Althea Wasow

Althea Wasow is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Film and Media Studies at UC Santa Barbara. Her research focuses on the intersection of silent cinema, policing, and abolitionist frameworks. She holds a PhD from UC Berkeley, an MFA from Columbia University, and a BA from Brown University. Prior to UCSB, she was a UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Santa Cruz, where she contributed to the Visualizing Abolition project and curated 'Ornament and Abolition.'

Wasow is an award-winning filmmaker whose work includes the wannabe, winner of the Best Short at HBO’s New York International Latino Film Festival. Her films explore themes of identity, incarceration, and historical memory, screening at institutions like the Schomburg Center and Queens Museum of Art. She co-founded the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP), using art and design to foster civic engagement.

Her academic honors include the Ford Foundation and Jacob K. Javits Fellowships. She has taught at UC Berkeley, NYU, and in correctional facilities such as San Quentin State Prison and Rikers Island, emphasizing prison education and media literacy.