With the ever-increasing availability of media production technology, the traditional paper writing assignment has new competition: the video essay. This is a potential boon to the discipline of media studies, as students can analyze films, television shows, video games, and radio using the same visual and sonic forms as the original texts. For instructors accustomed to utilizing written assignments, however, myriad questions abound: What are the pedagogical benefits of video essays compared to paper writing assignments? What technological savvy should we expect our students to have, and how do we teach media production skills, in addition to the standard course content? What equivalencies can be established between a research paper and a video essay, in terms of length, composition, and academic rigor? How do we properly grade assignments like these? What copyright issues have to be dealt with when using source content?
The Cinema Journal Teaching Dossier editorial team at TeachingMedia.org invites proposals that address these questions and more in regard to assigning video essays in media studies courses. Those wishing to submit should compose a 300-word abstract of the proposed 1500-word essay, briefly describing the essay topic and how it connects to the Dossier topic, as well as a 150-word teaching biography highlighting relevant courses taught. The proposal deadline is April 22, and proposals should be submitted to Erin Copple Smith at .
Cinema Journal Teaching Dossier General Guidelines
Cinema Journal and TeachingMedia.org have formed a partnership to develop a quarterly feature called the Cinema Journal Teaching Dossier. The goals of this partnership are to foster critical reflection on media studies teaching and pedagogy and to engender serious discussion of pedagogical issues via an active online platform. Topic ideas for Teaching Dossiers will originate with input from the SCMS Teaching Committee and will be approved by a representative of both Cinema Journal and TeachingMedia.org before being disseminated as calls for submissions.
Each Teaching Dossier will be overseen by a pair of editors. The editors will craft a call for submissions and shepherd submissions from acceptance to publication, as well as write an introductory essay for the Dossier.
Each Teaching Dossier will feature 4-6 essays on a similar pedagogical topic. Each essay should be between 1300-1800 words and written in scholarly prose appropriate for professional journal publication. Authors are also encouraged to take advantage of the online platform and utilize links, images, and multimedia in their posts. Citation format should be Chicago.
Submissions will be solicited via open calls, as well as targeted invitations. Those wishing to submit an essay for a Teaching Dossier should provide a 300-word abstract of the proposed essay, describing the essay topic and how it connects to the Dossier topic, as well as a 150-word teaching biography highlighting relevant courses taught. Even in the case of invited submissions, the approval process will be competitive, and only the best proposals will be accepted.
Once proposals are accepted, authors will have approximately two months to complete their essays. Essays will be submitted to the Dossier editors, who will then put the essays through a rigorous editorial process, which may include blind peer-review editorial board oversight. Authors may be asked to conduct revisions on their essays, and the editors may decline to include an essay in the Dossier if it is deemed to be substandard or insufficiently revised according to editorial demands.
Once final drafts of the essays are approved by the editors and representatives of Cinema Journal and TeachingMedia.org, the Teaching Dossier materials will be submitted to TeachingMedia.org at least one week in advance of the anticipated posting date.
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