2009 Summer Doctoral Seminar at Wayne State University
June 10 - 13, 2009 in Detroit, Michigan                                             - see video promo below! -
with renowned guest scholar Dr. Amy Villarejo

"QUEER MEDIA CULTURE"

Twenty-five years have passed since critic B. Ruby Rich designated a set of exciting and edgy films as "the new queer cinema."   Tom Kalin's Swoon,  Jennie Livingston's Paris is Burning, Todd Haynes' Poison, and other films of the early 1990s challenged the political and aesthetic rules of the filmmaking game, and provoked new forms of narrative and new image-repertoires for queer culture.  In the interval, we have seen the growth of multi-channel platforms and new media, and the corporatization and dispersion of public media spheres.  How do we confront the world of Logo, The L Word, and Project Runway alongside transnational independent productions such as Nina's Heavenly Delights or Out in India?  What modes of analysis are appropriate to changing social conditions of media practice?  This seminar will pursue these broad questions through readings and screenings devoted to this quarter century of queer media culture. 

 

Dr. Amy Villarejo, Cornell University, will lead the 2009 Summer Doctoral Seminar.  Villarejo has a joint appointment in the Feminist, Gender, & Sexuality Studies Program and the Department of Theatre, Film & Dance (of which she is currently chair) at Cornell.  She is author of Lesbian Rule:  Cultural Criticism and the Value of Desire (Duke University Press, 2003), which won the prestigious Katherine Singer Kovacs Award for Best Book from the Society for Cinema and Media Studies in 2005.  She is author, co-author, or co-editor of a number of other books, from Queen Christina (with Marcia Landy, BFI, 1995) to Keyframes (with Matthew Tinkcom, Routledge, 2001), and Film Studies: The Basics (Routledge, 2007).  At present, she is completing a book on queer television entitled Ethereal Queer for Duke University Press.  Her books and essays address documentary cinema, social activist art, digital media, queer and feminist theory, experimental form, and the critique of globalization.

 
ADMISSION INFORMATION

PhD students interested in being exposed to leading Communication research and theory are encouraged to apply to the Seminar. A small group of doctoral students from throughout the nation will be selected to join this unique summer program, our 4th annual. Advanced master's students may be considered space permitting. Most expenses for accepted candidates will be paid by the Department of Communication at Wayne State University. Covered expenses include roundtrip transportation, lodging & meals, and course materials. In addition, a welcoming reception and social events will give participants time to get to know each other and to discuss and exchange ideas.  

Complete the online Application Form ( http://snipurl.com/docsem09 )
and then SEND a CURRENT VITA to wsudocsem@gmail.com

Application Deadline: March 13, 2009

For more information you may contact the Summer Seminar Committee chair:

Dr. Jackie Byars
jbyars@wayne.edu

Summer Doctoral Seminar
Department of Communication
585 Manoogian Hall
Detroit, MI 48201
FAX (313) 577-6300
PHONE (313) 577-2943

A flyer promoting the summer seminar is available as a pdf.

 A podcast from the 2008 Summer Seminar can be heard here, and the members and activities of the 2007 Summer Seminar by clicking here or the 2006 Summer Seminar by clicking here.