[ecrea] CFP - What is Cinema History? (HoMER Conference 2015)

CFP: WHAT IS CINEMA HISTORY?
A HoMER Network conference
presented by the Early Cinema in Scotland research project

call for papers

University of Glasgow
22-24 June, 2015

Over the last three decades, our understanding of cinema as a historical 
phenomenon has been subject to a series of 'turns' – empirical, spatial, 
and digital, to name a few. This conference, organised by the Early 
Cinema in Scotland research project (http://earlycinema.gla.ac.uk) in 
collaboration with the HoMER Network (History of Moviegoing, Exhibition 
and Reception, http://homernetwork.org), will investigate the shifting 
positions and imperatives of cinema history and its relationships with 
other approaches and disciplines. As cinema itself unravels or merges 
into a diversity of media forms and reception contexts, the centrifugal 
impulse of cinema history is amplified by scholarly engagement with new 
technologies. At this pivotal point, we need to understand the 
contradictory legacies and perspectives of film studies, film history,
media archaeology, cultural studies, and other cognate fields, 
transcending the discourse of 'newness' that has underpinned the 
development of these methods. Thirty years after Film History: Theory 
and Practice (Allen and Gomery, 1985), what is new in the theory and 
practice of film and cinema history? To that end, this conference 
welcomes papers on the rhetoric and methods of cinema history from all 
periods, as well as empirical research projects that engage with these 
questions through case studies or comparative analysis.

Some of the topics proposed for consideration include:
• The place of cinema history in relation to other disciplines and 
research fields, such as geography or social history;
• Teaching cinema history and understanding its specialist skill-set;
• Archives, sources, and the consequences of digitisation for different 
types of cinematic heritage;
• Historical geographies of cinema and the use of digital mapping as 
analytical tool;
• Non-metropolitan and non-theatrical exhibition studies as a 
historiographical challenge;
• The rhetoric of 'newness' and revisionist historiography;
• Text, 'distant reading', and the digital humanities;
• Data sharing, comparative approaches, and micro-history.

Confirmed keynotes:
• Richard Maltby
• Haidee Wasson
• John Caughie
• Judith Thissen

Research on the history of exhibition, distribution and reception 
emphasises cinema's imbrication in the fabric of social experience, 
championing relational and contextual approaches. Since 2004 the HoMER 
Network has functioned as an international forum for researchers working 
in these areas, supporting a series of conferences, events, and 
publications. Participation in the 2015 event is not restricted to 
previous HoMER participants.

The conference will be preceded by a workshop on Historical Network 
Analysis, organised by the DICIS (Digital Cinema Studies) Network, and 
the second day will also feature a reflexive round-table on the past and 
prospects for cinema history. There will also be a HoMER general meeting 
during the conference, to decide on future structures and goals for the 
Network. This meeting is open to all conference participants interested 
in the future of HoMER. The Early Cinema in Scotland project will fund 
twenty student/unwaged bursaries to cover registration costs.

Submissions are invited for individual papers and pre-constituted panels 
or workshops. For papers, please submit an abstract of no more than 500 
words and a short biographical note to both Maria Velez-Serna 
((maria.velez-serna /at/ glasgow.ac.uk)) and Lies Van de Vijver 
((Liesbeth.VandeVijver /at/ UGent.be)) before
9 January 2015. For panels, please send the abstracts together with a 
200-word note on the title and topic of the panel or workshop.
You will be notified of the acceptance or decline of your proposal by 5 
March 2015.


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