Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, , 61 (3 ) ,9-35
Boyd, Megan (2021. ) "A Cunning and Altogether Modern Master of Men: The Pursuing Woman in 1910s Feature Comedy" .Film History, , 33 (4 ) ,55-80
Boyd, Megan (2021. ) "An Irregular Fellow: The Misogynist in Silent Comedy" .Early Popular Visual Culture, , 19 (1 ) ,1-20
Published Books
Boyd, Megan (in progress) Sympathetic Humor: Feminine Taste Cultures and the Rise of American Feature Comedy .
Presentations
Paper Presentations
Boyd, Megan (2022. ) "A Cunning and Altogether Modern Master of Men: The Pursuing Woman in 1910s Feature Comedy" .Virtual. Conference. Level:International
Boyd, Megan (Panel Organizer) (2021. ) "Off-Color Laughter: Ethnicity and Comedy in the Early Twentieth Century" .Virtual. Conference. Level:International
Boyd, Megan (2021. ) "Humor Degenerates Too Easily into Ridicule: Racism and Resistance in Ernest Morrison's Early Silent Features" .Virtual. Conference. Level:International
Boyd, Megan (2020. ) "'We Must Have a Female Star': Female Performers and the Rise of Feature-Length Comedy" .Austin, TX (cancelled due to COVID). Conference. Level:National
Boyd, Megan (2019. ) "A Ripple of Mirth, Feminine in Sound: Female Audiences and the Rise of Feature Comedy" .Seattle, WA. Conference. Level:International
Boyd, Megan (2019. ) "Comedy is the Bane of His Existence: The Struggles of Feature Comedy, 1913-1916" .Madison, WI. Conference. Level:National
Boyd, Megan (2018. ) "Wives Who Imagine Themselves Unhappy: 1910s Remarriage Comedies and the Marital Compromise" .Madison, WI. Conference. Level:National
Boyd, Megan (2018. ) "A Satisfactory Meal for the Female Appetite" .Southhampton, UK. Conference. Level:International
Boyd, Megan (2017. ) "'Americanizing' Humor: Silent Feature Comedy and Conceptions of Genre" .Chicago, IL. Conference.
Boyd, Megan (2016. ) "Hoydens and Hair-Raisers: Women in 1910s Feature-Length Comedies" .Milwaukee, Wi. Conference. Level:National
Boyd, Megan (2016. ) "Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Girls: Conceptualizing the 1910s Madcap Cycle" .Atlanta, GA. Conference. Level:International
Boyd, Megan (2015. ) "'Study the Women!': British Female Audiences and the 1910s Star System" .Madison, WI. Conference. Level:National
Boyd, Megan (2015. ) "Placing Performance in Avant-Garde Film" .Montreal, CA. Conference. Level:International
Boyd, Megan (2023. ) "Dissatisfied with Her Manner: Female Stars' Struggles for Control in Early Feature Comedies" .Denver . Conference. Level:National
(2023. ) "Too Much of a Picture Showing What Women Can Do: Producing Women 's Humor in Silent Cinema" .Brighton, UK. Conference. Level:International
Courses Taught
-FILM-1051 INTRO FILM & MEDIA Level:Undergraduate
Theory and Practice Level:Undergraduate
Women and Early Hollywood Level:Both
Contact Information
Clifton Court Hall
Cincinnati
Ohio, 45202
boydm7@ucmail.uc.edu