Call for Papers 5C Film and Media Studies: 2023 Undergraduate Conference
5C Film and Media Studies: 2023 Undergraduate Conference
Call for Submissions
Event Details:
- A one-day in-person conference to be held on Saturday February 18, 2023 at UMass-Amherst
(Integrative Learning Center 350)
- Organized by Eva Rueschmann (Cultural and Film Studies, Hampshire) and Barry Spence
(Film Studies and Comparative Literature, UMass) for the Five College Film Council
Description:
The 5C Film and Media Studies Undergraduate Conference is designed to build community
among students studying film and media on each of the five campuses, to give our most engaged
students an opportunity to hone their presentation skills, and to allow them to share insights from
their work with a wider audience. Participants will each give a 15-minute presentation as part of a
panel with 2-3 fellow students working on related themes (the organizers will assemble these
panels). Each panel will include time for questions and discussion. This is a standard format for
academic conferences in the humanities and social sciences, so the experience will offer an
additional benefit for participants who are considering graduate school. Although we are using a
formal structure, the conference will be focused on providing a friendly, supportive atmosphere for
sharing ideas and meeting colleagues across the Five Colleges.
We invite applicants who are interested in presenting scholarly work they have done in and
around Film and Media Studies. This material might come from a final paper in a class, an
independent study, or a senior thesis—even one that will still be in progress at the time of the
conference. We encourage submissions on any form of media (film, television, radio, video games,
podcasts, Internet media, etc.) and welcome a variety of approaches (textual analysis, historical
studies, explorations of archiving and curating, critical interventions presented in a creative format
such as a videographic essay or digital platform, etc.). Please note, however, that this is not a
venue for showing student films (consider submitting to the 5C Student Film Festival instead).
To Submit an Application:
By Friday, January 13, please email a PDF or .docx file of the following to Eva Rueschmann at
erueschmann@hampshire.edu with the subject line “5C Conference Submission”:
- Your name, school, year, major, and email address
- An abstract of 250-300 words
o Your abstract should deliver a succinct, well-written, and self-contained preview of the
work you’ll be presenting. Strong abstracts describe what text(s) the presentation will be
about, but spend more time on the presenter’s analysis of the text(s) and feature a clear
argument. Be sure to include a descriptive title at the top. Email
erueschmann@hampshire.edu if you’d like to see a sample abstract.
- A brief bio of 100-150 words
o This is a professional, rather than personal, bio. In it you may describe your interest in
Film and Media Studies, topics in the discipline that you find most compelling, anything
notable you’ve worked on, and/or your career ambitions after graduation.
Applicants will be notified of acceptance decisions by Tuesday, January 17. Email Eva
Rueschmann (erueschmann@hampshire.edu) or Barry Spence (bspence@umass.edu) with
questions.
