cfp.english.upenn.edu

Women and the Silent Screen VII, the seventh international conference on women and early film, will be co-hosted by the Gender Studies Program of the University of Melbourne, Australia, and the Victorian College of the Arts in September 30- October 2, 2013. Previously held in Utrecht, Santa Cruz, Montréal, Guadalajara, Stockholm and Bologna, this is the first time the conference has been brought to the Australia-Pacific region. We are inviting participants to submit abstracts (200-300 words, headed by a paper title) as well as a short biographical statement by 20/01/2013. Those who would like to propose panels or workshops should submit a panel title, as well as the individual paper proposal. We hope that the nature of the industry itself can become a starting point for questions about women’s collaborative endeavor. Topics may include, but are not limited to:

- Performance and the emotions
- Women making films
- Film and the archive
- Transnational collaborations
- Indigeneity and Indigenous Peoples
- Set design and fashion
- Monstrosity and the silent screen
- Queer theory/historiography
- Studies in National cinemas (especially Australian, East & South East Asian film)
- The New Woman
- The Sound of the Silents

Those whose work does not fall within these categories are still encouraged to submit a proposal. We will make every effort to represent the breadth of scholarship being undertaken in film history.

The conference welcomes participation from scholars, archivists, students and cinephiles. It is supported by a program of screenings at ACMI (Australia Centre for the Moving Image) which will run from 26 September to 30 September, 2013. This program will be developed in collaboration with the National Film and Sound Archive.

Keynote speakers include Richard Abel, Weihong Bao, Pam Cook, Barbara Creed, Mary Ann Doane and Shelley Stamp.

For further information see www.wss2013.arts.unimelb.edu.au

Please send your abstracts, or any questions you might have, to the organizers at wssconference2013@gmail.com