[1] He previously served as Professor of Culture and Media at Eugene Lang College, where he was also the founding director of the Screen Studies program.

[3] In 2004, Isenberg began teaching as Professor of Culture and Media and the founding Director of Screen Studies at the New School in Greenwich Village.

[3] In 2019, he became chair of the Radio-Television-Film department at the University of Texas at Austin, becoming Associate Dean for Professional Programs in Moody College in 2023.

He based that study on unpublished letters, interviews, and other archival materials, covering the film's production history, legacy, and subsequent interpretation.

[9] Due to the uncertain nature of Ulmer's life, Isenberg claims the book is more of a work of "creative nonfiction" than a straightforward biography.

[9] He emphasizes the breakneck pace at which Ulmer made his films, as well as the ways in which the director cut corners to speed up production.

[6] Isenberg states that Ulmer never received the recognition he deserved, as he is often dismissed as a director of B-movies,[9] but that he brought an Old World sensibility to a unique and expansive body of work.

[19] In 2016, Isenberg wrote an introduction to the reissue of Vicki Baum's 1929 novel Grand Hotel for the New York Review of Books Classics series.