Laura Podalsky

Laura Podalsky is a Professor of Latin American Studies and holds a courtesy appointment in Theatre, Film, and Media Arts at Ohio State University. She specializes in Latin American film, youth cultures, urban studies, and visual cultures. Her research explores the intersections of politics, socio-historical formations, and affect in cultural production.

Education: PhD from Tulane University and BA from Yale University. Her work bridges interdisciplinary cultural studies with film analysis, focusing on Argentina, Mexico, and Cuba. She has authored influential books such as Specular City: Transforming Culture, Consumption, and Space in Buenos Aires, 1955-1973 and The Politics of Affect and Emotion in Contemporary Latin American Cinema.

Research Interests: Her studies emphasize Latin American youth cultures, urban transformations, and the evocation of affect in cinema as responses to postdictatorial politics and neoliberalism. Current projects include a comparative study of youth and modernity in Argentina and Mexico across the 1950s-1960s and 1990s.

Publications Trends: Her recent articles analyze affect theory, transnational youth identities, and the representation of violence and modernity in Latin American cinema. She critiques socio-political dynamics through filmic narratives and cultural industries.

Scientific Awards: No awards explicitly listed in the provided information.

Advising & Grants: No specific advising or grant information provided. She contributes to academic discourse through her research and publications.

Labs/Teams: No affiliated labs or research teams mentioned, though her work engages with transnational cultural networks and interdisciplinary collaborations.