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Peter Decherney

Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Endowed Term Professor in the Humanities

Professor of Cinema and Media Studies

Director, Penn Global Documentary Institute

Fisher-Bennett Hall 211
215-746-3156

Peter Decherney is Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Endowed Term Professor in the Humanities at the University of Pennsylvania. He is Professor of Cinema & Media Studies, Director of the Penn Global Documentary Institute, and Faculty Director of Penn’s university-wide Online Learning Initiative. He holds a secondary appointment at the Annenberg School for Communication and an affiliation with the Center for Technology, Innovation, and Competition at Penn Law School.

He is the author or editor of seven books including Hollywood’s Copyright Wars: From Edison to the Internet and Hollywood: A Very Short Introduction. Prof. Decherney has also written for The New York Times, Forbes, Inside Higher Ed, and other publications. His first book of phootgrahy, Endless Exodus: the Jewish Experience in Ethiopia is foprthcoming.

He is an award-winning documentary and virtual reality filmmaker, who has directed films about global migration and the political role of artists in Myanmar, Kenya, Ethiopia, and the U.S. His virtual reality docuseries, "The Heart of Puerto Rico," about artists in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria (co-directed with Jean Lee) won the Best VR Experience and Best Director awards at the 2020 AT&T Film Awards. And his documentary,  “Dreaming of Jerusalem” (co-directed with Sosena Solomon), about the Jewish Community in Gondar, Ethiopia is a Discovery+ original. 

Prof. Decherney has been an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Scholar, a fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies, and a U.S. State Department Arts Envoy to Myanmar. He is an award-winning teacher, whose open online course on the history of Hollywood has enrolled over 70,000 learners. He serves on the advisory boards of several online learning companies and non-profits including Coursera, 2U/edX, Axim Collaborative, and Honor Education. 

more at decherney.org

Publications

News & Events

2016/02/24

Courses Taught

spring 2024

spring 2023

ENGL 1950.401 Television and New Media  
ENGL 2951.401 The Virtual Reality Lab  

fall 2022

ENGL 1950.401 Television and New Media  

spring 2021

ENGL 201.401 Virtual Reality Lab  

fall 2020

ENGL 142.401 Duchamp is My Lawyer  

spring 2020

ENGL 201.401 Virtual Reality Lab  

fall 2019

ENGL 091.401 World Film History to 1945  

spring 2019

ENGL 015.401 Copyright and Culture  

fall 2018

ENGL 210.401 Virtual Reality Lab (ABCS)  

spring 2018

ENGL 505.401 Copyright and Culture  

fall 2017

ENGL 015.401 Copyright and Culture  

spring 2017

ENGL 505.401 Media Fandom  

summer 2016

ENGL 068.950 London Theater  
ENGL 105.950 Culture and Copyright  

fall 2015

ENGL 015.401 Copyright and Culture  
ENGL 024.401 Hollywood Film Industry  

spring 2015

ENGL 024.401 Hollywood Film Industry  
ENGL 266.401 Copyright and Culture  
ENGL 492.640 Tribeca Film Festival  

fall 2014

ENGL 015.401 Copyright and Culture  
ENGL 091.401 World Film History to 1945  

spring 2014

ENGL 466.640 Copyright and Culture  

fall 2013

ENGL 015.401 Copyright and Culture  
ENGL 024.401 The Hollywood Film Industry  

summer 2013

ENGL 068.950 London Theatre Experience  
ENGL 105.950 Culture and Copyright  

spring 2013

ENGL 024.401 Hollywood Film Industry  

fall 2012

ENGL 566.401 Copyright and Culture  

summer 2012

ENGL 492.942 The Hollywood Film Industry  

spring 2012

ENGL 015.401 Copyright and Culture  

summer 2011

ENGL 566.940 Copyright and Culture  

fall 2010

ENGL 091.401 World Film History to 1945  
ENGL 505.401 Internet Policy and Culture  

summer 2009

spring 2009

ENGL 291.402 Internet Policy and Culture  
ENGL 566.401 Copyright and Culture  

fall 2008

ENGL 105.402 Copyright and Culture  

spring 2008

ENGL 091.401 Film History  
ENGL 505.640 Internet Policy and Culture  

spring 2007

fall 2006

ENGL 292.401 Hollywood Film Industry canceled  

spring 2006

ENGL 091.401 Film History  
ENGL 797.401 Film Historiography  

fall 2005

ENGL 292.401 The Hollywood Film Industry  
ENGL 295.401 Media Theory  

spring 2005

ENGL 091.401 Film History  
ENGL 266.401 Copyright and Culture  

fall 2004