After 17 years at the helm, Linda DeLibero, director of the Krieger School’s undergraduate Program in Film and Media Studies (FMS), has decided to step down from that position. She will continue to be a senior faculty member in the program and will serve as special advocate for alumni and outreach.

DeLibero has directed the program during an impressive period of growth, and she was a key player in the creation of the JHU/MICA Film Centre, which opened in Fall 2015. The 22,000 square foot facility is home to Johns Hopkins’ film and media programs as well as the Maryland Institute College of Art’s (MICA) film programs. She has also been co-director of the Film Centre, along with a faculty member from MICA.

Beginning July 1, 2018, Senior Lecturer Meredith Ward will step in as director of the Program in Film and Media Studies. Ward has been teaching in the program since 2008.

A film and media historian and theorist with a specialty in sound media, Ward received her MA and PhD from the Screen Cultures Program at Northwestern University. Her research focuses on cultural history as it relates to film and media historiography. Ward’s book, The Static in the System, published by The University of California Press, will be released later this year.

During her time at Hopkins, Ward has been deeply involved in the work of her film students. She is the founder of Studio North, the university’s student-run film production company that funds student film projects. She is also creative director of the Studio North/Saul Zaentz Television Writers Room and the director of the Johns Hopkins Film Contest and Festival for high school students. She is the faculty advisor to the Johns Hopkins Film Society, consulting on their annual film festival. Ward has also served as an academic advisor to many students as well as faculty advisor to some of Johns Hopkins’ Woodrow Wilson fellows, PURA grant recipients, Arts Innovation Grant winners, and students completing capstone projects.