Mediascape, UCLA’s Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, invites submissions for the upcoming Spring 2009 Issue. Submissions are sought for the following sections: Features; Reviews; Columns; Meta. Multiple submissions processes, all DUE: March 20, 2009.
Mediascape Call for Papers
MEDIASCAPE SPRING 2009 Call for Papers
Mediascape, UCLA’s Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, invites submissions for the upcoming Spring 2009 Issue. You can learn more about the journal here:
http://www.tft.ucla.edu/mediascape/
Features
As a theoretical paradigm, genre studies have longstanding roots in film and media scholarship. In light of the increasingly diverse range of texts available for study, ‚ÄúFeatures‚Ä? is seeking articles that consider genre from our contemporary and multi-media point of view.
Topics may include, but are not limited to:
- The evolution of genres (in the case of specific genres or as a more broad category)
- Emerging standards for the study of genre
- The relationship between national cinemas and genre conventions
- The effects of globalization on the study of genre
- Contemporary reconsiderations of classical genres
- Industrial viewpoints, concerns and practices of genre construction
- Effects of emerging technologies on traditional film genres
- Transmedia properties and their impact on genres
- Genres in television, video games, film, web, mobile and other screen-based media
- Genre as a valid historiographic organization in light of any of the above concerns
Feature submissions should offer a unique perspective on film, television, and digital media and are encouraged to address more than one area of moving image culture. To submit a feature article, please email two copies of a short bio and a copy of your manuscript in Word format to Mila Zuo at mzuo@ucla.edu by March 20, 2009.
For the purposes of confidentiality during the double blind peer review, please include both your bio and your personal contact information in the accompanying emails only, rather than in the Word document. Feature submissions should range from between 15 to 25 manuscript pages.
Reviews
‚ÄúReviews‚Ä? is seeking work that interrogates genre either as object of review or as critical framework. The object of review can be a film, a TV program, a website, an advertisement, a piece of hardware, a movie review, an academic conference, a business practice, a work of media policy -- anything. Questions that may arise include:
- How do genres create pleasure across media?
- How do media create pleasure across genres?
- What strategies does one take to review works of a genre or cycle?
- How can one conceptualize media criticism as a genre of writing? Is online criticism a distinct genre?
- What are the advantages of reviewing works based on genre (versus other criteria)?
- How does the industry "create" genres, and how can criticism review the process of "creation"?
Reviews must be original, and creativity (in argumentation and/or style) is encouraged. Please direct reviews section questions, proposals, and submissions to brianhu@ucla.edu by March 20, 2009.
Columns
Sports media are a major force in terms of their dominance across many media forms: television, films, video games, the Internet, radio, etc. Even though sports media is lucrative enough to allow for entire networks and film production companies that are dedicated to sports media, the study of sports media remains an oft-ignored field of analysis with regards to Cinema and Media Studies. ‚ÄúColumns‚Ä? is seeking lean and muscular short papers (800-1500 words) that consider ways of analyzing and addressing the genre of sports media in its various forms. Topics may or may not address:
- The construction of narrative in sports films, television, and other media
- Production cultures and industry practices for sports media (Production, marketing, advertising, publicity, revenue, etc.)
- The aesthetics of sports networks (ESPN, NFL TV, FSC, etc.) and sports media
- Sports media as transmedia properties
- The coverage of sports in the press, magazines, radio, Internet, blogs, etc.
- Effects of the digital on the consumption of sports media (Tivo classics, podcasts, YouTube highlights, etc.)
- Effects of high-definition and 3-D technologies on sports media
- Cultures of consumption for sports media (Fantasy sports leagues, video games, trading cards, etc.)
Please submit "Columns" questions, proposals, and submissions to Bryan Hartzheim at bhartz@ucla.edu by March 20, 2009.
Meta
The pursuit of cinema and media scholarship often leaves unexamined questions about the practice of scholarship itself: how we formulate analysis and argument, why certain issues emerge to the fore, what new forms and expressions of media and cultural analysis enhance our understanding. The ‚ÄúMeta‚Ä? section presents students and scholars of cinema and other media the opportunity to publish work that exemplifies scholastic self-awareness‚Äîpapers and projects that contemplate academic methods, critique their implications and limitations, and propagate new approaches to media scholarship.
Mediascape‚Äôs examination of genre prompts many intriguing questions about the longevity and malleability of an approach to media scholarship that remains as durable as it is divisive. What is genre today, and why do genre studies remain relevant in a postmodern context? How does the inclusion of television and new media alter our understanding of genre? Does genre unify expectations of industrial production, public reception, and critical analysis‚Äîor does it seek to limit variation and suppress new genre development? These and many other questions are of particular interest to ‚ÄúMeta‚Ä? for the next issue.
If you have questions about META submissions, or wish to submit a paper or project for consideration, please contact David O’Grady at david@davidogrady.com by March 20, 2009.
