By Georgia Jackson, College of Arts and Sciences
Olivia Cosentino, an assistant professor of film and new media studies in the Department of Humanities and Cultural Studies, received the 2024 Early Career Award from the Film Studies section of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) for her scholarship on 20th and 21st century Mexican cinema and culture. Cosentino, who joined the USF College of Arts and Sciences this semester, brings new expertise to the department and will help to expand course offerings in the relatively new field of Latin American film and new media.
Olivia Cosentino, an assistant professor in the Department of Humanities and Cultural Studies, received the Early Career Award 2024 for her outstanding scholarship on Mexican cinema.
“Dr. Cosentino’s research and teaching will not only strengthen the department’s extant offerings in Latin American studies, but also develop new areas of study for its concentration in Film & New Media Studies,” said Amy Rust, chair of the Department of Humanities & Cultural Studies at USF. “Her interdisciplinary work in Mexican cinema and star studies is outstanding, as this award suggests, and students throughout the college stand to benefit from her expertise.”
For Cosentino, the award feels like “an endorsement of good things to come.”
“There aren’t a ton of awards like this in the humanities, so I was really honored,” said Cosentino, who traveled to Bogotá, Colombia this summer to attend the association’s International Congress and receive her award. “It was so nice to have them recognize me.”
Cosentino’s scholarship seeks to recognize the value of popular Mexican cinema. She co-edited and contributed to “The Lost Cinema of Mexico: From Lucha Libre to Cine Familiar and Other Churros,” a collection of essays that challenge the dismissal of Mexican filmmaking in the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s, an era long considered a low-budget departure from the artistic quality and international acclaim of the nation’s “golden age.”
A new project of hers, tentatively titled “Starscapes: Youth, Media and Modernity in Mexico,” chronicles the lives of Mexican youth stars from the same period.
“The project is thinking about how youth is articulated over time and the government’s desire to shape youth in Mexico,” Cosentino said. “I’m looking at it through the stars to figure out the ways that media and the state are sort of intersecting to shape this ideal young woman across time.”
In the classroom, Cosentino’s goal is to enrich her students’ lives through the study of film.
“Learning to think critically about art, to be an active spectator, to simply appreciate art on a deeper level ... It fulfills a part of us that money can’t,” said Cosentino.
“What I tell students is that learning to appreciate art, be it cinema or some other form of art is a way to create and sustain that fulfillment in your life,” she said. “Learning to think critically about art, to be an active spectator, to simply appreciate art on a deeper level ... It fulfills a part of us that money can’t.”
Students in her Intro to Film course watch films like “Y tu mamá también,” a coming-of-age road film directed by Alfonso Cuarón and “Roma,” also by Cuarón.
“I’m so excited to be at USF,” Cosentino said. “Even on my visit, I could tell that the students were so enthusiastic and that my time and energy would be well spent here. Like, ‘This is where I want to build the kind of career that I am ready to build.’”
The Latin American Studies Association is the largest professional association in the world for individuals and institutions engaged in the study of Latin America. With over 13,000 members, the group fosters intellectual discussion, research and teaching on Latin America and the Caribbean, promotes the interests of its diverse membership and encourages civic engagement through network building and public debate. The Film Studies section promotes dialogue on issues related to Latin American video and film production.