Marie Michelle Barnas

Department Chair

Marie Michelle Barnas
615-898-2795
Room 250 A, John Bragg Media and Entertainment Building (BRAGG)
MTSU Box 58, Murfreesboro, TN 37132

Global Expertise

Countries and/or Territories of Expertise

  • Western Europe, Eastern Europe, The Baltics, Lithuania, Bulgaria

Languages Spoken

    Areas of Global Specialization

    • International Documentary Production

    Departments / Programs

    Degree Information

    • MFA, Georgia College & State University (2010)
    • MFA, Ohio University (2005)
    • AS, West Virginia State University (2000)
    • BA, West Virginia State University (2000)

    Biography

    Marie Barnas has earned two M.F.A. degrees, first in Film Production from Ohio University and then in Creative Writing from Georgia College and State University. She teaches courses in video and film production and is the Chair of the Department of Media Arts. Her professional interests include online education, study abroad, and documentary production. Her short films have won numerous domestic and international awards including Telly, Cindy, and Worldfest Houston and have earned over 50 awa...

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    Marie Barnas has earned two M.F.A. degrees, first in Film Production from Ohio University and then in Creative Writing from Georgia College and State University. She teaches courses in video and film production and is the Chair of the Department of Media Arts. Her professional interests include online education, study abroad, and documentary production. Her short films have won numerous domestic and international awards including Telly, Cindy, and Worldfest Houston and have earned over 50 awards and honors at various film festivals, performances, and exhibitions worldwide.

    In 2014-15 she was awarded fellowships by The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, The International Radio and Television Society, and The National Association of Television Producers and Executives. She was awarded a second IRTS fellowship in 2018, and in 2022 she was chosen as a Japan Studies Institute Fellow by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. She has taught both on ground and online classes in Ohio, Georgia, Tennessee and abroad in Lithuania and Bulgaria for over two decades. She has completed classes and obtained over a dozen licenses and certifications in online teaching and learning from Quality Matters, The Learning Resources Network, The Online Learning Consortium, and The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She is a member of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Nashville/Midsouth Chapter, The Broadcast Education Association, and The Telly Council. She has given over 20 academic presentations in multiple discipline specific conferences and has performed service to the university and public for over 15 years.

    Her publications include journal articles published in The International Journal of Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences and The Journal of Media Education, and she has co-authored three textbooks, Broadcast News Writing, Reporting, and Producing, Radio in the Movies, and Scripting Media. Since 2017, she has twice been an MTSU MT-IGO recipient, has solely raised over $156,000 in MTSU Department of Media Arts departmental funds for online instruction and enhancement, and has helped raise over $80,000 for other MTSU Department of Media Arts departmental support initiatives.

    In 2021-22 she raised over $150,000 through grants, private donations, and crowdfunding for her latest film The Cost of Caring. In her spare time she enjoys spoiling her three fur babies, Heidi Roo, Roxy Roo, and Boris Boo. When she isn’t traveling to distant lands, she also co-produces the award winning podcast Voca Vacay with her husband and colleague Frank Barnas, Ed.S., M.F.A. She is a native of South Charleston, West Virginia and worked in the film industry in Atlanta, GA from 2004-2011.

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    Courses

    EMC 1020 - Intro to Media and Entertainment

    VFP 1080 - Post Production I

    VFP 2130 - Single Camera I

    VFP 2131 - Multi Cam I

    VFP 2410 - History of American Television

    VFP 2510 - History of American Cinema

    VFP 3020 - Screenwriting I

    VFP 4020 - Screenwriting II

    VFP 4500 - International Cinema