- B.A. Trinity University
- M.A. University of Oregon
- Ph.D. University of Massachusetts
J.D. Swerzenski is an Assistant Professor of Communications and Digital Studies at the University of Mary Washington. His research focuses on the effects of digital media production technology on cultural values and understanding, and draws on software studies, visual culture, film studies, critical pedagogy, cultural production, and critical media literacy.
He has over a decade of experience teaching media production including video editing, visual design, and audio mixing. Beyond technical skill-building, his pedagogy focuses on ways to use these multimedia tools for critical analysis and social change.
As a producer and creator, J.D. served as editor and cinematographer for the documentary Finding the Words and has continued to collaborate and co-produce community-oriented video projects.
June 2024
Losing Color Consciousness: Platformization and Precarious Practices in Premiere Pro (co-authored with Brendan McCauley). Velvet Light Trap, Volume 94.
October 2023
The AI Editor: Adobe’s Reimagining and Deskilling of Video Production Practice. Journal of Film & Video, 75(3)
February 2023
Formatting the Real (co-authored with Brendan McCauley). Flow, 29(4)
September 2022
Enacting a media production pedagogy. Dissertation, University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
November 2021
The new selfie standard: facetune and the shift toward east Asian selfie aesthetics (co-authored with Dasol Kim). AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research.
September 2021
Critically Analyzing the Online Classroom: Blackboard, Moodle, Canvas, and the Pedagogy They Produce.
Journal of Communication Pedagogy, 1(4),
July 2021
Producing professionalization: analyzing the discourse of Adobe Premiere’s Learn More tools in shaping student practices.
Media Practice and Education, 22(4)
June 2021
Curricular similarities and differences between critical and acritical media literacy: Supporting teachers’ classroom inclusion.
Democratic Communique, 30(1)
March 2021
Fact, fiction or Photoshop: Building awareness of visual manipulation through image editing software. Journal of Visual Literacy, 40(2)
December 2020
Why teaching technology must adapt to our teaching. Communication Education. 70(2)
December 2019
Digital Accessibility (co-authored with Adam Lopes & Yaxin He). Chapter in Web Design Basics for Educators.
The Sound of Lovers Rock
Finding the Words (Documentary Trailer)
The New Selfie Standard: An Analysis of Facetune
| Nov 2024 | The Photo After Photoshop: Tracing the Creation and Consequences of Digital Image Editing110th National Communication Association Conference, New Orleans, LA |
| July 2024 | AI-Powered Tools and Automation in Adobe Premiere (w/ Brendan McCauley)University Film & Video Association Annual Conference, Cleveland, OH |
| July 2024 | Projects With Purpose: Best Practices for Integrating Service-Learning Approaches into Video Production CoursesUniversity Film & Video Association Annual Conference, Cleveland, OH |
| Nov 2023 | Losing Color Consciousness: Premiere, Platformization & Practice109th National Communication Association Conference, National Harbor, MD |
| Jul 2023 | The AI Editor: Adobe’s Reimagining and Deskilling of Video Production PracticeUniversity of Film and Video Association Conference, Savannah, GA |
| Sep 2022 | The Sound of Lover’s RockInternational Conference on Videographic Criticism, Amherst, MA |
| May 2022 | Why does her head look like that? Assessing a global technocultural clash over beauty standards and image editing practicesInternational Communication Association Conference, Paris, France |
| Media Literacy Conference | |
| Nov 2021 | Breaches of Edit-Quette: A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of ‘Failed’ Photo Editing Performance on r/Instagramreality107th Annual National Communication, Online |
| Oct 2021 | Enacting Freirean Dialogue through the Video Feedback SessionCritical Media Literacy Conference of the Americas Conference, Online |
| Oct 2021 | The New Selfie Standard: Facetune and the Shift Toward East Asian Selfie AestheticsAssociation of Internet Researchers Conference, Online |
| Jul 2021 | Producing Praxis: How instructors blend critical theory and video production practice in the classroomUniversity Film & Video Association Conference, Online |
| Mar 2021 | Flattening Film: Premiere, Platformization, and the Shifting of Color Consciousness in PracticeEastern States Communication Association Conference, Online |
| Nov 2020 | Analyzing the E-Learning Environment: Blackboard, Moodle, Canvas and the Pedagogy They Produce106th Annual National Communication, Online |
| Nov 2020 | Producing Professionalization: Analyzing the discourse of Adobe Premiere and editing technology in the classroom106th Annual National Communication, Indianapolis, IN |
| Oct 2020 | Making alternative media matter through critical production pedagogyCritical Media Literacy Conference of the Americas, Oakland, CA |
| Nov 2019 | Does this Look Photoshopped? The Ubiquity of Image Alteration and How Critical Media Production Pedagogy Can Help105th Annual National Communication, Baltimore, MD |
| Oct 2019 | What does this button do? Troubling the media production process Engaging Anthropology, Amherst, MA |
| Feb 2019 | Problem Posing Media Literacy: Engaging Students Through Teaching PracticeInternational Critical Media Literacy Conference, Savannah, GA |
| Aug 2018 | Upload in Your Own Words: Using Smartphones to Realize a Critical Approach to EFL PedagogyMIT Integrated Learning Summit, Cambridge, MA |
| Apr 2018 | SmartTV: Imagining a more accessible form of TV criticismNortheast Popular Culture Conference, Worcester, MA |
| Oct 2017 | Rethinking Class Participation: Using Critical Participatory Action Research Structure a College Writing CourseHASTAC, Orlando, FL |
| Nov 2017 | Interconnecting culture in the EFL classroom: Using smartphones to develop an intercultural approach to EFL educationEmpowering Education, Amherst, MA |
| Apr 2016 | Feeding the Feedback: Classroom Technology as a Tool for Critical ThinkingWhat Is Media? Portland, OR |
| March 2016 | Visualizing Data Infographics 101: Literacy, Utility, and ProductionMs FemBot 2016, Los Angeles, CA |
| Apr 2016 | Twitterverse (Visual Art Instillation)(sub)Urban Projections, Eugene, OR |
DGST 101: Introduction to Digital Studies
Introduces an interdisciplinary approach to using technology and specifically provides a foundation for the Digital Studies Minor. Coursework may include digital approaches to creavity, historiography, media analysis and thinking critically about and through digital culture.
DGST 305: Introduction to Video Production
What is the visual language behind the film, television, and online video works we view everyday? We’ll learn to speak this language, understand its rules, and get comfortable
expressing ourselves through it with our own video projects.
DGST 306: Media Production for Social Change
This service learning-based course will involve working directly with community organizations to develop original social media campaigns, graphic designs, and video projects. Beyond building production skills in Adobe Photoshop and Premiere, our goal will be to effectively translate the core values and messages of community partners through the multimedia works we create.
DGST 395: Applied Digital Studies
Apply the skills and methodologies developed in the Digital Studies curriculum toward larger-scale, self-designed digital projects that contribute meaningfully to some cultural field, academic discipline, social issue, or other research question.