May 31—Staten Island, NY – The Department of Media Culture, with support from the Office of the Provost, the Friends of CSI and the Office of the Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences, is sponsoring CSI’s Inaugural Graduate Student Conference on the theme of Trans-(media) on June 6th and 7th from 9:30 am to 8 pm.
The conference will consist of eight panels of three graduate students each, presenting their work on a variety of topics related to the theme of Trans-(media). There will be a keynote entitled “Empty Orchestra” by Dr. Karen Tongson of the University of Southern California, and a screening of the film Here and There by George Lekovic, CSI ’04.
Of the twenty-four presentations, nine presenters are current students or recent graduates of the Cinema and Media Studies Master of Arts program through CSI’s Department of Media Culture. The remaining presentations feature students from as nearby as New York University, Hunter College, and Rutgers University, as well as from as far away as the City University of Hong Kong, De Montfort University, and the University of Bristol.
Topics covered in the conference range from James Bond, Columbian Telenovelas, Beck’s latest album release, Homeland, Glee, Smash, Black Dynamite, The Rolling Stones, and Shit Girls Say, among many other topics. The full conference schedule can be found at www.blog.csimediaculture.com
This event is the first chance for many of our students to present and share their scholarly work with a wider audience. The academic connections this conference will provide to our MA students are invaluable, in addition to the experience of a conference presentation. Furthermore, by hosting a Graduate Conference like this, our program’s visibility within the academic world is raised.
The conference has been planned and organized by students in the Media Culture Department, with support from the Office of the Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences.
There is no fee for attending the panels, but there is a registration fee of $50 required for participation in the meals scheduled. To register, please fill out the form available at http://goo.gl/zKL2F
About Trans-(media)
Transmedia storytelling, as an object of analysis, has become increasingly relevant due to the increasing use of cross-platform storytelling. While originally defined as looking at the spread of narrative across a variety of media outlets (television, print, graphic novels, video games, internet venues, etc), trans-(media) as we envision it can encompass much more. In addition to exploring the traditional definition of transmedia, we wish to explore it more in the sense of media crossing boundaries. In this way, media can cross boundaries of genre, physical and geographical boundaries, and what one may term the boundaries of gender. Our theme of trans-(media) then includes the following: trans-(national), trans-(itional), trans-(gender), trans-(gressive), trans-(formative), and trans-(ient).
About the Department of Media Culture
The Department of Media Culture is committed to providing students with a critical understanding of film, media, and communications. We integrate studies in history, theory, and criticism with practical experiences in production technique and creativity as well as external field experience, allowing our undergraduate majors to specialize in cinema studies or production, media studies, corporate communications, journalism, or design and digital media. We are also committed to introducing general education students to the rigors of studying film and media as we believe this knowledge is crucial to a comprehensive and multidisciplinary liberal arts education. In our Masters Program in Cinema and Media Studies students undertake a challenging two-year curriculum that spans core knowledge in media history, theory, criticism, and production with the aim of ushering cinema and media studies into a new era of global intellectual and innovative exchange. We prepare students for careers as administrators, writers, researchers, journalists, editors, curators, designers, and producers in the media-related fields in New York City and beyond. We also prepare students for PhD programs in cinema and communications, as well as other related disciplines in the humanities and social sciences.
About the College of Staten Island
The College of Staten Island is a four-year, senior college of The City University of New York that offers exceptional opportunities to all of its students. Programs in the liberal arts and sciences and professional studies lead to bachelor’s and associate’s degrees. The master’s degree is awarded in 16 professional and liberal arts and sciences fields of study. The College participates in doctoral programs of The City University Graduate School and University Center in Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Nursing, Physical Therapy, and Physics.
