Golden M. Owens

Golden M. Owens is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Cinema & Media Studies at the University of Washington, College of Arts & Sciences. Her research focuses on representations of race and gender, artificial intelligence, haunting, and racialized sounds/voices in popular culture. She holds a Ph.D. in Screen Cultures from Northwestern University (2023), an M.A. in Screen Cultures (2018), and a B.A. in English Literature from Bowdoin College (2015).

• Education:
• Ph.D., Screen Cultures, Northwestern University, 2023
• M.A., Screen Cultures, Northwestern University, 2018
• B.A., English Literature, Bowdoin College, 2015

Her current book project examines intelligent virtual assistants like Alexa and Siri, arguing they are haunted by historical depictions of Black women’s domestic labor through analysis of media across the 20th and 21st centuries. Her work has been funded by the Ford Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Social Science Research Council, and others. Research outputs include contributions to Sounding Out! and the Journal for Cinema and Media Studies.

Grants & Funding:

• Ford Foundation (via National Academies)
• Institute for Citizens and Scholars
• Social Science Research Council
• Mellon Foundation
• Northwestern University’s Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities