[ecrea] CFP: Birth of an Answer DEADLINE EXTENSION June 8

Conference Call For Papers - The Birth of an Answer: An Exploration of
African-American Media

Responses - June 8, 2015 at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia


Please note, this proposal has been circulated earlier. However, we are
extending the submission time by an extra month to accommodate possible
late-breaking work on significant events as well encourage students at
both the undergraduate and graduate level to present.


2015 marks a unique moment in American media history as the nation
reflects upon D.W. Griffith’s release of Birth of a Nation. Regarded as
a landmark achievement in narrative film style and storytelling, it was
the first film to be screened in the White House and is often lauded as
one of the greatest films in the history of American cinema. However,
the film includes decidedly negative depictions of African Americans by
white’s in blackface. At the same time it celebrated the rise of the Klu
Klax Klan and is often credited with inspiring a rise in the second wave
of the Klan. The film inspired a substantial response by African
Americans across the country including protests by the NAACP and several
cities banning the film. This included attempts by a number of Norfolk
citizens to stop screenings of the film. The film inspired a strong set
of responses by African American filmmakers including two specific
films, John W. Noble’s The Birth of a Race (1918) and Oscar Micheaux’s
Within Our Gates (1919), the latter of which was positioned as a
response by the African-American community. It is with this in mind that
we are assembling a one-day conference where we hope to explore these
and other responses of African-American made media to systematic media
ignorance and misrepresentation. Examples of this could include but are
not limited to the:

  *

    -  Use of social media to respond moments of crisis.

  *

    -  Employment of music genres such as hip-hop and R&B as an
    accessible and important

    means of creating counter public forms of expression and pleasure.

  *

    -  Multiple histories of African-American media ownership.

  *

    -  History of specific forms and forums of media representation
    specifically dedicated to

    resisting specific stereotypes and narrative positions.

  *

    -  Important moments of African-American produced film and television.

  *

    -  History of African-American media distribution, exhibition and
    reception.

  *

    -  Investigation into African-American investment in digital
    technologies such as websites,

    blogs, social networks and podcasts and their
    discursive/representational impacts.

  *

    -  Unique convergence of African-American forms and traditions in
    film, television, musical

    recordings and online spaces.

  *

    -  Systematic ignorance of mainstream media groups such as the
    Academy of Motion

    Pictures Arts and Sciences and the controversy over the group’s lack
    of diversity.


    We would like submissions from scholars of all levels (including
    undergraduate and graduate) and are not interested in any specific
    media niche. Instead, we are interested in creating conversations
    around a variety of media in order to better facilitate the
    understanding that answers to the African-American struggle to fully
    participate in the public sphere of debate and entertainment. The
    one-day conference will be part of a larger celebration including
    screenings and prominent speakers. Paper proposals should be no more
    than 250 words. Please include bio no more than 100 words. All
    proposals should be due June 8th, 2015 and addressed to Dr. Tim
    Anderson at (tjanders /at/ odu.edu).



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 


Avi Santo, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Director, Institute for the Humanities
Old Dominion University
Office: Batten Arts & Letters 3042
E-mail: (asanto /at/ odu.edu)

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