DR. AYMAR JÈAN CHRISTIAN
I work to heal systems by researching, producing, directing, reporting, curating and cultivating stories and platforms. For over 15 years I have used creative research and development (R&D) to bring equity to media and technology.
BIO
Aymar Jean "AJ" Christian is the Margaret Walker Alexander Professor of Communication Studies at Northwestern University and 2024-25 Visiting Scholar at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center. His research focuses on the political economy of legacy and new media, cultural studies and community-based research. He published his first book, Open TV: Innovation Beyond Hollywood and the Rise of Web Television (NYU Press, 2018), and is currently writing his second book, Reparative Media: Cultivating Stories and Platforms to Heal our Culture (MIT Press, forthcoming), which explores how to repair systemic harm and discrimination in media, technology and research. His research & development has been supported by the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Health, MacArthur Foundation, and Wallace Foundation, among others.
Dr. Christian engages industry and community as part of his research. He regularly serves as executive producer of films and series, including Jules Rosskam’s Desire Lines (Special Jury Award, 2024 Sundance Film Festival), Sarah Oberholtzer’s We Call Each Other, and The Cookout with Emmy Award winning producer Makiah Green and Emmy-nominated director Sam Bailey. He has given lectures for and collaborated with the Sundance Institute, Vimeo, the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Black Public Media, and more. He has juried television and video for the Peabody Awards, Gotham Awards, and Tribeca Film Festival, among others. His work has been recognized by the MacArthur Foundation & Field Foundation (Leaders for a New Chicago, 2019), Variety (Top 50 Entertainment Instructor 2020 & 2021), Filmmaker (25 New Faces of Indie Film, 2018) NewCity (Film Leader 2017 & Film Hall of Fame 2020), Chicago magazine (New Power List, 2021) and Seed&Spark (Filmmaker to Watch 2018).
Dr. Christian co-founded OTV | Open Television, a platform for intersectional television. OTV programs have received recognition from the Television Academy (Emmy Awards), Webby Awards, Streamy Awards, Gotham Awards, among others. Its programming partners have included the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Sundance Institute, and the city of Chicago, along with numerous galleries, community organizations, and universities. Artists supported by OTV have received offers from leading studios and distributors, including HBO, CBS and Hulu. From 2015-2020 while leading OTV’s transition from experiment to independent non-profit, Dr. Christian and Executive Director Elijah McKinnon raised over $1 million in multi-year support to sustain its operations. Building on the success of OTV, he co-founded an incubator for intersectional film & television, with Stephanie Jeter and Lilly Wachowski.
From 2008 to 2014 he ran the blog Televisual focused on the evolution of TV and internet.
He received his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania.
Photo credit (header): Felton Kizer
