Faculty & Staff

Lee Boot
Affiliate Associate Professor
Film/Video
Associate Director, Imaging Research Center

410-455-8444 ITE 101F
boot@umbc.edu

Lee Boot has received major funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for his research in media and communication technologies that explores the social role of art beyond the norm of relatively passive cultural criticism to one of active participation in the constant, dynamic formation of mainstream thought and culture. His film, Euphoria, which incorporates these communications technologies, was produced by his media studio, InfoCulture, with graphics and editing done in collaboration with the IRC. Euphoria has appeared in several national film festivals and won the Gold Award for documentary at Houston World Fest. Fieldtrip, another NIH supported research initiative to use video journaling by teens to generate substantive teen discussion online, was successfully piloted in the summer of 2007, and is now headed for a second, public phase.

His research addresses the notion that culture is a construction, and because our thoughts and behaviors often spring from culture, it’s important for artists to lend what is often the only credible intuitive voice. Such work is often referred to as Social Media and includes films, games, and social networks. The goal of Boot’s most recent efforts has been to generate public discourse, chiefly among young adults, to inform beliefs, attitudes and ultimately behaviors related to substance abuse and education. This work is largely a response to his 16 years as a high school teacher. This research has become a major focus of UMBC’s Imaging Research Center (IRC) and enlists broadly interdisciplinary teams from the university and around the country.

Professor Boot holds an M.F.A. from the Maryland Institute College of Art and a B.F.A. from Syracuse University.