THE WORLD'S LARGEST ORGANIZATION DEVOTED
TO
THE SCHOLARLY STUDY OF FILM AND MEDIA
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January 2019 - In This Issue
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Important Dates
January 15
Deadline for conference program corrections (updated affiliation, misspellings, etc.), 5:00PM CT
January 25
Deadline for presenters to register for the conference
January 31
Deadline for Conference volunteer registration desk
February 1st
Deadline for SCMS-U paper proposals
Deadline for London Symposium proposals
March 13-17
2019 SCMS Annual Conference in Seattle
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In the December issue of News Brief, it was stated that Noa Steimatsky received a National Endowment for the Humanities grant for her project
Kabuki Actors, Print Technology, and the Theatrical Origins of Modern Media.
This was a mistake. Noa Steimatsky is affiliated with Sarah Lawrence College and received the grant for her project
The World's War on the World's Stage: Cinecittà 1942-1950.
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In Memoriam: Nwachucku Frank Ukadike
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Tribute by Dr. Jude Akudinobi (University of California, Santa Barbara) and Dr. Aboubakar Sanogo (Carleton University).
Our distinguished and highly esteemed colleague, Dr. Nwachukwu Frank Ukadike, during a visit home to Nigeria, joined the realm of the ancestors, in the early hours of Friday, August 3, 2018. Born in 1950, he received a Bachelor's from Croydon College, London, (1980), a Masters from University of Oregon (1982), another Masters and a Ph.D. from New York University in 1986 and 1989 respectively. At the moment of his untimely passing, he was a faculty member at Tulane University, New Orleans, (having previously taught at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) with richly distinctive research interests in film, television, media, cultural, African and African diaspora studies.
His stellar scholarship, in addition to its interdisciplinary vibrancy and hallmark originality, was anchored in a relentless project to interrogate existing and hegemonic critical frameworks, and an abiding investment in broadening the research scopes and the spectrum of cinematic practices and studies. Synthesizing complex materials with an uncommon subtlety and engaging incisiveness that weave seemingly disparate political, economic, historical and ideological underpinnings into enthralling intellectual canvasses and insights were his hallmarks. Much like African cinema pioneers, he understood the field as also partaking in emancipatory epistemological, representational and political struggles, not only against the pernicious myths and insidious representations of Africa in dominant circulation, but also as a space for the articulation of resistance, agency, specificities, irreducibilities, and prerogatives, sine qua non for creative and discursive liberties.
Frank Ukadike contributed, immensely, to bringing African cinema and media into the field of visibility, audibility and legibility and to instituting it as an emblematic and inexhaustible fountain of creativity, research and scholarship. His pioneering and canonic work, Black African Cinema (1994) remains, several years after publication, a formidably lucid text, which helped establish African cinema studies as a dynamic, deeply rewarding and profoundly complex field of study. This contribution was further consolidated by his subsequent work including New Discourses of African Cinema (1995), Questioning African Cinema: Conversations with Filmmakers (2002), and Critical Approaches to African Cinema Discourse (2014).
In addition to his scholarly distinction, Dr. Ukadike was a warm, humble, approachable and inspiring colleague and mentor, with an affectionate and infectious smile, who enjoyed widespread respect and profound admiration from peers, students and practitioners alike. He was also a major and beloved member of the SCMS community, to which he contributed significantly for at least two decades. A special event on the nature of his work, and his important contributions to scholarship and pedagogy, will be held in his memory on Wednesday, March 13, during the Society's upcoming conference in Seattle.
Report of an earlier tribute, at Tulane University, may be found on the website, here.
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SCMS is pleased to announce the 2019 Award Winners:
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STUDENT WRITING AWARD
First Place
Maureen Mauk, University of Wisconsin-Madison, "Politics is Everybody's Business: Resurrecting Faye Emerson, America's Forgotten First Lady of Television"
Second Place
Allain Daigle, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, "Modern Glass: Zeiss and the Industrialization of Vision"
Third Place
Cassandra Guan, Brown University, "Critique of Flowers: Ecology and Affect in the Era of Technical Reproduction"
DISSERTATION AWARD
Winner
Jordan Schonig, University of Chicago, "Cinema's Motion Forms: Film Theory, the Digital Turn, and the Possibilities of Cinematic Movement"
BEST FIRST BOOK AWARD
Winner
Aubrey Anable, Playing With Feelings (University of Minnesota Press, 2018).
THE KATHERINE SINGER KOVÁCS BOOK AWARD
Winner
Susan Murray,
Bright Signals: A History of Color Television
(Duke University Press, 2018).
THE KATHERINE SINGER KOVÁCS ESSAY AWARD
Winner
Aswin Punathambekar and Sriram Mohan, "A Sound Bridge: Listening for the Political in a Digital Age,"
International Journal of Communication
, Vol. 11 (2017): 4610-4629.
BEST EDITED COLLECTION
Winner
Joshua Neves and Bhaskar Sarkar,
Asian Video Cultures: In the Penumbra of the Global
(Duke University Press, 2017).
BEST ESSAY IN AN EDITED COLLECTION
Winner
Nilo Couret, "Enduring Art Cinema" in
The Routledge Companion to Latin American Cinema
, eds. Marvin D'Lugo, Ana M. López, Laura Podalsky (Routledge, 2017).
THE ANNE FRIEDBERG INNOVATIVE SCHOLARSHIP AWARD
Winner
Shannon Mattern,
Code and Clay, Data and Dirt: Five Thousand Years of Urban Media
(University of Minnesota Press, 2017).
SERVICE AWARD
Aviva Dove-Viebahn, Arizona State University
PEDAGOGY AWARD
Charlie Keil, University of Toronto
DISTINGUISHED CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Donald Crafton, University of Notre Dame
A formal announcement of the awards will be made at the Award Ceremony of the 2019 SCMS Conference in Seattle on
Friday evening, March 15. Please join us at this year's Awards Ceremony to celebrate their outstanding achievements!
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2019 Conference Registration Rates
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REGULAR PRE-REGISTRATION
( December 22, 2018- February 15, 2019 11:59 CT): $220.00 USD Student Rate: $140.00 USD
Conference presenters who have not joined or renewed their SCMS membership AND have not paid for the conference registration fee by Friday, January 25th, 2019, 5:00 PM CT will be deleted from the final printed program.
LATE REGISTRATION (February 16 - March 17, 2018): $230.00 USD
Student Rate: $150.00 USD
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Travel Documents Reminder
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As a reminder to our international members attending the conference - we recommend that you begin the process of securing any required travel documents, such as passports and visas, as soon as possible.
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Members, if you're looking for a fellow attendee to share the cost of a hotel room, click here to access the Conference Roommate Forum.
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Executive Director's Note
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Dear SCMS Members,
Happy new year and happy birthday SCMS! January ushers in a time of renewal and this year, a time of celebration for the Society for Cinema and Media Studies. As we mark our 60th anniversary, I hope you will join me in celebrating all that has come before in the SCMS story, and all that lies ahead.
From our humble beginnings in 1959 with a membership of only 37 until today, when our membership has surpassed 3,000, much has changed. We have become a much more diverse group with increasingly divergent areas of study. These changes require us to make adjustments along the way in order to better serve your needs, and to increase our reach.
Today, the Board is intentional in carrying out the task of populating our annual and standing committees with an eye towards diversity and inclusion. This also extends to efforts to ensure that our annual conference is a welcoming and safe place for all.
Thanks to the efforts of SCMS President Pamela Wojcik, on July 18-20, SCMS will partner with the University of Notre Dame and King's College London (KCL) to present a summer symposium, "London, Cinema and Media Gateway." This three-day symposium, the first-ever partnership of its kind for SCMS, will bring scholars together to discuss London's history and its impact on cinema and media, and provide the Society with an avenue towards greater internationalization.
I am excited to announce that we will be unveiling our new website at cmstudies.org in the very near future. Based on your thoughtful feedback and the Board's reevaluation of our changing needs, we have worked to create a much more user-friendly, functional, and visually appealing site. A big thank you goes out to Web Content Manager Aviva Dove-Viebahn for her hard work on this long-awaited project. More on this in the very near future.
One thing that has remained a constant through the years is the sense of community that SCMS membership engenders. It is my hope that SCMS remains a beacon for you, its members, for years to come.
Please join me in celebrating 60 years for SCMS. Here's to the future!
Jill Simpson
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Executive Director
Erfana Enam
Financial Analyst
Communications Coordinator
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OFFICERS
President-Elect, 2017-2019
BOARD MEMBERS
Elizabeth Evans
2018-2021
2018-2021
NON-VOTING MEMBERS
Journal of Cinema and Media Studies Editor, 2018-2022
Past-President, 2017-2019
Web Content Manager
Director of Conferences and Events
Representative of SCMS Institutional Home
Executive Director
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Please call A Room with A View for information on the
official designated SCMS overflow hotels. They will secure the lowest available rates at the best available hotels within walking distance
of The Sheraton Grand Seattle.
Only reservations processed by A Room with A View are on a waitlist for rooms at The Sheraton Grand Seattle
should cancellations occur within the SCMS group block at the discounted group rate.
For the official list of overflow hotel availability, please contact:
A Room with A View
Call 1-800-780-4343 or
Monday - Friday * 9AM - 5PM CST
This is a FREE SERVICE for all SCMS attendees.
Should you need to cancel your reservation at the Sheraton Grand Seattle,
please do so by calling or emailing A Room with A View.
In doing this, A Room with A View will be able to give your room to another SCMS attendee looking to stay at the conference hotel. They will be able to confirm your cancellation so you won't have to worry about being charged. Thank you!
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Tuesday, March 12: 4:00 - 6:00 PM
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Tuesday hours for name badge and conference program pick-up only (pre-registered attendees)
Wednesday, March 13: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Thursday, March 14: 8:00 AM - 5:15 PM
Friday, March 15: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday, March 16: 8:00 AM - 5:45 PM
Sunday, March 17: 8:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Reminder: Please keep your name badge with you at all times. Replacement name badges will only be printed during registration hours above.
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Now open - volunteer sign-up for the 2019 conference!
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Conference volunteers will assist at the registration desk and other duties throughout the venue as assigned. For your time and help, volunteers will receive $90 to help offset the cost of conference registration fees. Volunteers are still required to pay full conference registration fees and will receive a check at the end of their shift.
Sign up for a shift by visiting the link:
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REMINDER: Travel discounts are still available for conference attendees! Travel discounts for this year's conference are provided by Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, and more!
Click here for more information and to access the discount codes.
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The following equipment will be standard in all panel/roundtable/workshop rooms at the conference:
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- LCD projector (and audio)
- VGA Cable (if you have a Mac, please make sure you bring an adapter-mini display port to VGA, thunderbolt to VGA, etc)
- Mini Audio Jack
- Power strip
- Wireless internet access (you will obtain the password at conference registration)
Because the cost of equipping rooms with computers is prohibitively expensive, we must ask you to bring your own laptop if you plan to use projection. In addition to your own laptop, please be sure to bring your power cord and any proprietary cords required for your computer. MAC users, please bring your own VGA Adapter. Wireless internet access will be provided in the panel/workshop rooms and conference space. We will not be offering computers, DVD players, overhead projectors, slide projectors, CD players and/or additional audio components. If you have questions about AV or the Society's audiovisual policy, please contact our Conference Manager.
Best Practices
Panels and workshops with multiple presentations using projection are encouraged to coordinate before their session time to have all presentations on a single computer or flash drive. Designate one person's laptop for use during the session; load all presentations onto the laptop before the session; and test the presentation to make sure they will work with the software on the designated laptop.
We cannot accommodate changes or requests for AV equipment onsite. SCMS is not responsible for the safety and security of attendee computers.
Thank you for your cooperation.
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The SCMS annual
conference
requires physical attendance by all presenters. Although the Society is encouraged by recent innovations in teleconferencing technology and appreciates the many contingencies that may prevent attendance, this
policy
is based on the following concerns: 1) the annual
conference
places a premium on face-to-face interaction and
conference
-wide participation; 2) at most
conference
hotels technology costs are prohibitive and performance is unpredictable; 3)
virtual
linkages and technology mishaps tend to undermine the overall flow of conversation and interaction; 4) a stable connection often consumes excessive bandwidth and therefore comes at the expense of other
conference
events; and 5) the Society offers other options for
virtual
participation and exchange through its website and social media venues.
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CMS invites you to take advantage of our many sponsorship opportunities. We also welcome the opportunity to work with you in creating a custom sponsorship that best suits the needs of your organization. Allow us to help you increase exposure and heighten awareness of your department, university, organization.
For more details and information about becoming a conference sponsor, please visit
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Deadline Reminder: SCMS-U Call for Papers
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Seventh Annual: Society for Cinema and Media Studies
Undergraduate Conference
Hosted by Muhlenberg College, April 11-13, 2019
The seventh annual SCMS Undergraduate Conference invites undergraduate students from Film Studies, Media Studies or related disciplines 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. We also welcome scholarly submissions in formats other than traditional papers, such as audio visual essays. Each participant will have 15 minutes to present their work--approximately 2,000 words presented at a normal talking speed with a few visual aids.
Any student who wishes to participate in the conference should submit a completed proposal form which will include a 200-word abstract--not complete papers. The submission form can be downloaded
here. A panel composed of Muhlenberg College faculty will select 30 proposals for acceptance to conference and then will organize those proposals into thematically-linked panels. Selected conference participants must agree to attend all three days of the event: an opening reception on Thursday evening (4/11) and two full days of panels on Friday (4/12) and Saturday (4/13).
Registration for the conference is free but students are responsible for organizing their own transportation and accommodations. The conference organizers will provide recommendations for local accommodations and transportation options. Students are encouraged to seek travel funding from their home institutions to defray the costs of travel and lodging. The conference organizers will provide lunch on Friday and Saturday, dinner on Friday and refreshments.
The deadline for proposals is
11:59pm EST Friday, February 1, 2019. Completed proposal forms should be sent via email to
[email protected]
with "SCMS-U 2019" in the subject line of the email. For more information, please contact either Dr. Elizabeth Nathanson
(
[email protected]
) or Dr. Amy Corbin (
[email protected]
).
This conference is sponsored by the Society for Cinema and Media Studies and by Muhlenberg College's Media & Communication Department and Program in Film Studies.
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Call for Papers: "London: Gateway to Cinema and Media Studies"
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The Society for Cinema and Media Studies is excited to partner with the University of Notre Dame and King's College
London(KCL) to present the summer symposium, "
London, Cinema and Media Gateway,"
July 18-20, 2019. This symposium will bring together scholars for three days of discussion about
London's rich history and complex future in relation to cinema and media studies.
To read the full Call for Papers, please click
here.
The deadline for submissions is
February 1, 2019. Proposals can be submitted via email to:
[email protected].
Please consider being part of the inaugural
SCMS Partners event.
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COMMUNITY NEWS AND EVENTS
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The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is pleased to announce the ninth annual competition of the Mellon/ACLS Public Fellows Program. This initiative places humanities PhDs in substantive roles in diverse nonprofit and government organizations, demonstrating that the knowledge and capacities developed in the course of earning a doctoral degree in the humanities have wide application beyond the academy. The fellowship carries an annual stipend of $68,000, health insurance coverage for the fellow, a relocation allowance, and up to $3,000 in professional development activities. In 2019, ACLS will place up to 21 PhDs as Public Fellows in various organizations and roles.
Further information about the application process, eligibility criteria, and this year's fellowship positions is available at www.acls.org/programs/publicfellowscomp. All applications must be submitted through ACLS's online application system (ofa.acls.org) by 9 pm EDT on March 13, 2019.
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2019 Academy Film Scholar Grants
Application Deadline: January 31, 2019
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
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Stay Connected - Follow SCMS on Facebook and Twitter!
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SCMS is celebrating its 60th year in 2019 and is able to continue its mission because of your support and generosity.
Please consider making a contribution today.
Donate here
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