cfp.english.upenn.edu

DEADLINE EXTENDED - accepting proposals through August 12.

Youth Media Production: Theory and Practice

Proposed Panel for the annual meeting of the Society of Cinema and Media Studies, March 6-10 Chicago)

Youth filmmaking is a growing area of interest which is well-represented in the popular press but still relatively under-theorized from an academic viewpoint. Current scholarship often links youth production with digital video and online practices, an approach that is frequently accompanied by narratives of newness and empowerment. While recent developments in media education and home production technology have helped lead to a new prominence for youth production, a variety of historical antecedents both color and complicate our notions of what takes place when children become media producers. This panel welcomes papers on youth media production with a variety of perspectives and emphases. It is a subject that lends itself to both contemporary and historical approaches, discussions of its potentials as well as its actuality, and explorations of practices, texts/output, representations, educators, and participants.

Possible topics include but are not limited to:
- Myths of digital natives
- Youth media education
- Accessibility and the digital divide in youth media
- Representations of youth filmmakers in documentary film
- Youth production and narratives of childhood (innocence, coming of age, etc)
- Intersections of “play” and production
- Pre-digital youth production
- Discourses of empowerment and mobilization
- Paradigms of critical engagement with youth film

Please send a 250-300 word abstract and a brief bio statement to dsageh@gmail.com by AUGUST 12. Acceptance notifications will be sent by no later than August 15th.