Dr. Chris C. Ulasi

Dr. Chris Chinwe Ulasi has been a professional communicator, scholar and researcher for over twenty-eight years.  Dr. Ulasi is a screenwriter, producer, and poet.  He was from 1993-1996 journal editor and book editor of the Journal of Nigerian Affairs formerly CONPO REVIEW).  He is the Executive Editor of USAfricaonline, a community newspaper, and The Black Business Journal both based in Houston. He has published scholarly articles, book chapters, and presented papers at numerous conferences.  He has been a consultant on International Communication and Development for the International Education Foundation in Austin, Texas.

 Since 1988, he has taught courses in Media, Culture & Society, International Communication, Screenwriting, Film Theory, Media Aesthetics, and Media Criticism at Texas Southern University’s School of Communication.  Ulasi holds a B.Sc. in Mass Communications, MA in Telecommunication Policy and Administration, and Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in International Communications. He has served as Graduate Studies Advisor in the School of Communication and is currently the Interim Chair of the Department of Radio, Television and Film.

Chris serves on several University-wide committees, such as Research Committee, Graduate Council, Lysceum & Cultural Arts, and Scholarship.  Chris is a member of several professional organizations including African Studies Association and the International Communication Association, and is very active in local and nationally based social and cultural organizations.  From 1993 –1996, he served as the Secretary General of the Council of Nigerian Peoples and Organization, North America.  

A film producer/director, Chris has to date produced seven & co-directed three feature length films: “Material Witness”(Songhai Filmworks, 1994) and “The Kangaroo” (Songhai Filmworks, 1995), “The Stalk Exchange 419” (Songhai Filmworks, 1997). His fourth film as a producer, “Return of the Exile”, which he co-wrote with Don Okolo  was shorlisted at the 2005 Nigerian International Film festival, New York.  Other films include“Blood “n” Destiny” in 2009 and “The Land”, 2011by Insurmountable Filmworks. He has just recently premiered a new feature film titled “Page Thirty-Six”  in Houston with screening in Los Angeles and Oakland, CA in November 2012. Another project by Ulasi, a five-year documentary film examining the lives of the Nigerian emigrant community in Houston, is currently in production.

 Chris is currently working on a book about the Nigerian film industry. An avid and published poet, his new book of poetry“Fragments of the Rainy Season” is forthcoming in Fall 2013.

 Chris is married and lives with his wife in Houston.