Wolf Visiting Associate Professor in Television Studies Wins Katherine S. Kovacs Book Award

Described by her colleagues at Penn as an “outstanding teacher” who has had a “terrific impact,” Wolf Visiting Associate Professor in Television Studies Victoria E.  Johnson is the 2009 recipient of the Katherine S. Kovacs Book Award. Granted by the Society for Cinema and Media Studies, the award acknowledges original works that significantly advance scholarship in the field. Johnson received the honor in recognition of her 2008 book, Heartland TV: Prime Time Television and the Struggle for U.S. Identity, which examines the Midwest of popular imagination in the context of television’s development, programming and marketing, as well as public debates over the medium’s cultural worth.

During the 2009 spring semester, Johnson taught two popular undergraduate courses—an introduction to television studies and TV Nation: Television and the Imagination of Community. She is the second scholar appointed to the Wolf Visiting Professorship since its inception in 2007. Established through a gift by Dick Wolf, C’69—the Emmy-winning creator and executive producer of Law & Order, among other achievements—this professorship plays a key role in attracting leading television scholars who share their talent and expertise with the Penn community.