_{Matthew I.} Thompson

AboutI am an assistant professor in the Department of Film at the University of Regina on Treaty 4 and Métis Homeland in Saskatchewan. My research investigates the ways that science fiction media express environmental politics. In my forthcoming book, On Life Support: Eco-Dystopian Cinema in the Long 1970s, I use 1970s science fiction ecocinema as a lens through which to view the early environmental movement, a lens that exposes many of the assumptions that continue to influence environmental politics to the present. Other areas of interest include Indigenous futurism, critical animal studies, artificial intelligence, and film philosophy. I have published in the journals Spectator, World Picture, and The New Review of Film and Television Studies.

ResearchForthcoming Book
On Life Support: Eco-Dystopian Cinema in the Long 1970s. The University of Minnesota Press, Spring 2026.Peer-reviewed Article
“Cinematic Arkitecture: Silent Running and the Spaceship Earth Metaphor.” New Review of Film and Television Studies 18, no. 3 (2020): 249-274.Essays
“Overpopulation, Cannibalism, and Racist Fear in Soylent Green.” NiCHE: Network in Canadian History & Environment (2021).“Introduction: The Fossilization of a Period.” Period: Media and the Anthropocene, special issue of The Neutral co-edited with Justin Morris (2021): 1-8.“The Magnifying Glass and the Macro Lens: Augmented Perception in 19th Century Entomology and Microcosmos.” Spectator - The University of Southern California Journal of Film and Television 36, no. 2 (2016): 31-9.Interviews
“Scale and Detail: An Interview with Filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal.” Period: Media and the Anthropocene, special issue of The Neutral, with Justin Morris (2021): 9-31.“Thinking on an Island: An Interview with Raffaele Mirelli.” World Picture 13 (2018).

TeachingMy teaching experience is split between film and media studies and outdoor education. I have taught over twenty film courses at five different universities. In addition, I have taught university courses in wilderness leadership with 3 to 10-day field experiences in the remote backcountry.Select Courses Taught:
- Introduction to Film
- Science Fiction Film
- Film History
- Graduate Film Theory
- Ecocinema
- Advanced Wilderness Program Planning
- Advanced Outdoor Leadership