The “Stars and Screen” Film and Media History Conference is an Interdisciplinary Symposium dedicated to Film History, Archival Research, Cinema and Media History.

In the ‘Golden Age’ of Classical Hollywood Cinema, MGM was known as the motion picture studio with “More Stars Than There Are In Heaven.” In fact, ‘Stars’ have illuminated cinematic screens for over 100 years, from classic movie stars (Bogart, Bacall, Hepburn, Chaplin) to films about Hollywood’s star factory (A Star Is Born, What Price Hollywood?) to shooting stars (Deep Impact), falling stars (Sunset Boulevard, Raging Bull), and stars in ‘space, the final frontier’ (Star Trek) in a ‘galaxy far, far away’ (Star Wars). Digital video streaming and binge watching of films and media also re-imagines and creates new moving image ‘stars’ transforming the cinematic or televisual production, distribution, and viewing reception experience. What does this nostalgic re-imagining of film history and cinematic production of stars on screen tell us about the cultural moment we find ourselves in? The 2018 Film and Media History Conference explores the theme of “Stars and Screen.”

The 2018 “Stars and Screen” Film and Media History Conference invites paper proposals from all areas of Film History, Cinema and Media Studies and interdisciplinary submissions from across the humanities, arts, sciences and social sciences, including:

  • Film History,
  • Classical Hollywood Cinema,
  • Archival Research,
  • Film/Media Industry,
  • Historical Development of the Studio System,
  • Women Writers, Directors and Producers in Hollywood
  • Film Noir, Femme Fatales, Hard-Boiled Antiheroes,
  • Star System, Major Studios, Independent Production,
  • Censorship, Film/Media Propaganda,
  • Film Genres (Science Fiction, Musical, Comedy, Western, Gangster, Thriller, Horror),
  • Hollywood ‘Star Factory,’
  • Women and Men in the Dream Factory,
  • Émigrés, Immigrants, and Refugees,
  • Filmmakers as behind-the-scenes ‘Star’ Auteurs,
  • Hollywood Blacklist,
  • Evolution of Stars (Bogart, Bacall, Chaplin, Hepburn, Cagney, Hayworth, Brando) from the Silent Era to ‘Contract’ Studio Creative Talent to Independent Filmmakers/Producers
  • International Cinema,
  • TV/Netflix/Long-Form Cinematic Drama,
  • Motion Picture Technology, New Media,
  • Convergence between Film and Television,
  • Television History,
  • Music, Jazz, Soundtracks, ‘Star’ Musicians, Musical Stars,
  • Hollywood and Democracy,
  • Radio, Music/Recording Industry
  • American Studies,
  • Documentary, Third Cinema,
  • Popular Culture, Animation, Avant-Garde Cinema,
  • Images of Women, Gender, Ethnicity/Race, History, Science, Politics in Film and Media.

Paper proposals are invited from ALL AREAS of film history and media studies. Proposals relating to the conference theme are encouraged, but also of interest are submissions on film history, classical Hollywood cinema, archival research, national cinemas, film genres and stars, auteur studies, film and music, media industry, television history and new media, science fiction, and cultural or political issues connected to the moving image. Proposal abstracts should be 200-300 words in length and are due by June 15, 2018.

Please submit your proposal electronically by entering your abstract on the Stars and Screen Conference Submission Form.

The conference’s keynote speakers include: 

Thomas Schatz, Professor and Chair of the Department of Radio-Television-Film at The University of Texas at Austin and author of Hollywood Genres: Formulas, Filmmaking, and the Studio System; The Genius of the System: Hollywood Filmmaking in the Studio Era; and Boom and Bust: American Cinema in the 1940s.

Brian Neve, Honorary Reader in Art and Politics of Film at The University of Bath, UK and author of Film and Politics in America: A Social Tradition; Elia Kazan: The Cinema of an American Outsider; and The Many Lives of Cy Endfield: Film Noir, the Blacklist, and Zulu.

Cynthia Baron, Professor of Theatre and Film Studies, American Culture, and Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies at Bowling Green State University and author of Reframing Screen Performance; Denzel Washington; and Modern Acting: The Lost Chapter of American Film and Theatre.

Charles Maland, Professor of Film Studies, American Cultural Studies and American Literature at The University of Tennessee and author of Chaplin and American Culture: The Evolution of a Star Image; Frank Capra; City Lights; and American Visions: The Films of Chaplin, Ford, Capra, and Welles.

The conference will take place at Rowan University, located in Glassboro, in South New Jersey. It is within easy driving distance of Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and about 100 miles south of New York City, and is served by the nearby Philadelphia (PHL) airport. The Courtyard Marriott Glassboro-Rowan University Hotel is located adjacent to the Rowan University campus.

For more information, visit the ‘Stars and Screen’ Film and Media History Conference website at cstonline.netstarsandscreen.blogspot.com/