Dr. Kate Fowkes, Professor of Media Studies and Communications, has been invited to publish a book for Blackwell Publishing's "New Approaches to Film Genre" series.

Fowkes was approached by noted film scholar and series editor Barry Keith Grant and the executive editor at Blackwell about writing a book on fantasy films. Over the summer, Fowkes researched and wrote a detailed document to describe exactly how she intended to approach the topic. After positive reviews by outside film scholars, the editorial board at Blackwell enthusiastically approved the project.

In addition to critical and historical overviews of the genre, Fowkes will provide in-depth analyses of such films as "The Wizard of Oz," "Spiderman," "Shrek," the "Harry Potter" films and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. The book will be marketed internationally and is intended to appeal to undergraduate students and educated readers in the general public.

"Lots of people don't realize that even so-called 'escapist' movies can have something interesting to say and that fantasy films are just as worthy of academic study as those considered to be 'serious' or artistic," Fowkes said. "While I'm certainly not claiming that all fantasy movies are masterpieces (far from it!), I do believe that many of these films have been overlooked by scholars and critics. I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to spend time with these films, to research them from every angle, and to make my case regarding their critical and culture value."

Fowkes' first book, "Giving Up the Ghost," focused on comedy ghost films and was geared to scholars and graduate students. Fowkes is excited about the prospect of writing a book with wider appeal and one that dovetails so nicely with her film theory and analysis classes. Fowkes has also published a scholarly essay on the film, "The Sixth Sense," in an anthology called "Spectral America," and she is working on another essay on the films of M. Night Shyamalan for a new anthology called "Spoiler Warnings: Critical Essays on the films of M. Night Shyamalan."