Benjamín Schultz-Figueroa
@benjaminschultzfig.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Film and Media Studies at Seattle University. Author of The Celluloid Specimen: Moving Image Research into Animal Life available from UC Press here:
https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520342347/the-celluloid-specimen
https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520342347/the-celluloid-specimen
Pinned
The Celluloid Specimen
A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more. In The Celluloid Specimen, ...
www.ucpress.edu
Obligatory book promotion post for the new platform. Check out my @ucpress.bsky.social book THE CELLULOID SPECIMEN: MOVING IMAGE RESEARCH INTO ANIMAL LIFE for free here:
www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520...
www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520...
Reposted by Benjamín Schultz-Figueroa
Great point! I've been really conflicted about this in the past. I've settled on these reasons for still teaching it:
1. It is an important historical text, even if it not for the reasons usually described. It revitalized the Klan and its censorship was the NAACP's first national campaign...
1. It is an important historical text, even if it not for the reasons usually described. It revitalized the Klan and its censorship was the NAACP's first national campaign...
January 23, 2026 at 3:33 PM
Great point! I've been really conflicted about this in the past. I've settled on these reasons for still teaching it:
1. It is an important historical text, even if it not for the reasons usually described. It revitalized the Klan and its censorship was the NAACP's first national campaign...
1. It is an important historical text, even if it not for the reasons usually described. It revitalized the Klan and its censorship was the NAACP's first national campaign...
Reposted by Benjamín Schultz-Figueroa
Preparing to teach Shiraz (Franz Osten, 1928) next week and the golden rule—"for every interesting film there's a @jhoberman.bsky.social article"—continues to hold true.
www.nytimes.com/2019/01/16/m...
www.nytimes.com/2019/01/16/m...
‘Shiraz,’ a Silent Spectacle of India, Returns (Published 2019)
www.nytimes.com
January 23, 2026 at 5:18 PM
Preparing to teach Shiraz (Franz Osten, 1928) next week and the golden rule—"for every interesting film there's a @jhoberman.bsky.social article"—continues to hold true.
www.nytimes.com/2019/01/16/m...
www.nytimes.com/2019/01/16/m...
Reposted by Benjamín Schultz-Figueroa
Tune in today for @ckunzelman.bsky.social discussing material from his new book on Assassin's Creed, coming up in 20 short minutes on @romchip.bsky.social's Twitch channel.
📢 TODAY ONLY - @ 2PM ET 📢
🗡️📜🕹️ Cameron Kunzelman talks Assassin’s Creed, history, and how the franchise explores freedom, control, and conspiracy across time.
📺 Head to www.twitch.tv/romchipjournal to join the talk! 📺
💸 Our talks are always FREE and PUBLIC. DONATE: buff.ly/3PQ2HDE
🗡️📜🕹️ Cameron Kunzelman talks Assassin’s Creed, history, and how the franchise explores freedom, control, and conspiracy across time.
📺 Head to www.twitch.tv/romchipjournal to join the talk! 📺
💸 Our talks are always FREE and PUBLIC. DONATE: buff.ly/3PQ2HDE
January 23, 2026 at 6:39 PM
Tune in today for @ckunzelman.bsky.social discussing material from his new book on Assassin's Creed, coming up in 20 short minutes on @romchip.bsky.social's Twitch channel.
Reposted by Benjamín Schultz-Figueroa
Just finished teaching this. The more I think about it, the more I really believe BoaN is a precursor to the fascist aesthetics of the Nazis. So much of the film is about the spectacle of orderly and anonymous white crowds moving in unison (juxtaposed to the "mob" of Black people).
A couple of thoughts about Birth of a Nation as I prepare to teach it again at the end of the week:
January 23, 2026 at 1:52 AM
Just finished teaching this. The more I think about it, the more I really believe BoaN is a precursor to the fascist aesthetics of the Nazis. So much of the film is about the spectacle of orderly and anonymous white crowds moving in unison (juxtaposed to the "mob" of Black people).
Reposted by Benjamín Schultz-Figueroa
This must be weird news to see if you’re one of the literally hundreds or even thousands of university administrators who preemptively censored faculty, scrubbed websites, changed the names of centers, etc.
Trump administration drops legal appeal over anti-DEI funding threat to schools and colleges. This leaves in place a federal judge's ruling that the anti-DEI effort violated the First Amendment and federal procedural rules. (Via AP) apnews.com/article/dei-... #ncpol #nced
Trump administration drops legal appeal over anti-DEI funding threat to schools and colleges
The Trump administration is dropping its appeal of a federal court ruling that blocked a campaign against diversity, equity, and inclusion threatening federal funding to the nation’s schools and colle...
apnews.com
January 23, 2026 at 1:45 PM
This must be weird news to see if you’re one of the literally hundreds or even thousands of university administrators who preemptively censored faculty, scrubbed websites, changed the names of centers, etc.
Reposted by Benjamín Schultz-Figueroa
Preparing to teach Shiraz (Franz Osten, 1928) next week and the golden rule—"for every interesting film there's a @jhoberman.bsky.social article"—continues to hold true.
www.nytimes.com/2019/01/16/m...
www.nytimes.com/2019/01/16/m...
‘Shiraz,’ a Silent Spectacle of India, Returns (Published 2019)
www.nytimes.com
January 23, 2026 at 5:18 PM
Preparing to teach Shiraz (Franz Osten, 1928) next week and the golden rule—"for every interesting film there's a @jhoberman.bsky.social article"—continues to hold true.
www.nytimes.com/2019/01/16/m...
www.nytimes.com/2019/01/16/m...
Reposted by Benjamín Schultz-Figueroa
Reposted by Benjamín Schultz-Figueroa
The winners of last year's Capturing Ecology photography competition are truly amazing. You can see them all here:
www.britishecologicalsociety.org/capturing-ec...
www.britishecologicalsociety.org/capturing-ec...
January 22, 2026 at 5:54 PM
The winners of last year's Capturing Ecology photography competition are truly amazing. You can see them all here:
www.britishecologicalsociety.org/capturing-ec...
www.britishecologicalsociety.org/capturing-ec...
Reposted by Benjamín Schultz-Figueroa
"The lies this administration is telling about Ms. Good aren’t those you deploy as part of a cover-up. They’re those you use when you want to show you can get away with anything. They’re a projection of power." www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/o...
Opinion | I’ve Covered Police Abuse for 20 Years. What ICE Is Doing Is Different.
www.nytimes.com
January 23, 2026 at 4:01 AM
"The lies this administration is telling about Ms. Good aren’t those you deploy as part of a cover-up. They’re those you use when you want to show you can get away with anything. They’re a projection of power." www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/o...
Just finished teaching this. The more I think about it, the more I really believe BoaN is a precursor to the fascist aesthetics of the Nazis. So much of the film is about the spectacle of orderly and anonymous white crowds moving in unison (juxtaposed to the "mob" of Black people).
A couple of thoughts about Birth of a Nation as I prepare to teach it again at the end of the week:
January 23, 2026 at 1:52 AM
Just finished teaching this. The more I think about it, the more I really believe BoaN is a precursor to the fascist aesthetics of the Nazis. So much of the film is about the spectacle of orderly and anonymous white crowds moving in unison (juxtaposed to the "mob" of Black people).
Reposted by Benjamín Schultz-Figueroa
Trust my institution to be on the wrong side of any issue, even as we claim the pursuit of social justice as one of our main guiding principles.
seattlespectator.com/2026/01/21/b...
seattlespectator.com/2026/01/21/b...
Border Protection Office of Professional Responsibility Invited to February Career Fair
Given the current political climate surrounding immigration, some students were surprised when Seattle University’s Crime and Justice Research Center made the decision to invite the United States Cust...
seattlespectator.com
January 22, 2026 at 7:18 PM
Trust my institution to be on the wrong side of any issue, even as we claim the pursuit of social justice as one of our main guiding principles.
seattlespectator.com/2026/01/21/b...
seattlespectator.com/2026/01/21/b...
Trust my institution to be on the wrong side of any issue, even as we claim the pursuit of social justice as one of our main guiding principles.
seattlespectator.com/2026/01/21/b...
seattlespectator.com/2026/01/21/b...
Border Protection Office of Professional Responsibility Invited to February Career Fair
Given the current political climate surrounding immigration, some students were surprised when Seattle University’s Crime and Justice Research Center made the decision to invite the United States Cust...
seattlespectator.com
January 22, 2026 at 7:18 PM
Trust my institution to be on the wrong side of any issue, even as we claim the pursuit of social justice as one of our main guiding principles.
seattlespectator.com/2026/01/21/b...
seattlespectator.com/2026/01/21/b...
Reposted by Benjamín Schultz-Figueroa
"A real-time oral history of the ICE assault on Minnesota." 🔥 @usefulnoise.bsky.social
racketmn.com/voices-of-th...
racketmn.com/voices-of-th...
Voices of the MN Occupation - Racket
A real-time oral history of the ICE assault on Minnesota
racketmn.com
January 22, 2026 at 6:56 PM
"A real-time oral history of the ICE assault on Minnesota." 🔥 @usefulnoise.bsky.social
racketmn.com/voices-of-th...
racketmn.com/voices-of-th...
The winners of last year's Capturing Ecology photography competition are truly amazing. You can see them all here:
www.britishecologicalsociety.org/capturing-ec...
www.britishecologicalsociety.org/capturing-ec...
January 22, 2026 at 5:54 PM
The winners of last year's Capturing Ecology photography competition are truly amazing. You can see them all here:
www.britishecologicalsociety.org/capturing-ec...
www.britishecologicalsociety.org/capturing-ec...
Reposted by Benjamín Schultz-Figueroa
Since we're all talking about tool use by animals, here's a picture from 2012 of a brown bear using a rock to exfoliate.
January 20, 2026 at 12:51 AM
Since we're all talking about tool use by animals, here's a picture from 2012 of a brown bear using a rock to exfoliate.
Reposted by Benjamín Schultz-Figueroa
Me and this bear have the same skincare routine.
Since we're all talking about tool use by animals, here's a picture from 2012 of a brown bear using a rock to exfoliate.
January 20, 2026 at 4:22 AM
Me and this bear have the same skincare routine.
A couple of thoughts about Birth of a Nation as I prepare to teach it again at the end of the week:
January 20, 2026 at 5:06 AM
A couple of thoughts about Birth of a Nation as I prepare to teach it again at the end of the week:
Since we're all talking about tool use by animals, here's a picture from 2012 of a brown bear using a rock to exfoliate.
January 20, 2026 at 12:51 AM
Since we're all talking about tool use by animals, here's a picture from 2012 of a brown bear using a rock to exfoliate.
Reposted by Benjamín Schultz-Figueroa
Rereading @allyfield.bsky.social's piece again. It's just so wonderful! Thinking of screening Laughing Gas (1907) this time around as well. Alongside Something Good--Negro Kiss, it's a film that shows how racial images were *contested* in early cinema, rather than being monolithic.
January 19, 2026 at 5:52 PM
Rereading @allyfield.bsky.social's piece again. It's just so wonderful! Thinking of screening Laughing Gas (1907) this time around as well. Alongside Something Good--Negro Kiss, it's a film that shows how racial images were *contested* in early cinema, rather than being monolithic.
Reposted by Benjamín Schultz-Figueroa
This is the second (of two!) issue of the Deadlands for which I was guest editor for fiction! Stories by Alan Fisher, Marischa Pichette, Dmitri Akers, Jeremy Morris, Joe Koch, Aliya Whiteley, and Sadoeuphemist, and with another lovely, stark cover from @carlydraws.bsky.social
January 20, 2026 at 12:17 AM
This is the second (of two!) issue of the Deadlands for which I was guest editor for fiction! Stories by Alan Fisher, Marischa Pichette, Dmitri Akers, Jeremy Morris, Joe Koch, Aliya Whiteley, and Sadoeuphemist, and with another lovely, stark cover from @carlydraws.bsky.social
Reposted by Benjamín Schultz-Figueroa
CFP for the @nontheatricalscms.bsky.social SIG's Student Essay Award! Click the link to read the full description. Be sure to send to your colleagues and students!
amianet.org/wp-content/u...
amianet.org/wp-content/u...
amianet.org
January 19, 2026 at 8:25 PM
CFP for the @nontheatricalscms.bsky.social SIG's Student Essay Award! Click the link to read the full description. Be sure to send to your colleagues and students!
amianet.org/wp-content/u...
amianet.org/wp-content/u...
Reposted by Benjamín Schultz-Figueroa
Good.
if you prefer getting freaky to a free collection of public domain films maintained by wikipedia editors, perhaps consider "wikiflix and chill" wikiflix.toolforge.org#/
January 19, 2026 at 11:48 PM
Good.
Reposted by Benjamín Schultz-Figueroa
It's a problem that actual elected officials post on social media as if they are powerless observers and commentators.
January 19, 2026 at 10:14 PM
It's a problem that actual elected officials post on social media as if they are powerless observers and commentators.