Staff
Wesley Hogan
Director, Center for Documentary Studies
Wesley Hogan is the director of the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University and teaches the history of youth social movements, African American history, women’s history and oral history.
John Biewen
Audio Program Director/Instructor
John Biewen is audio program director at CDS and host of the Center’s audio documentary podcast, Scene on Radio. During a thirty-year career as a public radio journalist and documentary-maker, he has told stories from forty American states and from Europe, Japan, and India.
Alex Harris
Professor of the Practice/Hine Fellows
Alex Harris is a photographer, writer, and teacher. He has photographed for extended periods in Cuba, the Inuit villages of Alaska, the Hispanic villages of northern New Mexico, and across the American South. He has taught at Duke for more than three decades through the Sanford School, the Center for Documentary Studies, and the Master of Fine Arts in Experimental and Documentary Arts Program.
Deirdre Haj
Director, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
At Full Frame, Deirdre implemented free year-round screenings, the “Teach the Teachers” program and lending library, “The School of Doc” and the “A&E IndieFilms Speakeasy”.
Caitlin Margaret Kelly
Director, Power Plant Gallery
Caitlin Margaret Kelly is an artist, runner, and devout coffee drinker. She is Director of the Power Plant Gallery at Duke University.
Xaris Martínez
Assistant to the Director
Xaris Martínez (pronounced HA-ri'z) was born in California, grew up in Guatemala, and returned to the Golden State to work full-time at research libraries while getting a bachelor's degree in history at UCLA.
Lani Simeona
Production Co-Director, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
Lani Simeona is the Production Co-Director for the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. Lani joined the Full Frame team in 2007 as Office Manager, became the Artist Services Coordinator and Communications Manager in 2011, and Production Co-Director in 2014. As Production Co-Director, she is responsible for festival and year-round ticketing, volunteer selection and training, filmmaker transportation and lodging, venue selection and build out, and technical and IT support. Prior to Full Frame, Lani studied film and theater at Florida State University and the University of Central Florida, was a tour guide and trainer for the Walt Disney World Resort, and spent 10 years in music retail management, merchandising, and music buying before making the move from Florida to Durham, North Carolina.
Liz Phillips
Communications Director
Elizabeth (Liz) Phillips is communications director at the Center for Documentary Studies. This is her second stint at CDS; in 1993, while working as a writer/editor at a government-issue government job in D.C., a friend told her about a new magazine starting up at a place called the Center for Documentary Studies.
Chris Sims
Director of Undergraduate Education/Lecturing Fellow
Christopher Sims is the Undergraduate Educator Director at the Center for Documentary Studies and a Lecturing Fellow in Documentary Arts. He has worked as a photo archivist at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. and, at CDS, has coordinated the exhibition, awards, and web programs.
Sadie Tillery
Director of Programming, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
Sadie Tillery is the Director of Programming of the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. Sadie joined the Programming Department in 2005 and became Director in 2008.
Alexa Dilworth
Publishing Director and Senior Editor
Alexa Dilworth is publishing director and senior editor at the Center for Documentary Studies (CDS) at Duke University, where she also directs the awards program, which includes the CDS/Honickman First Book Prize in Photography, the CDS Documentary Essay Prize in Writing and Photography, and the Dorothea Lange–Paul Taylor Prize.
Jenna Kruger
Social Media and Digital Projects Manager
Jenna Kruger is the Social Media and Digital Projects Manager at the Center for Documentary Studies. A native North Carolinian raised in Raleigh, she received her BA in Communications with a concentration in Broadcast and New Media studies from Elon University in 2013.
Kathryn Banas
Senior Development Associate
Kathryn Banas, Senior Development Associate at CDS, hails from a New Orleans suburb. She attended Sarah Lawrence College before transferring to Northwestern University, where she graduated summa cum laude with a Communication Studies degree.
Whitney Baker
Web Design and Production Manager
Whitney is a writer, programmer and all-around multimedia storyteller with a passion for local, community-driven stories. She received a bachelor's in multimedia journalism and Spanish from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2011, where she was also able to experience the glorious life of a theater technician, travel through South America and learn to make balloon animals.
Greg Britz
Associate Director for Operations and Finance
Office
1317 W. Pettigrew St. L205
Phone
(919) 660-3658
Harlan Campbell
Photography and Digital Arts Associate
Harlan Campbell is the photography and digital arts associate at the Center for Documentary Studies. He has a degree in photography from the Savannah College of Art and Design.
Caitlin Johnson
Digital Arts & Publishing Intern
Office
1317 W. Pettigrew St. L204B
Phone
(919) 660-3685
Marc Maximov
Continuing Education Coordinator
Office
1317 W. Pettigrew St. L304
Phone
(919) 660-3678
Quadiriah McCullough
Operations Coordinator
Office
1317 W. Pettigrew St. L115
Phone
(919) 660-3677
Lynn McKnight
Associate Director for Programs and Development
Office
1317 W. Pettigrew St. L203
Phone
(919) 660-3654
Courtney Reid-Eaton
Exhibitions Director
Office
1317 W. Pettigrew St. L112
Phone
(919) 660-3664
April Walton
Learning Outreach Director
Office
1317 W. Pettigrew St. L301
Phone
(919) 660-3670
Kate Rogers
Programming Coordinator, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
Kate Rogers is the Programming Coordinator of the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. Prior to joining the programming department in October 2016, Kate was the Department Coordinator of Moving Image at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.
Michelle Benham
Director of Marketing, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
Michelle Benham is the director of marketing at Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. With a background in nonfiction multimedia production, communications, and community outreach, she is interested in connecting people through storytelling.
Suzanne Spignesi
Development and Educational Programs Manager, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
Suzanne Spignesi is the Development and Educational Programs Manager at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. Suzanne manages Full Frame’s development office, which oversees sponsorships, individual giving, and grants, and she also manages Full Frame’s educational programs. Suzanne graduated from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in Philosophy, and spent the following two years as a Teach For America corps member and teacher in the Philadelphia school district. While teaching, she earned a Master’s of Science in Education from the University of Pennsylvania. Suzanne joined the Full Frame team after completing her service with Teach for America, and is currently pursuing her M.B.A at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business as a member of the Weekend Executive program. Suzanne lives in Raleigh, and enjoys traveling, trying new restaurants, and doing improv comedy.
Dan Partridge
Production Co-Director, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
Dan Partridge is the Production Co-Director for the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. He has served as the Research Associate for The Jazz Loft Project at the Center for Documentary Studies, beginning in 2003. From 2000-2002, he was the CDS Exhibitions and Public Programs Assistant.
Jamila R. Davenport
Operations Specialist
Jamila R. Davenport is an emerging multimedia documentarian who shares narratives digitally across internet platforms. Born and raised in Durham, she graduated from North Carolina Central University ('98) with a B.A.