Ryan Powell

Ryan Powell is an Associate Professor of Cinema and Media Studies at The Media School, Indiana University, with affiliate appointments in Gender Studies, American Studies, and The Cultural Studies Program.

Education:

• PhD, King’s College London
• M.A., University of East Anglia
• B.A., Evergreen State College

His research examines intersections of film historiography, queer theory, and cultural geography through non-metropolitan and underground cinematic practices. Powell investigates how sound, space, and sexuality shape affective experiences in film, challenging normative metropolitan frameworks.

Key research domains include:

• Film Historiography and Archival Studies
• Queer Cinema and LGBTQ Representation
• Sound Studies in Cinematic Contexts
• Independent and Underground Film Production
• Non-Metropolitan Cultural Geography
• Sexuality and Gender in Media

Publications analyze queer film history from 1945-1999, emphasizing cinematic sound’s role in affective experience and spatial representation. Current work explores mixtape culture’s influence on 1990s independent cinema, examining how music formatting conventions reshaped filmic construction beyond industrial norms.

Powell curates IU Cinema’s Queer Disorientations series, showcasing films that disrupt normative spatial-temporal frameworks through experimental queer perspectives.