Eric PiersonEric Pierson is a professor and former chair of the Communication Studies Department at the University of San Diego. He has written on a variety of topics for outlets such as Screening Noir, The Journal of Mass Media Ethics, and<> Scope. His most recent writings, “The Promise of Roots” and “In The Beginning There Was Shaft,” appear in Watching While Black: Centering the Television of Black Audiences and Beyond Blaxploitation. Pierson is a regular guest and panel moderator for the Roger Ebert Film Festival in Champaign/Urbana. He can also be seen in the documentaries Infiltrating Hollywood: The Rise and Fall of the Spook Who Sat By The Door and Cover Story: The Press Your Luck Scandal. Read More Read Less