Updated January 10, 2022 - With escalating Covid infections and uncertainty around Omicron, the SCMS Board is deliberating the best path forward for its members for Chicago 2022. Please watch the latest update from the Board of Directors.

FAQ for the 2022 SCMS Annual Conference

The SCMS Annual Conference helps create a vibrant, interactive, and crucial community for attendees in the fields of Cinema and Media Studies. One of the most important aspects of this conference is its community; sustaining and enhancing this community connection is paramount to the organization’s board and staff.

After a two year in-person hiatus, we realize that the annual meeting is more essential than ever: it brings our scholarly community together through shared research, provides opportunities for scholars to learn about the job market, and facilitates networking with publishers and colleagues in our areas of expertise. And after hosting a wholly virtual conference in 2021, we also recognize the many benefits that virtual participation offers members that may be facing financial difficulties, travel restrictions, other uncertainties, and more.

Therefore, this year, we are experimenting with a new format in which part of the conference will be virtual and part in-person. This is not a hybrid conference, but a two-part event. This year's virtual pre-conference will be included as a benefit of society membership, so all members can participate in this event—including Seminars—regardless of in-person conference registration or attendance. As we move forward, the SCMS board and staff will continue to examine conference policies, practices, and semi-regular virtual conference options.

2022 Conference Format and Basic Info

When and where will the dual format conference/s be held?

The conference will be held in two blocks: a virtual pre-conference on February 25-26, 2022 and then a four day in-person conference on Thursday, March 31 - Sunday, April 3, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois at the Fairmont Hotel Millennium Park and Swissôtel.

What will be included in the pre-conference? What will be included in the in-person conference?

The 2022 conference will consist of a two-day virtual pre-conference and a four day in-person conference.

• The Two-day Virtual Pre-conference will consist of SIG and Caucus meetings, Committee Meetings, the Institutional Chairs Meeting, the Members Business Meeting, Mentoring Sessions, Seminars, Special Events and other organizational or professional meetings.
• The Four-day In-Person Conference will consist of panels, workshops, roundtables, special events, the 2022 Awards Ceremony, as well as receptions and social events. The Exhibit Area will also be in-person.

Do I have to pay or register if I only attend the virtual pre-conference?

All current SCMS members will be granted access to the virtual pre-conference. No conference registration is required. Your membership dues allow you to attend all meetings and to participate in or join the audience for Seminars.

Registration will be required for all attendees of the in-person conference.

Why is the in-person conference only 4 days?

• Members have consistently expressed concerns that the five day schedule presents hardships—including getting away from teaching obligations, securing childcare and eldercare, hotel and food costs, and more.
• Over the past decade, our membership has grown; as the number of SIG meetings and other business expanded, we could not identify a way to shorten the conference without cutting the number of panels we could accept.
• By moving SIG, Caucus, and other meetings as well as Seminars to the pre-conference, we can have almost exactly the same number of panels as we would normally have in Chicago (420 in 2022 vs 427 in 2017). Therefore, your chances of having a proposal accepted are not negatively impacted.
• Because the virtual pre-conference went so well in 2021 and many members expressed that they preferred the virtual space for the “business” part of SCMS, we decided to hold SIG, Caucus, and Committee meetings, the Member and Institutional Chairs meetings and Seminars virtually in 2022. Members reported that the Zoom meeting format enhanced rather than detracted from these events, and offered more opportunities for member participation. Panels, workshops and roundtables will still be held in-person.

May I participate in the virtual pre-conference without being a member?

Anyone who wishes to attend either the virtual pre-conference or participate in the in-person conference must be a current member. Therefore, be sure to renew your membership.

Why did SCMS divide the annual conference into a pre-conference and in-person conference?

Separating the pre-conference and conference meetings will allow SCMS to:

• Shorten the length of the in-person conference from five days to four, which will save members money on hotel rooms and enable people to attend more of the conference.
• Host our usual number of panels even within the shortened in-person conference, so that we can have the maximum number of members presenting and participating.
• Ensure that members have fewer business meetings vying for their time when they might like to be engaging with new scholarship in the field via panels, workshops, and roundtables.
• Provide access to important SIG, Caucus, Committee, Mentoring, and other meetings for members who are unable to attend the in-person conference this year.

Why not have virtual panel sessions or a totally hybrid conference?

The SCMS board considered these options but decided on a virtual pre-conference and a fully in-person conference this year because:

• The logistics for a hybrid conference are prohibitive because the needs of in-person and remote participants are different and require distinct models of conference programming.
• At this time, it is prohibitively expensive to do (partly) virtual sessions from inside a hotel or conference center due to the exorbitant costs for securing bandwidth onsite, virtual conference platform fees, etc.
• After one cancelled conference and one wholly virtual conference, a majority of members (around 80%) expressed the desire for an in-person meeting.
• Hosting a virtual pre-conference offers some of the benefits of membership—such as participating in SIGs, Caucuses, and Committees as well as Mentoring Sessions, Special Events, and more—to people who could not attend in-person.
• We have financial obligations to hotels from our cancelled 2020 and 2021 in-person conferences. To fulfill those obligations and avoid enormous financial penalties, we had to agree to have a conference at the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago this year (as well as in 2026), and will return to the Sheraton Denver in 2023.

Will SCMS ever have a wholly virtual or hybrid conference?

We know that many members desire more virtual or hybrid events moving forward and we will continue to host virtual SCMS+ events as part of our year-round programming. Please know that we hear your feedback and the board is seriously investigating semi-regular virtual conference options. At this time, SCMS is currently fulfilling hotel contracts for the upcoming 2022, 2023 and 2026 conferences. We hope this year’s virtual pre-conference will fulfill some of our community’s more immediate needs.

What is the time zone of the SCMS 2022 pre-conference?

As Chicago is the location of the 2022 conference, for planning purposes, the official time zone for the conference will be Chicago/Central Time. However, as an international organization, SCMS aims to maximize opportunities for participation for the virtual pre-conference across all time zones.

What kinds of conference sessions are available during SCMS 2022? 

As is our usual practice, SCMS is offering three forms of sessions during the in-person conference: Panels, Workshops, and Roundtables. Seminars will be held during the virtual pre-conference.

Do I need to be a member to submit a 2022 conference proposal?

Yes. Last year, we waived this requirement but for 2022, you will need to be an active member to submit a proposal. SCMS is a non-profit organization and all income comes back to its members.

More information about the benefits of SCMS Membership can be found below in the section entitled 2022 Conference Registration and Membership Fees as well as on the SCMS website . Please remember that SCMS is a membership organization; we rely on membership and registration to support the society's year-round activities. Unfortunately, we lost a great deal of money in the last two years due to canceling two in-person conferences and moving 2021 to a virtual platform.

How and when do I submit a proposal for the conference?

Proposals are accepted via our conference submission portal beginning July 15. The deadline for 2022 proposals is Tuesday, August 31, 2021, 5:00 PM Central Time. More information on how to submit and what presentation formats are accepted can be found on our general Conference FAQs page . SCMS invites all members to submit a proposal for the annual conference.

When will I find out if I was accepted to the conference?

Accept/decline notices will be sent out in mid-November.

If my proposal is accepted, what are the registration requirements?

 All presenters must register for the conference. The deadline for presenters to register and become a member to be listed in the final program is January 28, 2022.

Why are the Caucus/SIG business meetings taking place during the virtual pre-conference?

To allow members to be engaged in their Caucus/SIGs regardless of whether or not they attend the in-person conference, the SCMS Board and staff decided to move these business meetings to the virtual pre-conference. Additionally, the virtual format allows members to attend more Caucus/SIG meetings than is possible in person.

We will offer receptions, a coffee break, and other means of mixing to allow for networking during the in-person conference.

• SIGs and Caucuses can host formal and informal gatherings during the conference separate from their business meetings online.
• We encourage members to suggest or plan events that can be held during the year outside the conference. SCMS+ is a great way to host webinars and discussions and many SIGs have hosted Zoom events. Additionally, we have the SCMS Partners program to try and host events outside the United States.
• By moving SIG, Caucus, and other meetings as well as Seminars to the pre-conference, we can have almost exactly the same number of panels as we would normally have in Chicago (420 vs 427 in Chicago 2017). Therefore, your chances of having a proposal accepted are not negatively impacted.

Why are Seminars taking place during the virtual pre-conference?

• We want Seminars to be accessible to as many people as possible. It is our goal to ensure that graduate students (who make up 50% of Seminar participants), members based outside of the US, and others who may not be able to attend the conference can still join a Seminar, either as participants or audience members.
• Seminars lend themselves to the online format because much of the work is done in advance of the session.
• Moving the Seminars to the virtual pre-conference enables us to schedule roughly 23 panels in the Sunday morning time slot before the coffee break.
• Because we are holding Seminars during the pre-conference, you do not have to register for the conference to attend or participate in them.

Will anything at the pre-conference or in-person conference be recorded?

For the virtual pre-conference , meetings may be recorded at the discretion of the chair. These recordings will be made available online to SCMS members until March 10, 2022. We realize that it might be difficult for our membership to attend all proceedings due to time zone and dependent care challenges, among other commitments. We also recognize that some members may be concerned about privacy issues, which is why we are requiring login access and prohibiting individual downloads and screen-captures. Particular meetings can choose not to be recorded and individuals can choose to keep their microphone/camera off.

For the in-person conference , we will not record sessions and we will not host pre-recorded sessions. In Chicago, all participation and presentations will be held live and in-person.

In Person - Chicago

Why are we going back to Chicago again?

SCMS has financial obligations to the Chicago hotel from when we cancelled the in person conference in 2021. We are also going to Chicago because it is an accessible hub for travelers with two airports and Amtrak. It also offers excellent public transportation, restaurants, museums, shopping, and amenities. We will also be in Chicago in 2026.

What is the conference venue in Chicago?

This year, we will have two venues. While the bulk of the sessions will be at the Fairmont Hotel Millennium Park, we will also have space at the Swissôtel across the street. This hotel is accessible via an underground walkway or by walking across the street. It has a bar and restaurant and will have a smaller block of hotel rooms available to SCMS members. SCMS panels will be in meeting rooms on the two lower floors which are accessible by elevator, escalator, and stairs (no long elevator rides as we did at the Mid-America Club the last time we met in Chicago).

Why should I book a room at the Fairmont or Swissôtel when I can easily get an airBnB, use Expedia, or stay at a cheaper hotel?

SCMS must guarantee that we will fill a certain number of hotel rooms to access crucial hotel amenities like our meeting spaces; rooms for nursing, quiet space, and the lounge (to work and charge devices); exhibits; receptions; free wifi, and more. If SCMS does not fill our block of rooms, we will incur massive penalties.

This year, we ask that you first book at the Fairmont. There will also be a smaller block of rooms for our members at the Swissôtel. Both hotels are offering us discounted room blocks (and will be the same nightly rate). If you are travelling with children, a Kids Room at the Swissôtel might be a nice option for you. You can read about them here . Please contact us if you are interested - you cannot book kids rooms through the website.

Please note that we work very hard to obtain the lowest nightly room rates possible. We locked in rates for this conference when we were last at the Fairmont in 2017. They are much lower than you could normally get at a comparable hotel in Chicago.

SCMS will have a roommates forum available after acceptance notices are sent. Attendees who are interested in sharing a room onsite may use the forum or Facebook to find roommates.

Why can’t SCMS book a budget hotel too, so that we have a choice?

Staying in the conference hotel is the most convenient choice for SCMS members and supports SCMS and our meeting needs. A budget hotel is less expensive because almost all of its square footage is for sleeping rooms; it can charge a lower rate for those rooms, but doesn’t have the meeting rooms or audiovisual services to serve us. They are often in locations where real estate is less expensive. After we've filled our contracted quotas with the Fairmont and our smaller block at the Swissôtel, some less expensive options might become available.

Are you requiring vaccinations to attend in-person?

SCMS is following CDC guidelines and monitoring the changing landscape of the virus across the globe. We recognize that vaccinations may not yet be accessible to all of our members. For these reasons, the board will announce any Covid-related policies or restrictions closer to the conference. We encourage all members to get vaccinated (when the vaccine is made available to you) and to research vaccination rules and any other restrictions that may impact your travel.

Are Covid-19 safety protocols going to be in place at the in-person meeting?

Our top priority is the health and safety of all attendees. We are monitoring the Covid-19 status and following guidance from the CDC as well as following standards set forth by the venue and municipal, state, and federal authorities. We will execute best practices to help attendees stay healthy and to reduce exposure and risk. Any protocols will be a living document that will continue to evolve as venue and local standards change.

SCMS will communicate all procedures and information regarding precautions prior to the conference, and reserves the right to remove an attendee from the conference, in the event of an attendee not following announced guidelines.

My institution says they will not be able to provide travel funds. Will SCMS be able to help me?

SCMS will have a limited number of travel grants available. We will announce additional information in the coming weeks/months.

Can you make sure my session is not scheduled at the same time as other sessions on similar topics? The program takes place over several days with many scheduled sessions, and some conflicts are unavoidable. The Program Committee works hard to avoid conflicts of topics and potential audiences. Because we offer as many as 23 sessions at a time, and because sessions may take up multiple topics and multiple kinds of media, it is not always easy to avoid conflicts. Please know that we try very hard to do so and continue to refine our programming methods to better serve members.

I am not sure I will be allowed entry to the US by the time of the in-person conference in Chicago. Will I be able to cancel and obtain a refund?

Please see the SCMS Cancellation and Refund policies below.

Can I obtain a visa letter of invitation if I need one? 

To obtain a letter of invitation, you will need to fill out an electronic form to request visa support. We will have more information about this when acceptance notices are sent. In the meantime, we strongly advise participants to personally check entry and visa requirements before making travel arrangements at least 3 months ahead of time, as there might be country-specific conditions that you are not aware of. For the most accurate information please contact the embassy/consulate of the country where the conference will be held, in your home country. Also remember that your request for a letter of invitation to attend the SCMS Annual Conference does not guarantee you will obtain a visa.

What kind of accessibility arrangements are available? What about child care? Areas for privacy? (e.g. lactation, quiet, etc.)

SCMS will provide support services upon request, designated areas for privacy, as well as dependent care grants this year. More information to come.

Can a presenter participate virtually (via a platform such as Zoom or Skype) during the in-person conference if they cannot be physically present? OR Can I present remotely or via recording?

No. At this time, we are unable to provide the option of “hybrid” participation. At the in-person conference, all participation and presentations will be held live and in-person.

What if someone from my session cannot commit to being in person?

We know it is very difficult to plan for next year, given the uncertainties around Covid-19, university budgets, and international travel. That being said, we are cautiously optimistic that we will be able to meet in Chicago next year.

Assuming that we can safely meet in person, we will continue our practice of presenters presenting their work in person unless there are extenuating last-minute circumstances. Should a panelist or participant be unable to attend the scheduled presentation in Chicago, the session itself will continue as scheduled, and we ask that Chairs announce any individual cancellations at the beginning of the presentation. We are unable to accommodate requests for hybrid presentations via Zoom or pre-recorded formats at this time.

With seminar topics, special events, and business meetings within a virtual pre-conference space that is included in membership dues, we hope to include all members into the scholarly conversations and business for the year, regardless of restrictions on travel.

2022 Conference Registration & Membership Fees

How much will this year’s conference registration cost?

• We are still determining the 2022 SCMS in-person conference registration rates and will post this information as soon as possible.
• As a reminder, SCMS relies on membership and registration fees to run the conference and maintain baseline operations for the organization, including staff salaries, throughout the year. Without these funds, the organization cannot remain solvent.

What are the benefits of membership?

SCMS Individual Membership provides:

• JCMS: Journal of Cinema and Media Studies : Receive access to four quarterly issues of JCMS per membership year, as well as access to the JCMS /Cinema Journal archives through Project Muse
• Annual Conference: Engage with the leading scholars in the field at the SCMS annual conference held in locations across the U.S. and abroad
• Awards: The Society also sponsors annual award competitions to honor professional and scholarly achievements in film and media scholarship. These honors include awards for books, edited collections, essays, and dissertations. SCMS also recognizes other forms of professional distinction with awards for pedagogy and service.
• Membership Database/Social Networking: Put yourself in in contact with colleagues, collaborators and mentors
• Career Center: Access the most up-to-date and specific job listings, and gain access to useful insight from established professionals about careers in cinema and media studies
• Caucuses and Scholarly Interest Groups (SIGs): Locate existing or build new groups of SCMS members interested in specific aspects of media culture such as Television Studies and Sound Studies, or Caucuses that support underrepresented members within the organization.
• Member Organizations: Additional organizational groups within SCMS also work on behalf of student members and fellow scholars. The Graduate Student Organization (GSO) provides fellowship, support, and advocacy for the Society’s graduate student members. The Precarious Labor Organization (PLO) provides community and advocacy for the Society’s members who are in positions without job security or a clear route to promotion and advancement.
• SCMS+ and Workshops: An informal, dynamic, responsive, and member-led initiative, SCMS+ extends the conversation among members of the SCMS community beyond the annual conference for scholarly reflections, events, and other forums. Additional workshops are also led year-round by Caucuses, SIGs, the GSO and the PLO.
• In 2021-2022, membership also gives you access to the entire 2022 virtual pre-conference, including Seminars and special events. Membership also allows you to submit proposals for the 2022 in-person conference.

Membership in SCMS covers the operating costs and expenses that sustain us as an organization throughout the year, including funding for Caucus/SIGs, travel and dependent care grants, registration waivers for graduate students and so on. SCMS is a non-profit organization: all income cycles back to its members.

For more on the benefits of membership and dues, please visit our membership page .

What is the SCMS cancellation and refund policy? 

Once a paper or session is submitted, it is expected that the author(s) will present their paper at the conference if the proposal is accepted. Participation in the conference is highly competitive, and a cancelled presentation eliminates a spot that could have accommodated another scholar. Participants whose proposals are accepted for the conference MUST pay their conference fees no later than January 28, 2022. Conference payments not made by this date will result in the participant’s name not appearing in the program. All participants must be registered and have a badge to present and attend the conference.

Membership dues are not refundable even if your paper is not accepted.

All cancellation notifications and requests for conference registration refunds must be submitted online by 5:00 PM CT, Friday, February 11, 2022. A cancellation form will be available after acceptance notices are sent. We are unable to process cancellation by phone or email. Conference registration refunds will be processed at 80% of the amount paid until 4:59 PM CT, Friday, February 11, 2022. Upon request, registration fees may also be converted to a donation to SCMS.

After 5:00 PM CT, Friday, February 11, 2022: No refunds, unless SCMS cancels the conference, in which case SCMS would communicate clear policies with all registrants ASAP.

Limited Waivers for Participants Outside of Academia or Media Studies-related Professionals SCMS will waive the membership requirement and/or the conference registration fee for a limited number of session participants who are not academics or individuals who would not otherwise become members of SCMS (e.g., journalists, authors, filmmakers, etc.), and whose participation is considered essential for the integrity of the session to which they are invited. Requests for a waiver must be submitted by the session organizer to SCMS via an online request form no later than August 31, 2021. In the form, please explain the session that you are organizing, the role of the proposed participant, and why her/his role is important to the session.

How do I update account and profile options when I renew my membership? 

Members can update their account and profile settings on the Manage Profile page once logged into the cmstudies.org website. From here, click on Edit Bio to update membership information, including organization/affiliation and contact information. Other profile options can also be found on the Manage Profile page, including payment and registration information, notification preferences, etc. Should you need any assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact the SCMS Home Office .

Panels, Workshops, Roundtables, and Seminars

I am submitting a seminar proposal. What should I know?

• The deadline for 2022 seminar proposals is the same as all other proposals: August 31, 2021.
• Seminars will be presented only during the pre-conference. There will not be an in-person component in 2022.
• The seminar format is particularly suited to the virtual environment, since much of the work is done before the conference begins.
• Seminar leaders may not pre-select participants. Seminar sign up is open first to graduate students (who have 50% of the seats allotted to them) and then open to the general membership on a first-come, first-serve basis.
• As in the past, seminars will be EXEMPT from the one-role rule. This means you can join a seminar even if you present a paper, or participate in a workshop or roundtable.
• Seminar leaders will be notified of their proposal status at the same time all other acceptance notices are sent at the end of October.
• All seminars will be streamed as webinars so that spectators can watch, even if not officially signed up.
• Participation and attendance at the virtual Seminars is included in your membership fee and does not require conference registration.
• For more information, please see “What are Seminars?” on our general Conference FAQ page .

How many panels, workshops, and/or roundtables can I be on?

• Members may only propose one paper for the conference, as part of a pre-constituted panel proposal or open call paper proposal.
• Members may use our conference bulletin board forum to organize or find pre-constituted panel topics.
• Panels, workshops and roundtables are NOT EXEMPT from the one-role rule. You may participate in only one of those.
• For more on panels, workshops and roundtables, please see “Presentation Compositions” on our general Conference FAQ page .

Are there character limits for conference proposals?

Yes, please note the following character limits (includes spaces) for proposal fields:

• Titles: 120 characters
• Abstracts and Panel Summaries: 2500 characters
• Bios: 500 characters
• Seminar Leader Qualifications: 1500 characters
• Roundtable Speaker Topics: 50 characters
• Three bibliography sources are required, max limit of five sources. No character limit on source fields.

Community, SIGs, and Caucuses

How will Caucus and SIG meetings work?

• Caucus and SIG meetings will take place during the virtual pre-conference scheduled for February 25-26.
• Caucus and SIG chairs will be free to make use of that time in the way they feel works best for their group.
• Caucuses and SIG chairs will be allowed to sign up for their time slots, as in the past.
• Caucuses and SIGs may wish to plan a formal or informal social gathering during the in-person conference.
• Due to the financial constraints we still find ourselves under, funds will be limited to ongoing Caucus and SIG business, including writing awards and prizes. While SCMS is not yet able to fund happy hours and the like, we hope to again in the future!

Will each group receive funds from SCMS even though the Caucus/SIG meetings are virtual?

• SCMS will continue to fund pre-existing, ongoing prizes (cash that was attached to a prize in the past) given by Caucuses and SIGs.
• SCMS will continue to fund travel grants that have previously been granted by Caucuses and SIGs.
• Caucuses can apply for the maximum allotment of $600 and SIGs can request up to $500, dispersed from a shared SIG fund pending committee review.

How will Committee meetings work?

• Committee meetings will take place during the virtual pre-conference scheduled for February 25-26.
• Committee chairs will be free to make use of that time in the way they feel works best for their group.
• Committee chairs will be allowed to sign up for their time slots.
• Committees may plan a formal or informal social gathering during the in-person conference.

Events

How will special events happen for the 2022 Conference?

• There will be special events during the pre-conference. In addition, we plan to host one special event during the pre-conference that will be accessible regardless of membership in SCMS.
• The special events in the works for the in-person conference are: Wednesday night Welcome Gathering, Awards Ceremony/Reception, Caucus/SIG Mixer, Graduate Student Reception, and Sunday Coffee Break.
• To prioritize social opportunities in 2022, we will not be hosting a call for special event proposals for the in-person conference this year.

Will there be an Awards Ceremony?

• Yes, there will be a live awards ceremony during the in-person conference on Thursday, March 31st.

General Conference FAQs about things like what makes a successful proposal, panel types and participants, the proposal review process, and more can be found at https://www.cmstudies.org/page/conference_faqUpdates to FAQ pages will be ongoing as more information is available. Thank you.