William Hanff, Ph.D.

Dr. William Anthony Hanff, Ph.D., is a media philosopher and digital storytelling expert whose research delves into media hoaxes, simulation, and the suspension of disbelief. As an Associate Professor at UDC, he merges theory with practice, shaping the future of digital media through innovative pedagogy, groundbreaking research, and hands-on production courses.

Experience

Education

Doctor of Philosophy in Media Philosophy: Media Hoaxes and Suspension of Disbelief, European Graduate School, Visp, Switzerland 

Roles

Chair, Curriculum, Assessment & Administration Division, 2018-20; 2022-Present 

Courses Taught

Convergent Media Seminar 
TV Show Lab & Studio TV Production 
Digital Video Editing 
Strategic Communications 
Fundamentals of Video 
History of Cinema 
Discovery Technology 
Foundations of Oral Communication 

Expertise

Research Focus / Works in Progress

An epistemology of hoax and paradox; archetypes and tropes in libertarian studies; evaluating assessment data from virtual and hybrid course; weaving science and digital media; digital media; human-technology connection 

Impact

Selected Publications

Hanff, W.A. (2022). Economies of clichés: Toward a free market approach for describing and measuring literary archetypes and tropes. Journal of Libertarian Studies, 26(1). https://jls.mises.org/article/57667-economies-of-cliches-toward-a-free-market-approach-for-describing-and-measuring-literary-archetypes-and-tropes 

Hanff, W.A. (2022). Rubrics in the pivot: Collecting assessment data from virtual and hybrid courses. Journal of Media Education, 13(3).  

Hanff, W.A. (2022). Weaving science and digital media: Postphenomenology’s expanding hermeneutics. AI & Society, 38, 2339-2345. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-022-01505-z 

Hanff, W.A. (2022). In G.A. Borchard (Ed.), The Sage encyclopedia of journalism. Sage Publications.  

Hanff, W.A. (2021). Review of ‘Digital media: Human-tecnology connection’ by Stacey Irwin. AI & Society, 38, 2375-2376. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-021-01248-3  

Hanff, W.A. (2021). Real and semi-real – An architectural backstory for Flusser’s dual scientific fictions. Revista Memorare, 8, 81.

Hanff, W.A. (2021). Equity & access: Open digital badges in higher education. Journal of Media Education, 12(2).  

Hanff, W.A. (n.d.). Fiktions des wissenschaft – Is science fiction translatable? Or is translation a science fiction? Flusser Studies. https://flusserstudies.net/node/809 

Hanff, W.A. (2018). Ground up assessment vs. ground-up assessment. Journal of Media Education, 9(3).  

Automation; Advertorials; News aggregators; Globailization, coverage of; Reporters, online; Satirists, political. In C.H. Sterling (Ed.), The encyclopedia of journalism. Sage Publications.  

Selected Presentations

Hanff, W.A. (2020). Economies of archetypes: A libertarian approach to measuring creation, dissemniation, and information of tropes, motifs, and stereotypes in popular culture. Flusser and His Languages Conference, Berlin, Germany. 

Hanff, W.A. (2019). Economies of archetypes: A libertarian approach to measuring creation, dissemniation, and information of tropes, motifs, and stereotypes in popular culture. Libertarian Scholars Conference, New York City, New York. 

Hanff, W.A. (2019). Digital badges, microcredentialing, certificates, and college. Future of Work Conference, Washington, D.C.