Aaron Baker
Director of Film and Media Studies, Professor,
English
-
Ross-Blakley Hall 370 PO Box 871401 TEMPE, AZ 85287-1401
-
Mail code: 1401Campus: Tempe
-
Long Bio
Aaron Baker's research and teaching focus on American film and television. He is the author of two books about the American sports films, a monograph on the films of Steven Soderbergh, and has edited collections of essays about sports media and the work of Martin Scorsese.
Research Interests
Film and Television, Sports and Media
Publications
- Aaron Baker, “Eight Men Out” Screening American Independent Film. (2023).
- Aaron Baker, The Baseball Film. A Cultural and Transmedia History. (Rutgers University Press. 2021).
- Aaron Baker. "Hollywood Baseball Films: Nostalgic White Masculinity or the National Pastime?" Quarterly Review of Film and Video, (February, 2021).
- Aaron Baker. A Companion to Martin Scorsese (2014, revised edition 2021).
- Aaron Baker. “Global Cinema and Contagion” Film Quarterly (Spring 2013).
- Aaron Baker. Steven Soderbergh. (University of Illinois Press. 2011).
- Aaron Baker. "Remade by Steven Soderbergh". The Philosophy of Steven Soderbergh (2011).
- Aaron Baker. "Robert De Niro: Star as Actor Auteur". Acting for America: Movie Stars of the 1980s (2010).
- Aaron Baker. "Goal! and the Global Sports Film." Sport in Society (2008).
- Aaron Baker. "1930". American Cinema of the 1930s: Themes and Variations (2007).
- Aaron Baker. "Midtown Jewish Masculinity in Body and Soul". The City That Never Sleeps (2007).
- Aaron Baker, Contesting Identities: Sports in American Film (University of Illinois Press. 2003)
Courses
2026 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| FMS 360 | Media Genres |
2025 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| FMS 340 | Contemp Amer Film/Pop Culture |
2025 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| FMS 360 | Media Genres |
2024 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| FMS 340 | Contemp Amer Film/Pop Culture |
2024 Summer
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| FMS 504 | Film Analysis |
| FMS 504 | Film Analysis |
2024 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| FMS 360 | Media Genres |
2023 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| FMS 340 | Contemp Amer Film/Pop Culture |
2023 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| FMS 504 | Film Analysis |
| FMS 360 | Media Genres |
| FMS 504 | Film Analysis |
2022 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| FMS 340 | Contemp Amer Film/Pop Culture |
| FMS 468 | Crime & Violence American Film |
2022 Summer
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| FMS 598 | Special Topics |
| FMS 598 | Special Topics |
2022 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| FMS 504 | Film Analysis |
| FMS 360 | Media Genres |
| FMS 504 | Film Analysis |
2021 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| FMS 340 | Contemp Amer Film/Pop Culture |
| FMS 468 | Crime & Violence American Film |
Presentations
- Aaron Baker, “Baseball History on Film for the Smartphone Gambler.” The Columbia University Film Seminar. (January 2026).
- Aaron Baker, "The Sports Film." Global Sports Business Program Rutgers University (November, 2020)
- Aaron Baker, “The Catcher Was a Guy.” Society for Cinema and Media Studies Annual Conference. (March 2019).
- Aaron Baker, "Intersectionality in Venus Vs." The American Studies Association Conference. (October 2016).
- Aaron Baker, "Screening Jackie Robinson." The American Studies Association Conference. (October 2015).
- Aaron Baker, "The Real Rocky. Television Documentary and the American Dream." The Italian American Studies Conference. The University of Toronto. (October 2014).
- Aaron Baker, "Contagion, Fractal Narrative and Global Cinema." Society for Cinema and Media Studies Annual Conference (March 2013).
- Aaron Baker, "Masculinity, Race and Violence On Any Given Sunday." Invited Presentation, UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (November 2012).
- Aaron Baker, "Steven Soderbergh: Authorship, Independent and Hybrid Cinema." Invited Presentation, Dept. of English, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea (March 2010).
- Aaron Baker, "Antonioni, Soderbergh and The Color of Money". Society for Film and Media Studies Annual Conference, Los Angeles (March 2010).
- Aaron Baker, "Italian American Masculinity, Violence and Football in Any Given Sunday." Film and History Conference (November 2008).
- Aaron Baker, "Goal! and The Global Sports Film." Association for Cultural Studies (July .2008).
- Aaron Baker, "Nuovomondo and the Immigration Debate." Society of Film and Media Studies (March 2008).
Service
- Director, Film and Media Studies Program (Spring 2021, Fall 2023-2026).
- Editor for Screening Sports book series at Rutgers University Press (2018-present).
- Reviewer, University of Illinois Press (2025).
- Reviewer, University of California Press (2024).
- Reviewer, Journal of Sport History (2024-25).
- Interim Chair, Department of English (2016-17).
- DIrector, Film and Media Studies Program (2011-2016).
- Editor for Sports, Media and Society book series at the University of Nebraska Press (2014-2021).
- Editorial Board, Sport and Society (2009-2015).
- FMS Faculty Advisor, ASU Barrett Honors College (2006 - Present).
- Reviewer, Journal of Sport History (2024).
- Reviewer, Communication and Sport (2015),
- Board Member, ASU Institute for Humanities Research (2014).
- Grant Board Member, Arizona Humanities Council Grant Committee (2009-2010).
- Reviewer, Cinema Journal (2007).
- Reviewer, Oxford University Press (2006).