Davis Ouriel
Performing and Media Arts & Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies
Huntsville, Ala. and Los Angeles, Cailf.
What was your favorite class and why?
PMA 3502: Love as a Character - Writing the Romantic Feature, taught by Prof. Juanie Fowlkes. It was my first screenwriting course and a point of no return. Each person in this seminar threw themselves into the deep end, writing a full feature-length romantic comedy or drama. I left this class with my first portfolio piece, meaningful professional development, collaborators and a mentor. A future.
What is your main extracurricular activity and why is it important to you?
I'm an intimacy coordinator, which is a production role in film and theatre that sees you as a choreographer of physical intimacy and nudity, alongside an advocate for actors. In this way, we acknowledge the need to talk about the most difficult, awkward, or charged moments of a creative project, which allows the entire village of people working on bringing it to life more room to breathe — and to imagine a future of theatre and film where we subvert the industry's hierarchy of power to empower everyone in the room.
What are the most valuable skills you gained from your Arts & Sciences education?
I know what it means to marry bravery with humility and self-accountability with standing up for yourself. I always negotiate how much space I take up with others’ needs. I learned to encourage sensitivity, collaboration and agency in the classroom, the camera rehearsal and the casual conversation all the same. I try to address everyone in the room, though I am learning to welcome silence.
Who or what influenced your Cornell education the most?
My feminist, gender, and sexuality studies coursework that encouraged me to "ask the other question" of everything I encountered: art, theory, media, my own identity. What perspectives are missing from one institutional, communal or personal narrative?
What are your plans for next year?
This fall, I will be an MFA candidate in Writing for the Screen at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. I will continue to be a writer, intimacy coordinator and clown (performer).
Every year, our faculty nominate graduating Arts & Sciences students to be featured as part of our Extraordinary Journeys series.Read more about the Class of 2025.
