1) Recognition of TV and other non-film media scholarship within the larger organization
While our hope is that one day this interest group won't be necessary, for now
we still feel there's a need to ensure that TV and other non-film forms of media
studies are appropriately represented and legitimated within the larger SCMS
organization. The steering committee reiterated our concerns about the film-only
composition of the original 2005 conference call for papers and program committee;
yet we also acknowledged that those errors happened as a result of oversight
not because of conscious exclusion. Indeed, both the Executive Council and Program
Committee responded quickly to those concerns, and we thanked Ann Kaplan at
the meeting for her assistance in resolving those problems.
Susan Ohmer, as both SCMS secretary and a member of SCMS-TV, raised many of
our group's concerns about representation and legitimation at the Executive
Council meeting, which occurred prior to our group meeting. We are happy to
report that as a result, our interest group will be given the same recognition,
rights, and funds as a caucus. In turn, like caucuses, our group will be responsible
for submitting annual reports to the Executive Council.
The steering committee welcomes suggestions for the use of our annual $300.00
budget. Holding a cocktail reception at the next conference would be a great
way to draw more members and to network with each other, but we welcome other
suggestions. Anyone wanting to propose uses for this money, please do so via
this listserve, or contact Mary Kearney directly at mkearney@mail.utexas.edu.
Ann and Susan also reported that in forthcoming years SCMS members will be asked
to indicate their various areas of interest in cinema and media studies when
renewing their membership. SCMS's collection of this data should provide more
concrete information on TV and other non-film media scholars within the larger
organization, as well as a more accurate roster of potential members of our
group.
2) Representation of TV and other non-film media scholarship in Cinema Journal
The steering committee also raised concerns about the minimal amount of TV and other non-film media scholarship within Cinema Journal. As Chuck Kleinhans' recent email to this group indicates, he raised these concerns at the CJ editorial board meeting in London, where they were given much consideration.
We very much appreciate the editorial board's discussion of these concerns,
and suggestions for how members of our group can increase our representation
in the journal. We understand that CJ's minimal representation of non-film scholarship
in the past has been a result of the low submission rate and quality of such
submissions. We are also very glad to hear about CJ's forthcoming forum on TV
studies edited by William Boddy.
Given that the CJ editorial board is welcoming of TV and other non-film media
submissions, we strongly encourage members of this group to submit articles
for publication so that this scholarship is better represented in SCMS's official
journal.
3) TV and other non-film media scholars on SCMS committees
Though we had good representation on this year's awards committees, TV and other non-film media scholars could be better represented on SCMS's other committees, particularly since our work now makes up roughly a third of the annual conference program.
The steering committee is particularly concerned that we need more TV and other
non-film media scholars on the Executive Council, and strongly encourages senior
faculty to run for office. Since the vast majority of our group's membership
is comprised of graduate students and junior faculty, it is extremely important
that those who have more of a track record, and thus a greater likelihood of
being elected, step forward to serve and represent TV and other non-film media
studies in the larger organization. Please note that in addition to being selected
by the Nominating Committee, candidates may be nominated by a minimum of twenty-five
(25) SCMS members. This means that we as a group can support our group members
who are want to run for office. We strongly encourage those members who are
interested in running to ask for this group's endorsement well before the election.
Our group also needs better representation on the Conference Program Committee.
If anyone is interested in serving on the 2006 committee, please contact Krin
Gabbard at kgabbard@notes.cc.sunysb.edu.
In turn, Susan and Ann encouraged folks who want to serve on other SCMS committees
to contact the new president, Stephen Prince (sprince@vt.edu), to express such
interest.
4) 2006 plenary sessions
The 2006 conference will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, from March 2-5, and the conference theme will be Media and the Americas.
The steering committee encourages our members to propose TV and other non-film
media scholars for the 2006 meeting's plenary sessions. Please submit those
to Mary Kearney (mkearney@mail.utexas.edu), and we'll pass along all suggestions
as a group to the Executive Council and Program Committee.
5) Media policy and its effect on scholarship
Jason Mittell, former steering committee member, raised concerns
about SCMS's lack of involvement in media policy issues, such as fair use and
intellectual property. In an effort to involve the larger organization in such
initiatives, Jason proposed the formation of a separate standing committee on
media policy.
Anyone interested in working with Jason on this proposal should contact him
directly (jmittell@middlebury.edu).
6) Public scholarship
Marsha Cassidy reported both on public scholarship efforts within
our field, and on her efforts to connect SCMS-TV members with British media
organizations during the London conference. In the interest of helping SCMS
do more in this area, Marsha proposes that the organization hire someone to
do publicity. She also proposed a workshop on public scholarship for the Vancouver
2006 meeting. If anyone is interested in working with Marsha on these proposals,
please contact her directly (mcassidy@uic.edu).