THE WORLD'S LARGEST ORGANIZATION DEVOTED 
TO  THE SCHOLARLY STUDY OF FILM AND MEDIA

This year's conference will take place at the Fairmont Chicago, Millennium Park as well as the Mid-America Club on the 80th Floor of the AON Center. The Fairmont Chicago and the Mid-America Club/AON Center are connected via an underground walkway (pedway). It's a 4-5 min walk from one set of meeting rooms to another. Both properties have a lot of natural light to keep us going throughout the day and the view from the Mid-America Club is spectacular.  Following the awards ceremony, a reception will also be held at the Mid-America Club on Friday evening.
March 2017 - In This Issue:

IMPORTANT DATES

MARCH 22 - MARCH 26
Chicago 2017 Conference
Fairmont Chicago, Millennium Park

SCMS CONFERENCE EVENTS

THURSDAY, MARCH 23
SIG/Caucus Open House and Networking Session, 11:00AM

Graduate Student Reception, 7:00PM

FRIDAY, MARCH 24
Members' Business Meeting, 11:00AM

Awards Ceremony, 4:15PM

Reception, 5:45PM

2017 SCMS Election Results
Dear Fellow SCMS Members,

The  results of the 2017 SCMS  elections are in! On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am pleased to announce: 
  • Paula Massood (CUNY Brooklyn) has been elected President-Elect
  • Bambi Haggins (Arizona State University) has been elected Treasurer
  • Michael Curtin (University of California, Santa Barbara) and Miranda Banks (Emerson College) have been elected to the SCMS Board of Directors
  • Amber Pualani Hodge (University of Mississippi) has been elected Graduate Student Representative
Each officer and board member begins her/his term on July 1, 2017.

Please join the Board in extending deepest thanks to Jim Castonguay, Gilberto Blasini, Aswin Punathambekar, and Kristen Warner for their willingness to stand for office and for their ongoing service and commitment to the Society for Cinema and Media Studies.

The Board would also like to thank members of the SCMS Nominating Committee for their hard work in developing this excellent slate of candidates: Haidee Wasson (Chair), Anna Everett, Elena Gorfinkel, Hollis Griffin, Jonathan Gray, Mariah Larsson, and Jason Middleton.

Lastly, a special thanks to all SCMS members who took the time to cast their ballot in this year's  election. Your robust participation makes for a strong and dynamic SCMS.

Sincerely,

Victoria E. Johnson
Secretary, Society for Cinema and Media Studies
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S
NOTE
Dear SCMS Members,

The 2017 Conference is upon us.  We look forward to seeing all of you who will be participating next week in Chicago!

The Conference Edition of News Brief is full of helpful information to make your travel as seamless as possible, and your time in Chicago enjoyable. 

As a reminder, this year's conference will take place in two different venues:  The Fairmont Chicago and the Mid-America Club located on the 80th floor of the AON Center.  The two venues are connected by a convenient underground walkway that will protect you from the elements.  This year, we will have conference volunteers assigned to the lobby of each building to answer your questions and help you find your way.  Look for individuals with green ribbons affixed to their badges.

The Chicago Host Committee, chaired by Eric Freedman and Ariel Rogers, has created an exciting screening event on Saturday evening, March 25 at Chicago's historic Essanay Studios, with an after-party to follow at Replay Andersonville.  Essanay seating is limited, so if you are interested in attending, you are encouraged to reserve your ticket by pre-registering through Eventbrite:  https://scms2017.eventbrite.com

For dining, entertainment, and shopping options, please check out the 2017 Chicago Host Guide within the front pages of the conference program.  Thank you to the Host Committee for their hard work on our behalf.

Please let us know if there is anything the SCMS Board or Home Office staff can do to make your conference experience more enjoyable.

Best wishes and safe travels!

Jill Simpson

SCMS OFFICE STAFF
Executive Director
Financial Analyst
Program Coordinator 
Program Assistant 
SCMS EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
OFFICERS
President, 2015-2017
President Elect, 2015-2017
Secretary, 2015-2018
Treasurer, 2014-2017

BOARD MEMBERS
Mary Beltrán
 2014-2017 
2014-2017

2015-2018
2015-2018

2016-2019

2016-2019

NON-VOTING MEMBERS 
Cinema Journal Editor, 2012-2017
Web Content Manager

Past-President, 2015-2017

Conference Manager

Representative of Home Office
Executive Director

















We look forward to welcoming you all in Chicago!  In efforts to make your conference experience a success, please check out the following links, PDFs, and information on everything from transportation and navigating Chicago to accessibility resources and amenities available at the conference hotel.
Please see our Chicago Travel Information page for more information on  the following topics: 
  • Sanctuary City Info
  • Weather
  • Air Travel
  • Airports
  • Public Transportation
  • Taxis
  • Amtrak
  • Shared Ride Vans
  • Bus
  • ZipCar
  • All Gender/Family/Accessible Restrooms at O'Hare:
  • International Traveler Services
  • Travelers Aid services
  • Accessibility Information & Assistance
  • Purple Airplane Pins
  • Accessible Rides
  • Driving Directions
  • Parking
  • Neighborhood Info
  • SCMS17 Travel Discounts
Attending the SCMS conference for the first time can be an overwhelming experience. For tips and advice from veteran attendees on how to experience the conference stress-free, check out our How To Survive an SCMS Conference PDF here.

  • Conference Locations
  • Conference Program
  • Name Badges and On-Site Registration
  • Exhibitors and Exhibit Hours
  • Events and Caucus and SIG Meetings
  • Conference Mobile App and Social Media
Make the most of your SCMS experience by taking advantage of the many amenities available to conference attendees. 
  • Wifi Availability 
  • Restaurant Options
  • Accessibility Guide 
  • Nursing Area
  • All-Gender Restrooms
  • Spa and Fitness at the Fairmont
  • Lost and Found
  • Green Partnership 
  • We accept the following payment methods on-site: cash, check, debit or credit card only.
     
  • Please allow 15 minutes to complete the on-site registration process. 
     
  • If you are registering at the student rate, please be prepared to show your valid student ID. 
     
  • Replacement conference programs will be available for $20, subject to availability.
     
  • Preferred pronoun stickers for your conference badge will be available for pick up in the registration area.

ON-SITE REGISTRATION RATES
--
On-site Conference Registration Rate: $230.00
Student Rate:  $150.00


2017 SCMS AWARD WINNERS
Below, you'll find a preview of the 2017 SCMS Award Winners. Please join us on Friday, March 23 at 4:15PM in the Fairmont Chicago's International Ballroom for this year's Awards Ceremony in celebration of their outstanding achievements!

STUDENT WRITING AWARD


1st Place 
Chelsea Birks, University of Glasgow
"Objectivity, Speculative Realism and Cinematic Apparatus"


2nd Place
Sophie Christman Lavin, State University of New York, Stony Brook
"Feher isten (White God)": Is the gaze only human?" 


3rd Place 
Darshana Sreedhar Mini, University of Southern California
"The Rise of Soft Porn in Malayalam Cinema and the Precarious Stardom of Shakeela"
DISSERTATION AWARD


Winner
Laliv Melamed, New York University
"Sovereign Intimacy: Israeli Homemade Video Memorials and the Politics of Loss"


Award of Distinction 
Nadine Chan, University of Southern California 
"A Cinema Under the Palms: The Unruly Lives of Colonial Educational Films in British Malaya"
THE KATHERINE SINGER KOVÁCS ESSAY AWARD


Winner 
Eric Dienstfrey, University of Wisconsin, Madison
"The Myth of Speakers: A Critical Reexamination of Dolby History," Film History 28, no. 1 (2016): 167-93


Award of Distinction
Rochona Majumdar, University of Chicago
"Art Cinema: The Indian Career of a Global Category," Critical Inquiry 42 (Spring 2016): 580-610
BEST ESSAY IN AN EDITED COLLECTION


Winner
James Leo Cahill, University of Toronto
"A YouTube Bestiary" in New Silent Cinema (Routledge, 2016)



Award of Distinction
Hye Jean Chung, Kyung Hee University 
"Media Heterotopias and Science Fiction" (University of Minnesota Press, 2015)

BEST EDITED COLLECTION

Winner: L.A. Rebellion: Creating a New Black Cinema (University of California Press, 2015)



Allyson Field, University of Chicago



Jan-Christopher Horak, University of California, Los Angeles



Jacqueline Najuma Stewart, University of Chicago
Award of Distinction: The Promise of Cinema: German Film Theory, 1907-1933 (University of California Press, 2016)



Anton Kaes, University of California, Berkeley



Nicholas Baer, State University of New York, Purchase College



Michael Cowan, University of St Andrews
BEST FIRST BOOK AWARD


Winner
Allison McCracken, DePaul University
Real Men Don't Sing: Crooning in American Culture (Duke University Press, 2015)


Winner
Miriam Petty, Northwestern University
Stealing the Show: African American Performers and Audiences in 1930s Hollywood (University of California Press, 2016)
THE KATHERINE SINGER KOVÁCS BOOK AWARD


Winner 
Thomas Waugh, Concordia University
The Conscience of Cinema: The Work of Joris Ivens, 1912-1989 (Amsterdam University Press, 2016)


Award of Distinction
Nicholas Sammond, University of Toronto
Birth of an Industry: Blackface Minstrelsy and the Rise of American Animation (Duke University Press, 2015)

THE ANNE FRIEDBERG INNOVATIVE SCHOLARSHIP AWARD


Winner
Noam M. Elcott, Columbia University
Artificial Darkness: An Obscure History of Modern Art and Media (University of Chicago Press, 2016)


Award of Distinction
Homay King, Bryn Mawr College
Virtual Memory: Time-based Art and the Dream of Digitality (Duke University Press, 2016)

SERVICE AWARD



Winner
Haidee Wasson, Concordia University
PEDAGOGY AWARD



Winner
Ellen Seiter, University of Southern California

DISTINGUISHED CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD



Winner
Michele Hilmes, University of Wisconsin, Madison





TRANSLATION COMMITTEE
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
The Translation Committee of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies invites proposals for the translation into English of outstanding scholarly texts in languages other than English, for publication in Cinema Journal. Journal articles, book chapters, or self-contained sections of a book that focus on a particular topic in a unified, coherent way are deemed appropriate for this purpose. 

Proposals should include the following: 
1. The author, title, and publication details of the work being proposed (including the place, press, and date of publication). 
2. A statement identifying the significance of the work, and why it might be interesting to film and media scholars and students, SCMS members in particular. 
3. A clarification of the copyright status of the original source material. 
4. An indication of likely word length. 
5. The name and credentials of the proposed translator. 

Proposals are welcome for a work published in any language other than English. One grant-in-aid of $1,000 will be paid to the translator. The scholar leading the project should provide an introduction laying out the importance of the author and the text. The total word count of the introduction and translated text should be between 8,000 and 10,000 words in English. In some cases, projects (text and translation) of 5,000 words will be considered (which case the grant-in-aid would be adjusted accordingly). The scholar submitting the proposal must be a member of the SCMS during the year of publication (2018). Self-nominations are not accepted. 

Proposal due date: April 1, 2017. The selection will be made by May 1, 2017, with manuscript delivery by August 15, 2017. 

Submissions should be sent to: Paul A. Schroeder Rodríguez, Co-Chair, Translation/Publication Committee, Society for Cinema and Media Studies Email: [email protected]