Elizabeth Reich

Elizabeth Reich is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at the University of Pittsburgh, affiliated with the Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies Program within the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. Her research focuses on intersections of race, gender, and media studies with specific attention to Black feminist film practices, sonic studies, and cultural representation. She has conducted extensive work on African American cinema, queer theory, and documentary filmmaking.

Reich’s scholarship bridges historical analysis and contemporary cultural critique, examining how marginalized communities utilize film to challenge dominant narratives. Her publications include explorations of Black women’s documentary traditions, sonic ontology in sci-fi narratives, and the erasure of Black soldiers in Hollywood cinema. She frequently collaborates with filmmakers to document underrepresented stories through innovative media forms.

Her recent work emphasizes decolonial methodologies, interrogating how Black feminist frameworks reshape film criticism and production. Notable projects include roundtable discussions with prominent Black filmmakers and critical analyses of popular series like Stranger Things and Random Acts of Flyness. Reich’s writing appears in leading journals across film studies, gender studies, and cultural theory.