Melenia Arouh

BA, Philosophy, Deree – The American College of Greece; MA, Film Studies, University of Southampton; PhD, Film Aesthetics, University of Southampton

Melenia Arouh, Ph.D., is an associate professor. Her current teaching includes such courses as Introduction to Film and TV Studies, Philosophy and Cinema, Aesthetics, American Cinema, and Film Analysis. Her research interests are interdisciplinary, and she is primarily interested in scholarship that links film and media theory with philosophical enquiry. She has published articles and chapters on cinema space, aesthetics and film form, moral and cultural readings of films and works of art, and online audiences of film and television.

Research Projects

• Preying on the Other: Culture Wars Narratives in Horror Hunting Films (book chapter co-author, 2024): Analyzes how horror hunting films, particularly The Hunt (2020), reflect the intensified culture wars post-2016 U.S. election by depicting an ideological “Other” as menacing and morally repugnant monster, satirizing clashing values through human-against-human misanthropic narratives.
• Digital Piracy as a Socio-Cultural Practice (journal article co-author, 2024): Studies digital piracy of films and television shows in Greece as a cultural behavior shaped by access, not just legality.-Hamilton and the Poetics of America(journal issue co-editor, 2023): Examines the cultural and political impact of the musical Hamilton through diverse analysis.
• What Is the Philosophy of Cinema? An Alternative Reading (book chapter, 2020): Introduces the philosophy of cinema, surveying its diverse research approaches and highlighting major issues, particularly through the contributions of women philosophers, to outline key areas of inquiry within the discipline.
• The Different Meanings of “FilmForm” (journal article, 2020): Examines ambiguities in the concept of “form” in film aesthetics, analyzing its relation to content, medium, and style, and highlighting its significance and the type of aesthetic analysis it enables.
• Toxic Fans: Distinctions and Ambivalence (journal article, 2020): Examines the complex dynamics of toxic fan behavior in film and television fandoms, exploring how fans navigate their identities and relationships with producers.