Cinema Journal Teaching Dossier Call for Proposals: Paratexts and Pedagogy

Cinema Journal Teaching Dossier at TeachingMedia.Org
Call For Proposals: Paratexts and Pedagogy

In the media industry as well as in media studies, paratext is the new text.  What does this mean in the classroom?  The variety of paratexts now circulating online gives instructors and students access to a wide range of material surrounding films, TV shows, and new media. In Show Sold Separately, Jonathan Gray demonstrates the value of analyzing paratexts – from trailers to title sequences – with the same care and attention as traditional media texts. This dossier seeks to draw attention to paratexts as objects for classroom activity and analysis through a series of pedagogical questions:  How do the terms of formal analysis shift when performing an analysis of a paratext?  Are there new vocabularies that should accompany the analysis of paratexts? Should archival research be a component of paratextual analysis for students?  How does the analysis of paratexts complicate discussions of authorship? Is it important to devote time to the recognition of the artists (and companies) who create paratexts? When asking students to create a paratext for an assignment (e.g. a trailer remix, a contribution to a wiki, etc.), what skills should they learn in preparation for the assignment?  How should the paratexts they create be evaluated? What theories and definitions of the paratext are most valuable in the media studies classroom?

The Cinema Journal Teaching Dossier editorial team at TeachingMedia.org invites proposals that address these questions and more in regard to teaching media paratexts and asking students to produce paratexts. 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 biography highlighting courses taught or other relevant experience. Proposals should be submitted to Ted Hovet ([email protected]) and Lisa Patti ([email protected] ) by August 15th.  Completed essays (including all images and links) will be due on October 1st.

 

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.