Dr Samita Nandy (PhD)

Dr Samita Nandy is the Founder of the Centre for Media and Celebrity Studies (CMCS) and an honorary member of Concordia University (Canada). She holds a Doctorate in celebrity culture from the Department of Media & Information at Curtin University (Australia) and is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (USA). With grants totaling $140,000, her views have been featured in a wide range of media, including CBC National News, Global News, The Telegraph, VICE, Flare, and Chatelaine. Her filmography includes The Butterfly, The Leak, Emissary of Death, O Derradeiro Passo, Between Doors, among others. The Critic is her debut feature production and a part

Career 2003-2008

Before Nandy could apply for television jobs, she got hired for teaching media and communications at the University of Toronto and then Ryerson University.  In classes, she found herself sharing and supporting the talent and communication of hundreds of students who had creative paths to explore and express something unique to all.

While Nandy was teaching, she shifted from portrait art to biography films.  She launched Premiere Cinematic Productions and directed and produced a documentary that portrayed media and arts personality Tushar Unadkat in popular culture.  The film Frame by Frame: Tushar Unadkat focused on his talent as well as the social and personal context in which he broke boundaries and started to shine on his path.  The biography, like her portraits, spoke with a visual language that aesthetically overlapped with symbols of celebrity culture and was situated in contexts in which popular recognition often forms.

The journey in creating and understanding her portrait art of celebrities and biographies demanded further attention in relation to fame. She took up teaching communications and media at Curtin University in Perth, Australia in 2009 and decided to examine the interplay of media, governments, fans and celebrities and map implications of specific fame-based practices in her Doctoral research there. In addition to teaching, Nandy received two full-time grants valued at $120,000 at Australia’s Curtin University in 2008 and completed her doctorate for successfully completing her research in 2012.

2008–2012

After her Doctoral research in Australia, Samita Nandy saw both the academic and public demand for critical knowledge of celebrities and started working on publishing her findings in a number of book chapters and Celebrity Studies journal. She particularly observed that a number of celebrity studies scholars were inspired to make a significant difference in the media and the public sphere.  On her way to receive her Doctorate certificate, she attended the Routledge journal Celebrity Studies inaugural conference in Melbourne, where she chaired a panel and discussed the launch of Centre for Media and Celebrity Studies (CMCS) with her colleagues and Ph.D. examiner Professor David P. Marshall. When she returned to Toronto, she set up CMCS with the inspiration to apply theoretical perspectives and methodological concerns, and enable social change that academic teaching and research seek.

Career 2012–present

Centre for Media and Celebrity Studies (CMCS)

The Centre for Media and Celebrity Studies (CMCS) is an international organization and research network that helps coordinating academic research and media commentaries on celebrity culture. CMCS carries a pedagogical philosophy that inspires integration of high-quality research and media skills training in academic and public discourses of fame.  The centre believes in intellectual, aesthetic, and ethical values of bridging gaps in higher education and media industries.  Using the critical lens of celebrity studies, CMCS helps in coordinating research, publications, productions, and commentaries to mobilize informed opinions in media, and has led to the Wall of Fame Film Festival.

CMCS developed in response to needs that faculty, students and media professionals have expressed over the years: to bridge gaps between higher education and media. Since its launch in 2012, CMCS has developed as the only international network examining celebrity culture and other forms of popular art through research and media. In a period of 5 years, CMCS has grown with close to43000 members that seek and demand the same needs through conferences, publications, and media commentaries. Today, CMCS has grown into one of the most trusted and valuable organizations that give a much-needed voice to both academic and media institutions.

A brief version of Samita Nandy’s CV/resume can be accessed here: http://samitanandy.com/curriculum-vitae