Media and Communications Faculty

Alexandra Arshanskaya, MSc, is a visual artist, performer and educator with a background in science and finance. Her professional practice is devoted to spatial perception and includes a broad exploration of representation and abstraction of space in painting, drawing, performance, digital art, photography, videography, graphic design, illustrations, installations, murals, etc. Arshanskaya has exhibited, performed and collaborated on different visual and interdisciplinary projects in St. Louis, London, Berlin, St. Petersburg (Russia) and across The Netherlands. Currently Arshanskaya’s artwork “Vanishing Point” is exhibited at ISS as a part of the Moon Gallery project. Arshanskaya studied exact sciences at the St. Petersburg State University, Russia (MS degree in Mathematical Economics), and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Royal Academy of Art (The Hague, The Netherlands) in 2012. Besides lectures on digital photography and design courses at the Media Communication Department and basic art course at the Art Department of Webster University at campuses in Leiden and St. Louis, Arshanskaya gives workshops in variety of visual techniques and creates visualizations during conferences and other events.

John Loughlin, MFA, obtained his Master of Fine Arts from the American Film Institute in Directing and was also a Cinematography fellow there. He has a BA in Film and Video Studies and Biology from the University of Michigan. His production work has been primarily as a cinematographer (DP) or as support for the DP. He has shot, gaffed, key-gripped and camera-operated for award-winning shorts, commercials, music videos, documentaries and features. His previous work in education has been primarily as the founding chair of cinematography, a year-long master’s-level program at New York Film Academy. He currently administers intensive production courses he designed at AUC, shoots, consults, edits and colors.

Carlos Roos is a scholar in the fields of art theory and communication studies, as well as a practicing artist with international experience in studio and stage projects. He holds a BA in Art from Universidad Central de Venezuela and an MA in Philosophy of Art from Leiden University. His current doctoral research (Leiden University and UGent) revolves around critical theory, metaphysics and aesthetics. Roos is the editorial assistant of Empedocles: European Journal for the Philosophy of Communication, and a member of the following scholarly associations: European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA), European Network for Cinema and Media Studies (NECS).

Jonathan Talbott is a communications advisor with a specialty in spoken communication and a background in the performing arts.

“I started out in business with a plan to help presenters eliminate Death by PowerPoint, but it’s gotten a little out of hand. The presenting work led to coaching TEDx talks. I’ve now assisted in the creation of more than 200 of those. Before I knew it I was helping people and organizations with giving pitches, preparing for panel discussions, focusing their small talk at events, planning negotiation communication and practicing interviews. I spend a fair amount of time talking about goals, strategy and planning, particularly with regard to emotional connection with audiences. I also work with lots of startups on market validation, which really means asking good questions and carefully listening to the answers.”

Talbott is a regular guest lecturer on communications skills at the Delft University of Technology, Utrecht University and Erasmus University.