Tami Williams

Tami Williams is an Associate Professor in the Department of Cinema, Media and Digital Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. She holds a PhD from UCLA in Film and Television, with additional MA and BA degrees from UCLA and UCSB in related fields. Her research focuses on silent cinema, global women directors, classical film theory, and the intersection of cinema with other arts. She is President of Domitor International Society for the Study of Early Cinema and a board member of Women Film History International.

Her academic contributions include co-founding the Media Ecology Project-Domitor-Library of Congress (MEP-D-LOC) paper prints pilot and leading the UWM Film Studies Archive Preservation Project. She has edited significant volumes such as Provenance and Early Cinema (2021) and Global Cinema Networks (2018), and authored Germaine Dulac: A Cinema of Sensations (2014), which won the 2020 Prix du livre du CNCIA.

Williams’ work examines cinema’s relationship with live performance, intermedial practices, and archival preservation. Her research extends to digital culture’s impact on film studies, and she has pioneered collaborative projects like the Teaching Media Archives Collaboratory. She actively promotes global cinema studies through her editorial roles and interdisciplinary initiatives.

• Education:
  • PhD, University of California-Los Angeles, Film and Television
  • MA, University of California-Los Angeles, Film and Television
  • BA, University of California-Santa Barbara, Film Studies
• Awards:
  • 2020 Prix du livre du Centre Nationale du Cinéma et de l’image animée (CNCIA)
• Key Projects:
  • PI for Center for 21st Century Studies grants
  • Founder of SCMS Silent Cinema Cultures Scholarly Interest Group
  • Director of UWM Media Studies Research Collaboratory