Originally from San Francisco, California, Papagena received a Bachelors degree from UC, Santa Cruz in Philosophy, where she focused primarily on hermeneutics and critique. Determined to broaden and deepen the relevance of her theoretical work by seeking out the unique interdisciplinary approach of literary theorist, Mieke Bal, Papagena completed a two-year research Masters at the University of Amsterdam in Cultural Analysis, graduating cum laude. Her thesis focused on the critical concepts of reflexivity and subjectivity in documentaries where the filmmaker is a character within the film. In her current research as a PhD student at Concordia University, she is continuing her examination of the possibility of documenting subjectivity cinematically. Her research interests include: Hybrid and Experimental Documentary; Political Modernism, Agit-prop, and Third Cinema; Avant-garde and Experimental film; Critical Theory, especially Frankfurt School, Marxist, Feminist and Psychoanalytic; and, Self-writing, Auto/biography and Autothanatography.
