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James Steerman
Professor of Drama and Film and Chair of Film
B.A., University of Kansas; M.F.A., D.F.A., Yale University

CDF 306 / Box 461 / 845.437.5594
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James B. Steerman joined the Vassar faculty in 1967. He is a playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker, and research scholar in film history/theory. His stageplay, Native Stone, received first prize in a national playwriting competition, has been produced by several regional repertory theaters, and was published by the Woodley Press of Washburn University. His most recent work, OPHELIA, was presented by the department and the Vassar Club of New York City at the Fourth Street Theatre in New York in January, 2001.

During the 1970s Mr. Steerman established the film study program at Vassar and was its director for a number of years. In the more recent past, he also served as Chair of the combined Department of Drama and Film, and as Director of the Summer Film Workshop. He currently teaches mainly film courses, but continues to work with student playwrights and maintains close ties with all aspects of the drama program.

Mr. Steerman teaches the following courses:
World Cinema, Westerns, The Films of John Ford, Screenwriting and Dramatic Writing. He is also an academic advisor for Film Research Theses and Screenplays.