I taught in the Department of Film Studies, now Department of Film and Media, at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, for 39 years, before retiring as Professor Emeritus in 2019. I received my undergraduate degree at Queen's, and an M.A. and Ph.D. at Northwestern University, with a dissertation, "The Beat Generation and the New American Cinema, 1956–1960."

My research and teaching have principally concerned Canadian film and television, though I have taught and written in a wide range of areas, including experimental film, the Western, and historical approaches to American film, and for more than 20 years I offered a senior seminar on the filmmakers Nicholas Ray and Orson Welles.

For 13 years, I chaired the Editorial Board of the Canadian Journal of Film Studies.