Katherine Madden, Ph.D.
Visual and Performing Arts Department Chair / Visual and Performing Arts - Digital Photography/Media Team

Faculty/Staff

Rocklin native Katherine Madden holds a Ph.D. in Critical Studies from the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California. Her dissertation, Father, Son, and the Holy Dollar: Rebuilding the American Dream in Post-Recessionary Reality Television and Mommy Blogging, studies the ideological framework of Christianity and parenting in reality television and video blogs following the Great Recession of 2008. She also holds an M.A. in Critical Studies from the University of Southern California and a B.A. in Film and Media Studies with a minor in Education from the University of California at Irvine. A trained filmmaker and photographer, Dr. Madden specializes in portrait and lifestyle photography.

Dr. Madden joined the Jesuit High School faculty in 2016, and teaches Digital Photography, Digital Art, and AP 2D Art and Design. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, photography, and most of all, spending time with her husband, two sons, parents, and her three older brothers and their families.

Education:

  • B.A. Film and Media Studies (University of California, Irvine, 2008).
  • M.A. Critical Studies (University of Southern California, 2011).
  • Ph.D. Critical Studies (University of Southern California, 2016).

Publications:

  • (Co-editor) Religion and Reality TV: Faith in Late Capitalism. London: Routledge, 2018 
  • (Author) “’This is Just an Incredible God Thing:’ Monetized Domesticity in Bottom-up Media” Religion and Reality TV. London: Routledge, 2018. 
  • (Author) Father, Son, and the Holy Dollar: Rebuilding the American Dream in Post Recessionary Reality Television and Mommy Blogging. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Southern California. (Dissertation Advisors: Aniko Imre, Ellen Seiter, Diane Winston, & Sarah Banet-Weiser.)
  • (Author) “Review: Better Living through Reality TV by Laurie Ouellette and James Hay.” Journal of Popular Film and Television, 2013.

Moderator:

  • Media Team
  • Photography Club

First year working at Jesuit: 2016