National Hispanic Heritage Month

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month

Hispanic Heritage Month is coming to a close, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late to celebrate. Originally established as National Hispanic Heritage Week in 1968 and expanded to a full month in 1989, this celebration runs from September 15th through October 15th every year. This month includes important dates for many Hispanic countries, including […]

Continue reading
A bunch of men in suits accompanied by a man in full Western gear walking toward the camera

We’re back!

Hello again from American University Library’s Media Services! This is the official relaunch of our very own media related blog. We’ll be posting news and information about our physical and streaming collections – over 100,000 titles available to AU faculty staff and students. New titles, subject spotlights and highlights from our streaming suppliers. Also news […]

Continue reading

2021 Made in Hong Kong Festival

One of the great things about living in DC is that so many of our cultural institutions are free to the public. This includes some of the Smithsonian’s special events, like the annual Made in Hong Kong film festival hosted by the National Museum of Asian Art. The festival is virtual this year due to […]

Continue reading

The Myth of Kanopy

We here at Media Services recently changed our Kanopy subscription. Before this semester, library users could watch any Kanopy film at any time, no questions asked. Though Kanopy looks (and markets itself) as the educational equivalent of Netflix or Amazon Prime, instead of paying a flat fee of x dollars/month, the library paid $150 per […]

Continue reading

A Tribute to Stan Lee

American pop culture lost one of its patriarchs today. Stan Lee, born in 1922, revolutionized the comic book industry, helping it to evolve from a niche industry into cultural force.  Lee built an incredible, interconnected world at Marvel Comics, and I don’t know where I’d be personally if I hadn’t had Uncanny X-Men to get me […]

Continue reading

Smithsonian African American Film Festival

One of the great things about living in DC is that we have this incredible city right at our fingertips. Case in point: the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture is hosting its first ever African American Film Festival. While you do have to pay to attend a film screening and a […]

Continue reading

Hello There!

Hello, fellow film buffs! Allow me to introduce myself—my name is India, and I am… the new Tara. Tara bid Media Services adieu last month, and now I’m stepping into her role as the administrator and primary poster on this blog of ours. I’ll still be doing Random Movies on Mondays, commemorating my favorite film […]

Continue reading

Hasta la vista, Molly

We have a bittersweet post to share today: after four years of service, Visual Media Collections Coordinator Molly Hubbs is leaving the AU Library. Molly has been an invaluable member of the Media Services team and a backbone of many of our ongoing projects, especially new acquisition processing and the push to digitize our VHS […]

Continue reading