Mass Communication, Communication
Dr. Morton is an associate professor of Mass Communication at Texas A&M University-Texarkana. He received his degree in Cinema and Media Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2012. He is cofounder and coeditor of [in]Transition, the award-winning journal devoted to videographic criticism. His most recent book is After Midnight: Watchmen After Watchmen (University Press of Mississippi, 2022). His areas of expertise include American film history, Comics Studies, and New Media theory and practice. He is currently working on a videographic book focused on the work of Steven Soderbergh.
Dr. Morton joined TAMUT in 2012.
A first-generation college student, Dr. Morton earned a B.A. in English and a B.A. in Film Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2006. He completed his M.A. in Cinema and Media Studies at UCLA in 2008 and his Ph.D. in 2012.
Dr. Morton’s research largely focuses on formalist analyses of both American film and comic books, sometimes through the lens of adaptation theory. He often adapts his academic research into short videos (videographic criticism).
Dr. Morton largely teaches undergraduate courses in subjects ranging from general education classes in American film and Mass Communication and more specialized courses for MCOM majors in the fields of journalism, media production, media theory, and visual analysis.
Editor, After Midnight: Watchmen After Watchmen, (2022, University Press of Mississippi).
The Cine-Files (Issue 15, Winter 2021), “Making It Count: Advocating for Videographic Criticism in the Tenure and Promotion Process” (co-authored with Kevin L. Ferguson).
[in]Transition: Videographic Approaches to Moving Image Studies (Volume Seven, Issue 3, 2021), “Being Luke Skywalker: Transmedia Play and the Adaptation of the Trench Run” (Peer Reviews by Suzanne Scott and Louisa Stein).
NECSUS: European Journal of Media Studies (Fall 2018), “Agent of Chaos: Discontinuous Editing in The Dark Knight.”
Cinema Journal (Volume 56, Issue Four, 2017), “Beyond the Essayistic: Defining the Varied Documentary Origins of Videographic Criticism.”
Cinema Journal (Volume 56, Issue Two, 2017), “‘Watched Any Good Books Lately?’: The Formal Failure of the Watchmen Motion Comic.”
Panel to the Screen: Style, American Film, and Comic Books during the Blockbuster Era(2016, University Press of Mississippi).
Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics (Volume Six, Issue Four, 2015), “The Unfortunates: Towards a History and Definition of the Motion Comic.”
Dr. Morton was a 2020 recipient of the National Society of Leadership and Success Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2015, he was awarded Scholar of the Year and Publication of the Year from Texas A&M University-Texarkana. He was awarded the Anne Friedberg Award of Distinction for Innovative Scholarship in 2015 from the Society for Cinema and Media Studies for his work with [in]Transition.
