THE WORLD'S LARGEST ORGANIZATION DEVOTED 
TO  THE SCHOLARLY STUDY OF FILM AND MEDIA
All conference presenters must be current SCMS members.
-- 
December 2016 - In This Issue:

IMPORTANT DATES

DECEMBER 14 (5 PM CT)

DECEMBER 19

DECEMBER 21
Preliminary Draft of Conference Schedule Posted at cmstudies.org

Conference Registration Volunteer Sign-Up Opens

SIG/Caucus Meeting Times Sign-Up Opens

Requests for SIG/Caucus Sponsored Panels and Workshops Begins

DECEMBER 31

JANUARY 2
DEADLINE: Conference Program Correction Requests Due to Home Office

JANUARY 13
DEADLINE: SIG/Caucus Meeting Times Sign-up Closes

DEADLINE: SIG/Caucus Sponsored Panels and Workshop Requests Due

DEADLINE: Early Bird Hotel Reservations Cut-Off

JANUARY 16
DEADLINE: Conference Registration Volunteer Sign-Up Closes

JANUARY 31
Online Conference Registration Closes 

Participants must have an active membership AND have registered for the conference by this deadline.

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


Your year-end tax-deductible contribution helps SCMS continue its mission. Please consider making a contribution to support our ongoing efforts to promote a broad understanding of film, television, and related media through research and teaching grounded in the contemporary humanities tradition.


ANNOUNCING CINEMA JOURNAL  
EDITOR 2018-2022

We are pleased to announce that the Board has selected Dr. Caetlin Benson-Allott to be the next editor of  Cinema Journal .    Caetlin begins her one-year apprenticeship on January 1, 2017.    Her apprenticeship will be followed by a five-year term as Editor from January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2022 . Her first issue will be 57.4, appearing in the summer of 2018.

Caetlin is Associate Professor of English and Film and Media Studies at Georgetown University. She is the author  of  Killer Tapes and Shattered Screens: Video Spectatorship from VHS to File Sharing  (University of California Press, 2013) and  Remote Control  (Bloomsbury Press, January 2015). Her work on US film cultures, exhibition history and material culture, spectatorship theory, and gender and sexuality studies has appeared in  Cinema Journal, The Atlantic, South Atlantic Quarterly, Journal of Visual Culture, Jump Cut, Film Quarterly, Film Criticism, Feminist Media Histories, In Media Res, FLOW , and multiple anthologies. After winning  Film Quarterly' s 50th Anniversary Review Essay Competition in 2008, she became a contributing editor and wrote a regular column for the journal from 2011 to 2013, which she revived in 2016. In 2015, she edited special issues of  Feminist Media Histories  (on "Materialisms") and the  Journal of Visual Culture  (with Eugenie Brinkema on "The Design and Componentry of Horror"). She is currently working on a book-length study of six influential objects in contemporary media culture, arguing that the meanings we draw from media are shaped by the technologies we use to preserve media, the objects that come into and become extensions of our screening spaces, and the substances we c onsume while consuming media. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Modern Language Association's Screen Arts and Culture Forum and multiple editorial boards. She teaches courses on film history and theory, histories of new media, gender and technology studies, a nd the horror genre.

Caetlin joined SCMS in 
2010. As  Cinema Journal  Editor, she plans to utilize "In Focus" as a forum for outreach within our membership and to bring in new authors and expand our membership, thereby expanding the interdisciplinary mission of SCMS. She is also committed to include more television, radio, and other media scholarship in  Cinema Journal  and  soliciting interviews with and scholarly profiles of media makers and industry executives.

Please join us in welcoming Caetlin as the next 
Cinema Journal  editor!

If you're contacted by someone who wants to help you book your travel to SCMS, it's not us. Please exercise caution and contact us if you have any questions at hotel@scmsconference.com .

Please only use OFFICIAL RESERVATION PROCEDURES to make your reservation at the Fairmont Chicago, Millennium Park:
For room reservations, please call 1-866-540-4408 or the hotel directly at (312) 565-8000 and specify that you are a part of the Society for Cinema & Media Studies Annual Conference (SCMS) to receive the group rate and the additional concessions listed above. You can also make reservations by visiting  https://resweb.passkey.com/go/scms2017 .

For international numbers, please visit http://www.fairmont.com/contact-us/morenumbers/#international

Reservations will be accepted until the cut-off date of March 1, 2017- based on availability. However, we urge you-reservations should be made as soon as possible as the hotel will likely sell out early (well before the cut-off date).

If you have any problems, please email  hotel@scmsconference.com


REMINDER: Travel discounts are still available for conference attendees!  Southwest Airlines, Delta Airlines, United Airlines, American Airlines, Amtrak, and Avis are all offering discounted rates for travel to Chicago.  For more information, visit  http://www.cmstudies.org/page/travel_info

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S
NOTE
Best wishes for the holidays from the SCMS home office!  At this time of year, our thoughts turn gratefully to all of you who have made unique and valuable contributions to SCMS in the past year. Thank you!

A special note of gratitude goes out to 2016-17 Program Committee Chair, Pam Wojcik, Conference Scheduler, Bruce Brasell, and this year's hard-working and dedicated reading pairs.  Their tasks are now complete, and the 2017 Chicago conference is shaping up to be another great one. 

On December 21, the home office will post a preliminary draft of the conference program at cmstudies.org and follow up with you via an email notification.  As you are aware, the draft is a work-in-progress so it will not contain room numbers, but the schedule itself will be locked.  This year, in an effort to help you determine your travel dates, the preliminary draft will include information on 2017 conference events.  Please note that the home office must receive your requests for corrections to your information by January 2.

The 2016-17 Caucus and SIG Funding Committee is currently reviewing the many funding requests we received this year. It is the committee's goal to accommodate as many requests as is allowed within the SCMS annual budget giving priority to proposals that demonstrate forethought and planning for scholarly purposes.  The home office will notify all applicants of the committee's final decision in mid-January.

Planning and preparation are well underway for the fifth annual 2017 SCMS-U scheduled to take place on April 20-22, 2017 at the University of Minnesota.  The SCMS Board and Conference organizer Graeme Stout request your assistance in getting the word out about the conference to your undergraduate students.  A link to the call for proposals and submission form is included in this issue. 

I wish you happiness, abundance and peace in the coming year.

Jill Simpson
SCMS OFFICE STAFF
Executive Director

Financial Analyst

Program Coordinator 

Program Assistant 

Conference Manager

2016-2017 Program Liaison
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 
Past-President, 2015-2017

Cinema Journal Editor, 2012-2017

Web Content Manager

Representative of Home Office

Executive Director

If you're looking for a fellow attendee to share the cost of a hotel room, click here  to post a query to the Conference Roommate Forum.


2017 CHICAGO REGISTRATION RATES
REMINDER: "Early Bird" conference registration rates end December 31!  

EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION: $160.00  
Student Rate:  $90.00
(through December 31, 2016)

REGULAR PRE-REGISTRATION: $220.00
Student Rate:  $140.00
(January 1-31, 2017)

ON-SITE REGISTRATION: $230.00
Student Rate:  $150.00

Please note: Students must show a valid student ID at the registration desk to receive the student rate. 


TRAVEL GRANTS AND
REGISTRATION FEE WAIVERS 
All travel grant applications are due on or before  Wednesday, December 14, 2016,
at 5:00 p.m. Central Time
.  
Please see further details and a link to
apply at: 
www.cmstudies.org/?page=waiver_grants
 
All applicants will be notified of their status by Friday, January 20, 2017.

CHICAGO CONFERENCE
SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

It is through the generous contributions of sponsors and partners that SCMS is able to enhance its annual national meeting and offer exciting social/mixer/networking opportunities. Allow us to help you increase exposure and heighten awareness of your organization/institution with our audience of highly motivated undergraduate and graduate students, precollege teachers, postdocs and professionals in film and media studies.

For more details and information about becoming a conference sponsor, please visit 

CONFERENCE EXHIBITORS AND ADVERTISING DECEMBER DEADLINES
SCMS is currently accepting exhibitors and advertisers for our 2017 Conference. If you have a publisher you would like to see attend or know of a Chicago business that would be engaging to our membership, please pass along this information. Additionally, if your university or department would like an audience of media scholars, please pass along the advertising link. Join us for the 2017 Conference in Chicago, where your organization has the opportunity to capture the attention of an estimated 2000+ scholars from 38 countries around the world. 

Deadline for early bird reservations for advertisers is
Friday, December 16, 2016.

Contract and payment deadline for exhibitors is
Monday, December 19, 2016.

More information for exhibitors and advertisers can be found on the SCMS website:



SCMS-U 2017 CALL FOR PAPERS

Fifth Annual Society for Cinema and Media Studies Undergraduate Conference 
Hosted by The University of Minnesota 
April 20 - 22, 2017 

The fifth annual SCMS Undergraduate Conference invites undergraduate students to propose papers representing their best work in cinema and media studies. At the conference, students will deliver papers on any aspect of cinema and media history, criticism, or theory. Each participant will have 15 minutes to present their individual essay - approximately 2,000-2,100 words when presented at a normal talking speed with a few visual aids - on a thematically organized panel. Any student who wishes to participate in the conference should submit a completed proposal form, which will include a 200-word abstract. Do not submit complete papers. The submission form can be found HERE.

A panel composed of University of Minnesota faculty will select 30 proposals for acceptance to the conference. All selected conference participants must agree to attend all full days of the event. 

Panels will be scheduled for Friday (4/21) and Saturday (4/22), with reception on the Thursday night (4/20). Registration is free, and on-campus hotel accommodations will be available at a discounted student rate for conference participants. Students are encouraged to seek travel funding from their home institutions to defray the costs of travel and lodging. Students attending the conference will also be provided with passes to the Walker Arts Center and the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival

The deadline for proposals is midnight EST on Friday, February 3rd, 2017. Completed proposal forms with abstracts should be sent via email to ( mims@umn.edu) with "SCMS-U 2017" in the subject line of the email. 

For more information, please contact Dr. Graeme Stout ( stou0046@umn.edu), at the University of Minnesota.

Sponsored by the Society for Cinema and Media Studies, the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota, the University of Minnesota Press, the Walker Arts Center, and the Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul. and the following departments and programs at the University of Minnesota: Moving Image Studies, Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature, Communication Studies, Art History, and French and Italian


BECOME AN INSTITUTIONAL MEMBER
Institutional membership represents a significant engagement with current scholarship, theory, criticism, education, and practice in the study of cinema and media.  Allow us to help you increase exposure and heighten awareness of your organization with our audience of highly motivated undergraduate and graduate students, precollege teachers, postdocs and professionals in media and film studies. 

Sign up your department, program, or office for SCMS institutional membership and ensure that you and your colleagues have timely access to valuable resources.  For more details about becoming an institutional member, please visit:  http://www.cmstudies.org/?page=institut_membership



The SCMS Fieldnotes project is pleased to present two new interviews with 
foundational film and media studies scholars E. Ann Kaplan and Charles Musser. 





E. Ann Kaplan
interviewed by Krin Gabbard

Charles Musser
interviewed by J.D. Connor
See all Fieldnotes interviews at:  http://www.cmstudies.org/?page=fieldnotes

Fieldnotes is 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.


STATEMENT ON DIVERSITY
At this historical moment the Board of Directors of SCMS recognizes that the humanities and humanistic knowledge, on which cinema and media studies are still broadly based, are now more essential than ever.  We therefore pledge to maintain SCMS as an inclusive organization open to all individuals who share our field's commitments to diverse and multiple national origins, races, ethnicities, religions, genders, sexual orientations, classes, abilities, migration statuses, and other expressions or categorizations of identity.  We understand that this commitment extends to our membership overall as well as to what we study.

MLA STATEMENT ON THE 2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

The SCMS Board of Directors have voted to endorse the following statement
approved by the MLA Executive Council in November 2016:

Throughout the campaign and in the aftermath of the presidential election in the United States, sharp political lines have been drawn that pit groups and individuals against one another on the basis of national origin, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, migration status, ability, class, and other forms of identity. The Modern Language Association reaffirms in the strongest terms possible its commitment to free inquiry and academic freedom for all, unimpeded by acts of prejudice and hate. We note especially the need to offer support to those who are the most vulnerable and condemn the unjust rhetoric that targets them. We recognize that the humanities and humanistic knowledge are now more essential than ever to help guide us in these difficult times, and we pledge to maintain the MLA as an organization open to all individuals who share our commitments.


COMMUNITY NEWS & EVENTS

EPISODE 33: PARTAKE IN THE FACTIONAL WRANGLE

Recorded after Game 1 of the World Series and before the conclusion of the US presidential election, here we feature interviews with Kirk Combe and Sangeet Kumar on political satire media in an international context, as well as Cynthia Meyers on broadcast advertising and the red scare.


ACLS Digital Extension Grants
Deadline: January 25, 2017

The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is pleased to invite applications for the 2016-17  ACLS Digital Extension Grant  competition, which is made possible by the generous assistance of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. It is hoped that these grants will help advance humanistic scholarship by enhancing established digital research projects and extending their reach to new communities of users.
This program aims to extend the opportunity to participate in the digital transformation of humanistic inquiry to a greater number of humanities scholars. To this end, projects supported by ACLS Digital Extension Grants may:
  • Extend established digital projects and resources with content that adds diversity or interdisciplinary reach
  • Develop new systems of making established 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 digital infrastructure to exploit digital resources
  • Create new forms and sites for scholarly engagement with the digital humanities. Projects that document and recognize participant engagement are strongly encouraged
  • Support projects aimed at preserving and making sustainable established digital projects and content.
ACLS will award up to six Digital Extension Grants in this competition year. Each grant provides funding of up to $125,000 to support a range of project costs, including, where necessary, salary replacement for faculty or staff. As this program places special emphasis on extending access to digital research opportunities to scholars working at US colleges and universities of all categories, applicants also may request up to an additional $25,000 to fund concrete plans to collaborate with and build networks among scholars from US higher education institutions of diverse profiles. Thus each grant carries a maximum possible award of $150,000.

The deadline for applications is 9pm EST, January 25, 2017. Applications will be accepted only through ACLS's Online Fellowship and Grant Application (OFA) system.  

Additional information about the eligibility criteria and terms of ACLS Digital Extension Grants is available at www.acls.org/programs/digitalextension/. Questions may be directed to fellowships@acls.org. For more information about ACLS programs, visit www.acls.org

FINAL REMINDER: 2017 Academy Film Scholar Grants
Application Deadline: January 31, 2017

Academy Film Scholars grants are awarded to scholars (both academically affiliated and non-affiliated) to support significant new works of film scholarship.
Through the Grants program, the Academy seeks to:
  • Promote diversity
  • Bridge the opportunity divide
  • Attract and engage broad new audiences for theatrical motion pictures 
  • Provide a platform for underrepresented artists, the full range of film genres, and a variety of viewpoints and approaches 
  • Encourage filmmaking as a vocation
  • Illuminate less visible aspects of filmmaking and the film industry through scholarly research, presentations and discussions

VISITING FACULTY POSITIONS
Schwarzman Scholars Program at Tsinghua University in Beijing seeks to recruit Visiting Faculty from the world's leading universities and institutions for the 2017-18 academic year. These international scholars and practitioners will engage a highly motivated cohort of future leaders through Schwarzman Scholars' unique, interdisciplinary curriculum focused on contemporary global issues. Visiting Faculty also have opportunities to pursue independent research and develop collaborations with Tsinghua colleagues. Eligible candidates include early, mid-career and senior level academics who are available to spend from one to eleven months in Beijing.


To learn more, please contact: lindsey.cohen@schwarzmanscholars.org or visit www.schwarzmanscholars.org