Alison (Ali) Patterson is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English and Film and Media Studies Program. Dr. Patterson is often prospective and first year students’ first point of contact with the Film and Media Studies Program often via the Academic Communities for which she frequently teaches Seminar in Composition: Film for the “How to Make a Movie” community. However, she supports undergraduate research and media production in advanced stages and has mentored students in university funded critical and creative projects.    

Dr. Patterson defended her dissertation Image to Infinity: Rethinking Description and Detail in the Cinema in 2011. Her research interests include history on film, animation, digital media and multimodal composition, and disability studies.  She has published on Peter Greenaway's multi-platform Tulse Luper Project, Ari Folman's Waltz with Bashir, and illustration and narrative in Seven Pillars of Wisdom and Lawrence of Arabia.  Her current research project involves 2D aesthetics and ornamentalism in contemporary Irish animation. 

As a result of her investment in innovative teaching, Dr. Patterson has presented locally and nationally on critical making and is a supervisor for Pitt’s College in High School program (Intro to Film).