Media studies scholars and film production faculty teach students how to analyze and create film and media representations. We study the role of media and movies including their societal effects.

The undersigned members of the Radio-TV-Film Department at the University of Texas at Austin are deeply concerned about how the university will implement the “campus carry” bill Senate Bill 11, and we consider any interpretation of the law that allows weapons in the classroom to be in direct violation of the university¹s core values, which emphasize learning in a caring community and freedom to seek and express the truth.

RTF faculty do not want guns in our classrooms. We believe, based on our collective teaching experience, that their presence will diminish students’ abilities to engage in sensitive discussions in studies classes and in peer critiques of work in production classes. Our film production facilities have strict rules about the use of fake guns and simulated violence on film sets and on locations.  Allowing concealed loaded guns in proximity to these settings presents far greater safety risk than is tolerable.

For decades Hollywood has fueled good guy/bad guy myths often invoked by gun advocates and news commentators as if they were accurate depictions of how and why gun violence occurs. In our department we distinguish between fiction and real life. We submit that there is no scenario under which the presence of guns in classrooms does not harm the learning environment, or under which guns in the classroom is either necessary or desirable. 

Miguel Alvarez, Lecturer

Micah Barber, Lecturer

Ben Bays, Lecturer

Mary Beltrán, Associate Professor

Andrew Bujalski, Lecturer

Kat Chandler, Lecturer

Wenhong Chen, Assistant Professor

Caroline Frick, Associate Professor

Andrew Garrison, Professor

Megan Gilbride, Lecturer

Juan Pablo González, Lecturer

Lalitha Gopalan, Associate Professor

Buzz Hays, Senior Lecturer

Stuart Kelban, Associate Professor

Karen Kocher, Senior Lecturer

Anne Lewis, Senior Lecturer

Deb Lewis, Lecturer

Richard Lewis, Associate Professor

Cindy McCreery – Assistant Professor

Alisa Perren, Associate Professor

PJ Raval, Assistant Professor

Christopher C Roldan, Lecturer

Tom Schatz, Professor

Nancy Schiesari, Professor

Suzanne Scott, Assistant Professor

Ellen Spiro, Professor

Paul Stekler, Professor and Department Chair

Janet Staiger, William P. Hobby Centennial Professor Emeritus in Communication and Professor Emeritus of Women’s and Gender Studies

Laura Stein, Associate Professor

Joseph Straubhaar, Amon G. Carter, Sr. Centennial Professor of Communication

Sharon Strover, Philip G. Warner Regents Professor of Communication

Kathleen Tyner, Associate Professor

Craig Watkins, Professor

Suzanne Weinert, Lecturer

Karen Wilkins, Professor

Tom Willett, Lecturer

Click here for reprint permissions