Brian Cogan has a Ph.D. in Media Ecology and five years teaching experience in New York University's Culture and Communication program, as well as the College of Staten Island. Formerly, he was a producer of low-budget films, videos and commercials. He has published articles in numerous academic and popular journals, including the New York Post and others. He currently teaches undergraduate courses at NYU and is Assistant Editor of Counterblast.

Babara Rose Haum received her Doctorate in Studio Art in 1995 at New York University, NYC. She has received numerous awards and her Fine Art work is both installations and performance-based. Internationally exhibited and funded projects include: The Girl Who Stepped on Bread; Bread not Stone; Separation Anxiety; Instruments for the Messiah; Midrash with Spoiled Milk and others. Her work is found in many public and private collections such as the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Paris, France; and The Photography Forum, Frankfurt, Germany. Barbara Rose Haum is currently teaching as an Assistant Professor at New York University in the Department of Culture and Communications.

Christina Kotchemidova is an Instructor of Communication Studies at New York Unviersity working toward her Doctorate in Media Ecology. Previously, she worked as an international journalist and an Assistant Professor of Journalism at AUBG. Christina carries an MA in Journalism from NYU and a licence ès lettres from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. She has published articles on cultural reporting and criticism, and her dissertation work is in the area of the culture of emotions.

Charlton McIlwain is an Assistant Professor/Faculty Fellow in the Department of Communication at New York University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma and specializes in the areas of culture, philosophy of communication, rhetoric and political advertising. He is the author of the forthcoming book, Death in Black and White: Death, Ritual and Family Ecology with a foreword by Robin D.G. Kelley, and is completing work on his second book, When Death Goes Pop: Television and the Ecology of Death in America.

Rebecca Moyer is an MA candidate in the Media Ecology program at New York University. She received a BA in Media Arts & Design from James Madison University, where she specialized in Media Theory and Corporate Communications. She currently works for a media and marketing communications agency in New Jersey and is Managing Editor of Counterblast.

Kelly Otter earned a Ph.D. from the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences for the Professions at New York University. She is the Assistant Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences at The College of New Rochelle, where she also teaches as an Adjunct Professor in the Graduate School. The subject of her most recent course was the effect of 9/11 on American Popular Culture, and her primary research area is in music and gender in the cinema. She is married to Rick Pieto and is the proud mother of Tyler and Lucia.

Rick Pieto is an Instructor in the Department of Culture and Communication at New York University. He has produced films and photographic works exhibited at Pittsburgh Filmmakers, affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh. He is currently completing his Ph.D. in Media Ecology at NYU; his dissertation is titled The Meaning of Monsters: A Qualitative Study of Teenagers and Their Interpretations of Horror Films. He is married to Kelly Otter and has a stepson, Tyler, and daughter, Lucia.

Laura Meucci is a 2002 Media Ecology MA graduate and an active member of the American Translators Association. Her primary research interests include studying the language of American films (and their Italian translation/adaptation) as global and intercultural communication artifacts, and exploring the communication barriers of intercultural communication through media and the Americanization of indigenous cultures. Her professional background is varied, including work as a script and book translator, legal case writer, and advertising consultant.