Orson Welles: A Centennial Celebration and Symposium, April 29-May 2, 2015

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Indiana University Cinema
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Indiana University plans an academic symposium welcoming scholars, archivists, filmmakers, and others interested in celebrating the centennial of Orson Welles's birth. The event will be held April 29-May 2, 2015 on the beautiful Bloomington, Indiana campus and hosted by Indiana University's newly established Media School; the Indiana University Libraries (including the Lilly Library, home of the Orson Welles Papers, and the IU Libraries Moving Image Archive); and Indiana University Cinema, which has earned an international reputation for the high quality of its facilities and programming.

Accompanying the symposium will be a series of Welles films and an exhibition featuring rare and unique items from the Welles collection. Renowned Wellesian scholars such as James Naremore, Joseph McBride, Patrick McGilligan, and Jonathan Rosenbaum, along with filmmakers who have worked with Welles or made films about Welles, are expected to give talks, introduce films, and appear in Q&A sessions following screenings.

Interested participants are invited to submit paper proposals on any aspect of Orson Welles's work in cinema, theater, radio, television, or journalism. As this will be the inaugural symposium of the IU Media School, the theme of Welles as a pioneer or innovator in media is a welcome topic. However, papers need not be limited to any particular critical, theoretical, historical, or political subject or method. We hope to receive proposals that deal with previously unexplored issues, but we are also interested in proposals that offer fresh approaches to much-discussed work.

Proposals should be limited to 300 words in length and consist of a brief description of the paper's theme or focus, plus a one-page vita. Proposals may be submitted for individual papers or for sessions featuring two or three panelists. Proposals for panels should be submitted as a group by the organizer, along with a short explanation of the unifying theme. In addition, each panel proposal should consist of individual paper descriptions (limited to 300 words in length), names of panelists and their vitae.

Please email your proposals to Jon Vickers, Director of the IU Cinema, at jwvicker@indiana.edu by November 15, 2014. The Symposium Program Committee will evaluate all submissions and notify all candidates of the results by December 15, 2014. We look forward to your proposals, and to celebrating Orson Welles's 100th Birthday in style.