A new curator has been appointed for the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film. Dr. Patrick Loughney, head of moving pictures at the Library of Congress, will take the position in January.
He will replace professor Paolo Cherchi-Usai, the current curator of motion pictures, who will be taking a job in Canberra, Australia.
Professor and Chair of the English Department Frank Shuffelton is optimistic about the change. “The connection with Loughney is one we look forward to,” he said.
Though Loughney will be working in the Film and Media Studies Program, he will technically be an English professor. “His connection to film studies is through the English Department,” Shuffelton said. “Their tenure [and other circumstances] is through other departments.”
Shuffelton does not expect Loughney to bring many changes. “The way the job was described, it really covered the same things that Paolo [Cherchi-Usai] did,” he said.
“The presence of [Cherchi-Usai] has been great, and the presence of Loughney will be great,” he added. “Loughney will bring his own interests and focus to it, but it won’t be a big change in direction.
“Things like [the Selznick Graduate Program in Film and Media Preservation] and the close connection to Eastman will continue,” Shuffelton said.
Loughney is leaving a prestigious job at the Library of Congress, but Shuffelton argues that working with film and media studies at UR is not far behind. “This is in fact one of the two or three best film [studies] jobs in the country, the one he’s coming from being the top.”
Shuffelton speculated on why Loughney might have left the Library of Congress. “One of the things attractive to him here is the research and teaching opportunities,” he said.
Cherchi-Usai has moved on from the UR. He will be taking a job very similar to Loughney’s previous job – except his new position will be in Australia. “He is going to become the curator of the national film collection in Australia,” Shuffelton said.
Levesque can be reached at clevesque@campustimes.org.
