THE WORLD'S LARGEST ORGANIZATION DEVOTED
TO
THE SCHOLARLY STUDY OF FILM AND MEDIA
|
|
|
October 2015 - In This Issue:
|
|
|
|
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S NOTE
|
Opportunity knocks in our October News Brief. Whether you are about to dip your toe into the shifting waters of the job market, or you are seeking funding for your next academic endeavor, we want to share some new opportunities with you.
Next week, you will have the chance to log on and gain valuable information about the current state of the academic job market as SCMS's Professional Development Committee hosts a free webinar on Saturday, October 24.
Great news was delivered to our doorstep this week when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the reinstatement of its grants program. As you will recall, it was last October when AMPAS announced suspension of the program for the purposes of re-evaluation. The reinstatement marks a wonderful reversal of fortunes. It may not have happened in the same way were it not for the efforts of many of you who took the time to write letters and send petitions in support of the program's reinstatement. The 2016 applications are now available online in the categories of film festivals, educational institutions, and film scholars.
Congratulations and well done!
- Jill Simpson
Executive Director
|
 |
OCTOBER 24
SCMS Professional Development Committee Webinar
MID-NOVEMBER
Accept and decline notices emailed
MID-DECEMBER
Preliminary program posted online
DECEMBER 21 (5 PM CT)
Deadline: Travel grant and waiver applications
JANUARY 22
Deadline: early bird hotel registration*
*Everyone who registers at the Hilton Atlanta before the early bird deadline will be entered in a drawing to win the cost of their entire stay at the conference (up to 5 nights) plus a $100 gift certificate to Trader Vic's restaurant (for up to 2 people), located inside the Hilton Atlanta.
MARCH 30 - APRIL 3
Atlanta 2016 Conference
|
|
PLEASE UPDATE YOUR MEMBER PROFILE
|
As of
July 31, 2015
, some profile fields have been cleared in order to facilitate the collection of the most up-to-date information from SCMS members. We apologize for any inconvenience (especially if you are a new member or renewed your membership and updated your profile recently); please update your affiliation from the new drop down menu as it is vital to our on-going membership research and double-check previously entered information in all the fields.
As SCMS grows, we hope to continue expanding our research initiatives, of which annually-updated profile information is an essential component.
Thank for your for your assistance.
|
The SCMS records for awards given between 1974-1999 are incomplete. Please help us by reviewing the existing list. If you notice a missing award recipient, please contact the
SCMS Office. Thank you for your help.
|
Executive Director
Administrative Coordinator
Account and Budget Representative
Program Assistant
Conference Manager
|
OFFICERS
Steven Cohan, President 15-17
Pamela Wojcik, President-Elect 15-17
Victoria Johnson, Secretary 15-18
Amanda Ann Klein, Treasurer 14-17
BOARD MEMBERS
Kara Keeling,
13-16
Neepa Majumdar, 13-16
Mary Beltran,
14-17
Mary Desjardins,
14-17
Linda Mizejewski,
15-18
Nick Davis, 15-18
Juan Llamas-Rodriguez, 15-17
NON-VOTING MEMBERS
Barbara Klinger, Past-President 15-17
Will Brooker, Cinema Journal Editor 12-16
Aviva Dove-Viebahn, Web Content Mgr.
Caetlin Benson-Allott, Rep. of Home Office
Lindsey Pendleton, Admin.Coordinator
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Jill Simpson
|
|
|
|
SCMS members are invited to join the Professional Development Committee in an online discussion of the academic job market, to be presented as a live webinar on
Saturday, October 24, at 12pm EST.
This free event will feature panelists who have landed tenure-track positions at a variety of institutions and led search committees of their own. Topics for discussion may include tailoring application materials for different types of positions and institutions; protocol for communicating with search committees; strategies for phone, skype, and in-person interviews; preparing for campus visits; negotiating job offers; and ways to gain teaching and service experience that may be particularly attractive to search committees. The webinar will conclude with a Q&A session.
For more information about the event and/or registration steps, please contact Kyle Edwards (Associate Professor and Director, Cinema Studies; Oakland University) at
[email protected].
|
|
ARE YOU SUBSCRIBING AT THE CORRECT LEVEL?
|
The SCMS Membership year began on September 1, 2015. Before renewing your membership, please review the tables below to determine your membership fee. SCMS membership rates are based on income level.
|
|
U.S. Membership
|
Income Range
|
Rates
|
|
Under $15,000/yr
|
$55.00
|
|
$16,000-$35,000/yr
|
$65.00
|
|
$36,000-$55,000/yr
|
$90.00
|
|
$56,000-$75,000/yr
|
$120.00
|
|
$76,000-$100,000/yr
|
$150.00
|
|
Over $100,000
|
$180.00
|
|
Institutional Membership
|
$300.00
|
Canada Membership (Rates in USD)
Individual membership fees include a $30 surcharge for mailing
Cinema Journal
to Canada four times a year.
|
Income Range
|
Rates
|
|
Under $15,000/yr
|
$85.00
|
|
$16,000-$35,000/yr
|
$95.00
|
|
$36,000-$55,000/yr
|
$120.00
|
|
$56,000-$75,000/yr
|
$150.00
|
|
$76,000-$100,000/yr
|
$180.00
|
|
Over $100,000
|
$210.00
|
|
Institutional Membership
|
$300.00
|
Mexico/International Membership (Rates in USD)
Individual membership fees include a $44 surcharge for mailing Cinema Journal to locations outside of the U.S. or Canada four times a year.
|
Income Range
|
Rates
|
|
Under $15,000/yr
|
$99.00
|
|
$16,000-$35,000/yr
|
$109.00
|
|
$36,000-$55,000/yr
|
$134.00
|
|
$56,000-$75,000/yr
|
$164.00
|
|
$76,000-$100,000/yr
|
$194.00
|
|
Over $100,000
|
$224.00
|
|
Institutional Membership
|
$300.00
|
|
|
|
|
SCMS is able to continue its mission because of your support and generosity. When you renew your membership, please consider making a contribution by checking the box marked "donate" at the end of the renewal form. Your donation supports our ongoing efforts to promote a broad understanding of film, television, and related media through research and teaching grounded in the contemporary humanities tradition. Thank you.
|
THE 2015-2016 MEMBERSHIP YEAR BEGAN ON SEPTEMBER 1, 2015.
|
In
Fieldnotes
' latest recording, Christian Keathley interviews Ted Perry. Watch it
here
.
|
|
|
Fieldnotes: Ted Perry Interviewed by Christian Keathley
|
Fieldnotes
i
s an SCMS project to conduct, circulate and archive interviews with pioneers of film and media studies. In addition to recognizing the contributions of key scholars, the project also aims to foster knowledge of and interest in the diverse and dynamic developments that have shaped -- and continue to shape -- our expanding field.
Fieldnotes is currently led by Haidee Wasson, with the help of a committee comprised of Patrice Petro and Barbara Klinger. It is sponsored both by SCMS and by ARTHEMIS, a Concordia University-based research team investigating the history and epistemology of moving image studies.
For more information on
Fieldnotes
, and to listen to past interviews, please visit their website.
|
|
Fall is here and the semester has begun. Michael and Chris share some teaching tips, and we'd like to hear your teaching tips too: email us at
[email protected].
Our
Cinema Journal Presents segment features Debra Ramsay discussing war-based video games like
Call of Duty. Then we bring you another
Fieldnotes interview, this time with film scholar James Naremore, expert on Welles and Hitchcock.
Finally, we reveal the winner of our book giveaway and issue a call for more folks to help out with the Aca-Media podcast. Please email us at
[email protected] if you'd like to be part of the production team.
|
|
SURVEY ON FUTURE CONFERENCE TIMING & COSTS
|
|
|
|
We know that the location and cost of the SCMS annual conference is an important factor in determining when our members can and will attend. As you may be aware, hotel rates have been increasingly dramatically. SCMS works hard all year to secure the very best rates we can for the conference, and we know that high rates can be frustrating. At the same time, our ability to secure the large number of meeting rooms, event spaces, AV equipment and amenities like free Wi-Fi depends upon having a majority of our conference-goers stay at the conference hotel.
In order to keep costs as reasonable as we possibly can, in future years we may need to adjust the timing of our annual conference. Our query here will not affect either the 2016 conference in Atlanta or our 2017 conference, and at the moment no plans are in motion to alter the days during which SCMS' annual conference is held. However, we would welcome some guidance from the membership if we have to shift our timing at some point in order to obtain a better hotel deal.
We would appreciate it if could you take two minutes of your time to respond to a very brief survey on conference timing and cost. Take the survey here.
The survey will close on Monday, October 26 at 5pm CT.
Your input will help to determine future planning and give us more flexibility when negotiating with hotels in prime locations. Thank you for your time.
|
|
|
2015 SCMS AWARD WINNER SPOTLIGHT
|
|
Courtney E. White
1st Place, Student Writing Award
Courtney E. White, from the University of Southern California, was the winner of the 2015 Student Writing Award Winner for her work,
"The Utmost Care, Kindness, and Consideration": The MPPDA vs. Allegations of Animal Abuse, 1923-25.
Who is your favorite film character or media figure? Why?
Leslie Knope, Liz Lemon, and Hermione Granger, a triumvirate of smart women working hard to get stuff done.
What is your favorite guilty pleasure movie or television show?
I think all pleasurable experiences are valid, and shouldn't be thought of as guilty. That said: Showgirls.
What lead you to study cinema and media?
Fate, I think! I started my undergrad career imagining that I wanted to do new media design, but quickly realized I was wrong about that. Media studies was part of the core curriculum, and I enjoyed those classes and did well in them, so I switched majors and just kept going.
What are you currently researching/working on?
I'm finishing my preparations to teach a fall course on feature animation, and I'm working on a book proposal for my dissertation.
What was the last movie you watched?
Shaun the Sheep. I highly recommend it.
What movie could you watch over and over again?
It's a film school cliche, to be sure, but I never get tired of Singin' in the Rain.
Is there anything you would like to share with the membership?
I have an essay on Tom Mix's horse, Tony, ("Tony the Wonder Horse: A Star Study") forthcoming this fall in The Historical Animal (ed. Susan Nance, University of Syracuse Press).
|
|
Anupama Kapse
Anupama Kapse, from CUNY and Queens College, and her co-editors Jennifer M. Bean and Laura Horak won the 2015 Best Edited Collection award for
Silent Cinema and the Politics of Space (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2014).
Who is your favorite film character or media figure? Why?
Shanta Apte, the actress who could be called the Louise Brooks of Indian cinema. Embracing film acting when it was frowned upon, she did for the film industry what her political counterparts were doing for independence. Beautiful, fearless and impossibly talented.
What is your favorite guilty pleasure movie or television show?
Alton Brown, Good Eats.
What lead you to study cinema and media?
Curiosity about the mega-melodrama Mother India (Meboob Khan, 1957), one of the longest running films in the history of Indian cinema. A film like Mother India doesn't just happen. I had read that Mehboob became friends with Cecil B. DeMille, and that it was the first Indian film to be nominated for an Oscar. I wanted to know more. Mumbai was flooded when I was on my research trip. My family thought I wouldn't come back alive. But I was in Mehboob Studios, experiencing the challenges of archival research, and having the time of my life. Point of no return!
What are you currently researching/working on?
I am looking at regional language autobiographies of actresses from the early sound era. They provide a remarkably candid glimpse into the early studio era. These women insisted on chronicling their working lives and wrote themselves into history.
What was the last movie you watched?
I watch a movie everyday, sometimes two or three. Today I watched a movie called Basant/Spring (Bombay Talkies, 1942). In the evening I might catch Listen to Me Marlon.
What movie could you watch over and over again?
Buster Keaton, One Week (1920).
Is there anything you would like to share with the membership?
I am working on a book on pre-independence Indian cinema,
where I write about my archival adventures (forthcoming, Indiana University Press).
|
|
|
|
|
Academy Relaunches Grants Program
FilmWatch, FilmCraft and Academy Film Scholars Applications Available Now
O
n October 15, 2015 the Academy announced the relaunch of its
grants program
, which provides financial support to qualifying film festivals, educational institutions and film scholars. Online applications are now being accepted for the 2016 FilmWatch, FilmCraft and Academy Film Scholars programs.
FilmWatch
grants support curated screening programs at North America-based film festivals, film societies and other film-related organizations. Targeted programs include those that create culturally diverse viewing experiences, promote motion pictures as an art form, provide a platform for underrepresented artists, and cultivate new and dedicated audiences for theatrical film. Grants typically range from $5,000 to $30,000. The application deadline is December 15, 2015. Click here for more information.
FilmCraft
grants support high-quality educational programs that identify and empower future filmmakers from nontraditional backgrounds. Targeted programs include those that encourage an appreciation of film as both a vocation and an art form, and those that provide direct, hands-on opportunities for participants to gain the filmmaking skills they need to tell their stories. Grants typically range from $5,000 to $25,000. The application deadline to apply is December 15, 2015. Click here for more information.
Academy Film Scholars
grants are awarded to previously published individuals who are pursuing significant new works of film scholarship. These grants fund research as well as academic and scholarly projects that elevate both filmmaking and film scholarship. Projects must address cultural, educational, historical, theoretical or scientific aspects of theatrical motion pictures. Those examining elements of the film industry that have been underrepresented in the canon of film scholarship will be given priority. Two $25,000 grants are awarded each year. The application deadline is January 31, 2016. Click here for more information.
The Academy Grants program supports the Academy's overall mission: to recognize and uphold excellence in the motion picture arts and sciences, inspire imagination, and connect the world through the medium of motion pictures. Grant recipients will be announced in March and April 2016.
|
|
|
|
 Annette Kuhn Essay Award
The editors of Screen welcome submissions for the 2016 Annette Kuhn Essay award. The award was established in 2014, in recognition of Professor Kuhn's outstanding contribution to Screen and her wider commitment to the development of screen studies and screen theory.
The award offers £1,000 to the author/s of the best debut article in film and television studies, as judged by the Screen editors and members of the journal's editorial advisory board. The prize winner will also be invited to attend the annual Screen conference to accept their award.
The deadline for submissions is January 31, 2016.
For more information, click
here.
|
|
|
ACLS Announces Digital Extension
Grant Program
The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is pleased to announce a new program promoting digital scholarship in the humanities.
ACLS Digital Extension Grants may:
- Extend existing digital projects and resources with content that adds diversity or interdisciplinary reach;
- Develop new systems of making existing digital resources available to broader audiences and/or scholars from diverse institutions;
- Foster new team-based work or collaborations that allow scholars from institutions with limited cyberinfrastructure to exploit digital resources; or
- Create new forms and sites for scholarly engagement with the digital humanities and new ways to document and recognize participant engagement.
ACLS will award up to six Digital Extension Grants in this competition year. Each grant provides up to $150,000 in funding, supporting a range of project costs, for terms of 12-18 month.
Proposals must be submitted through ACLS's online application system, which will begin accepting applications October 15.
Further information about the program and eligibility criteria is available online.
The application deadline for the inaugural competition of the Digital Extension Grant program is February 2, 2016.
|
|
|
|
|
