Jon Scott Oberacker (he/him)
Professor College of Arts & Sciences English Providence
Biography and Expertise
Scott Oberacker is a professor of English in Johnson & Wales University’s College of Arts & Sciences and teaches in the Providence Campus’ Media & Communication Studies Program.
He received his Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Oberacker’s scholarly research revolves around the intersections of popular media, contemporary politics and social identity. His writing has appeared in the journals Television & New Media, Celebrity Studies, Popular Communication: The International Journal of Media and Culture and the Popular Culture Studies Journal, and Film International as well as the anthology, “Battleground: The Media”.
Education
PhD
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
MA
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
BA
Dickinson College
Popular Culture Association
Society for Cinema & Media Studies
Oberacker, J.
“Commitment Issues: Michael Moore, Political Documentary and Contemporary Film Criticism.”
Film International
18
4
7-28
Oberacker, J.
“‘It’s My Turn, Babe’: Postfeminism and the Dual- Career Marriage on Friday Night Lights.”
Popular Culture Studies Journal
4
1
153-185
Oberacker, J.
“The Reel Deal: Michael Moore, Political Documentary and the Discourse of Celebrity.”
Celebrity Studies
1
2
170-188
Oberacker, J.
“Political Documentary: Fahrenheit 9/11 and the 2004 Election.”
Greenwood Press
356-362
Oberacker, J.
“‘Affecting’ the Embargo: Displacing Politics in the Buena Vista Social Club.”
Popular Communication
6
2
53-67
Oberacker, J.
“Sex Assignment Surgery and the Discourse of Public Television: The Case of NOVA’s Sex: Unknown.”
Television & New Media
8
1
25-48
“‘I’m not gonna end up like you’: Masculinity as Cruel Optimism in Chloe Zhao’s The Rider”
Paper
Popular Culture Association – 56th Annual Conference, 2026
Popular Culture Association
Atlanta Marriott Marquis
Atlanta
GA
United States
“‘Only Another Man’: Masculinity’s War of Position in Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog”
Paper
55th Annual Meeting of the Popular Culture Association (National Conference)
Popular Culture Association
New Orleans Marriott
New Orleans
LA
United States
“‘Not homeless, just houseless’: Affective Registers of Class Identity in Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland”
Paper
Popular Culture Association
Popular Culture Association
Chicago
IL
United States
“‘A Man Alone’s Half a Man’: Reinventing the ‘Bromance’ in Mississippi Grind.”
Paper
Popular Culture Association
San Antonio
TX
United States
“‘What Can One Man Do?’ Hegemonic Masculinity in the Films of Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck.”
Paper
Popular Culture Association
Virtual
United States
“Marriage, Gender and Postfeminism on FX’s the Americans.”
Paper
Northeast Popular Culture Association
Worcester
MA
United States
“From Russia, With Love: Interrogating Marriage, Gender and the American Family on FX’s The Americans.”
Paper
Film & History Annual Conference
Milwaulkee
WI
United States
“Stay-at-Home Dudes: Stay-at-home Dads in Contemporary TV.”
Paper
Film & History Annual Conference
Milwaulkee
WI
United States
Rhode Island International Film Festival
Film Screening
Rhode Island International Film Festival
Johnson & Wales University, Center for Media Production
Providence, RI
August 8, 2024