Kristin Thompson received her master's degree in film studies at the University of Iowa in
1973 and her Ph.D. in cinema studies from the Department of Communication Arts at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1977. Most of her career has been as a full-time writer,
with an Honorary Fellow affiliation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison starting in 1982.
She also taught in guest positions at universities including the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Iowa, Indiana University-Bloomington, the University of
Amsterdam, and the University of Stockholm. As a visiting professor, she delivered a lecture
series at the University of Oxford. Her books have focused on topics including neoformalist
film analysis, storytelling in contemporary film and television, and the Lord of the Rings film franchise. She has collaborated with David
Bordwell on the textbooks Film Art: An Introduction and
Film History: An Introduction, as well as the book The Classical Hollywood Cinema (also co-written with Janet
Staiger), and Bordwell and Thompson publish a blog titled Observations on Film Art. In addition to her research on film history and style,
as an Egyptologist she has presented at conferences, published articles, and worked on the
expedition at Tell el-Amarna.
David Bordwell received his master's degree in 1972 and his Ph.D. in 1974, both at the
University of Iowa in Speech and Dramatic Arts with a concentration in Film. He is the
Jacques Ledoux Professor Emeritus of Film Studies in the Department of Communication Arts at
the University of Wisconsin-Madison, teaching a range of courses including critical film
analysis, film styles and genres, film theory, and Hong Kong cinema. In addition to teaching
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he taught as a visiting professor at NYU and the
University of Iowa. His books have focused on topics including film narration, the poetics
of cinema, contemporary film theory, and Hong Kong cinema. He has collaborated with Kristin
Thompson, listed above. He has received numerous grants, fellowships, and awards from the
University of Wisconsin-Madison and external institutions including the Guggenheim
Foundation, Anthology Film Archive, and the Library of Congress. He was awarded an Honorary
Doctorate from the University of Copenhagen and a Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award
at the University of Wisconsin—Madison.
