Sperb’s new book is reviewed in Cineaste, article is published in journal

Jason Sperb, North Central College lecturer in communication, published a book, titled “Flickers of Film: Nostalgia in the Time of Digital Cinema,” in December 2015 (Rutgers University Press). Recently, his book was reviewed by Justin Wyatt in the summer issue of the world-renowned film magazine, Cineaste. His book examines the opportunities and limitations in Hollywood’s recent fascination with nostalgia for older cinematic technologies and periods of film exhibition and reception. It sees this affection for the prehistory and infancy of digital technologies as a reaction to an industry-wide anxiety about how the digital has grown to dominate Hollywood, pushing it into an uncertain creative and economic future.

Sperb also published an article, titled “The End of ‘Detropia’: Fordist Nostalgia and the Ambivalence of Poetic Ruins in Visions of Detroit,” in the 2016 summer issue of The Journal of American Culture. The article discusses nostalgia for mid-20th century U.S. modernity and the dangers in exploiting visually images of urban decay, in relation to the various depictions of Detroit in popular culture, on television and in documentary films such as “Detropia.”

Sperb joined North Central’s faculty in 2016 after teaching at Northwestern University in the Department of Radio/Television/Film. He earned a Ph.D. in communication and culture from Indiana University.