Call for Proposals:
The integration of production and theory/history in Cinema and Media Studies courses
Deadline: December 15, 2015
Among the challenges confronting those of us teaching history/theory courses in Cinema and Media Studies is a relatively new set of interrelated questions which, if we oversimplify, boil down to: Should I incorporate production assignments in the syllabus? How do I incorporate them? And, what exactly constitutes production? The rise of videography and its recent academic canonization through the peer-reviewed outlet [In]Transition make such questions all the more pressing. Indeed, the time has come to pool our pedagogic energies–collect our thoughts and share our experiences–on the integration of production with theory/history in our syllabi.
Some of the questions and hypotheses to be examined in the forthcoming issue of the Cinema Journal Teaching Dossier can be, but are not limited to:
- What are the pedagogic reasons behind the perceived need to incorporate production in theory/history courses?
- How do we define production, or what does “production” look like in theory and history courses?
- As more and more job listings stress the desirability of scholar-practitioners or at the very least scholars who would feel comfortable teaching production elements in their classes, how do we educate ourselves for this kind of market?
- In times of rampant neoliberal pragmatism in higher education, is it possible that what motivates the perception of such a need to integrate production into historical and theoretical classes is also a matter of competition? In other words, how do we keep enrollments in non-production classes on par with production classes?
- In what ways is the integration of production into history and theory courses a fantastic pedagogic opportunity? Does it mean we de-emphasize writing? What are the consequences of such a de-emphasis?
- What is happening at your school? Does it have two tracks? What is the synergy between them?
- What are the roadblocks to integrating production elements into your courses?
- How do you train graduate students or help them integrate production into their teaching?
- How have you integrated production into your theory and history courses? What projects have you used successfully?
We invite proposals addressing these and other topics relevant to the integration of theory/history and production. Submit a 250-word abstract for a proposed 1500-word essay, briefly describing the essay topic, and a 150-word biography to Chera Kee ([email protected]) and Maurizio Viano ([email protected]) by Decembert 15, 2015. The completed essay (including all images and links) will be due by January 23 2016.
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