In this edited volume, Kasi Lemmons, the first African-American woman auteur to solidly and steadily produce a full body of work in cinema-an oeuvre of quality, of note, of international recognition-will get the full film-studies treatment. This collection offers the first scholarly examination of Lemmons' films through various frameworks of film theory, illuminating her highly personal, unique, and rare vision. In Lemmons' worldview, the spiritual and the supernatural manifest in the natural, corporeal world. She subtly infuses her work with such images and narratives, owning her formalism, her modernist aesthetic, her cinematic preoccupations and her ontological leanings on race. Lemmons holds the varied experiences of African-American life before her lens-the ambitious bourgeoise, the spiritually lost, the ill and discarded, and the historically erased-and commits to capturing the nuances and differentiations, rather than perpetuating essentialized portrayals. This collection delves into Lemmons' iconoclastic drive and post-soul aesthetic as emanations of her attitudes toward personal agency, social agency, and social justice.

The anthology "Anatomy of Mass Media" offers selections from the most popular textbooks in the field today, written by some of the most respected writers in media studies. It addresses all forms of mass media including traditional print, electronic media such as television, film, and radio, and new forms of digital media. The text centralizes the knowledge bases and theories behind each of these forms.
The goal of "Anatomy of Mass Media" is to create media-literate individuals who have the tools they need to access, analyze, interpret, and evaluate the many messages sent via mass media. The book teaches students how to analyze and interpret media messages, prepares them to produce credible and responsible critiques and theories on forms of media and messaging, and inspires them to create powerful and effective media messages of their own. Topics include: Advertising, Sponsorship and Public Relations; A Short History of Films; Media Research; The Role of Ethics in Mass Media; Mass Media Law; and Multimedia Careers.
Of special interest are the contributions by a variety of professors and top media professionals who provide guidance on pursuing careers in entertainment, the persuasion industries, and the media at large in career boxes' featured throughout the book. This prepares students to break into the industry of their choice, and decisively choose a career that suits their skills, personality, and professional and lifestyle goals.
Dianah Wynter is the holder of two MFA degrees, one from the American Film Institute, and another from the Yale School of Drama. She is an associate professor at California State University, Northridge, where she teaches in the Department of Cinema and Television Arts. Her course offerings include Advanced Television Directing, Introduction to Television Production, Media and Society, and Introduction to Mass Media Film as Literature. Professor Wynter has directed many hours of episodic television, including work on Showtime's hit series "Soul Food, The Secret World of Alex Mack," and "The Parkers." She received an Emmy Nomination as Best Director for her work on "Daddy's Girl," an ABC television movie. Professor Wynter's feature film "HappySad" opened theatrically in 2009."