June 17-20th 2015, Birkbeck, University of London
The Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Images (SCSMI) invites proposals for presentations at its annual conference, to be held June 17th to 20th, 2015, at Birkbeck, University of London, in Bloomsbury, central London, UK. A key criterion for selection is that proposed presentations should facilitate the society’s mission: “To encourage research into and theorizing about moving images in the context of the findings and theoretical constructs of cognitive science, as well as related issues in art theory, philosophy, literary theory, and perceptual and cognitive psychology.” A proposal may be for a long paper presentation (25 min presentation + 25 min discussion), a short paper presentation (18 min presentation + 5 min discussion), or a poster/demonstration.
The deadline for proposals is midnight (GMT) December 22nd, 2014. Decisions will be announced on February 2nd, 2015. For more information about SCSMI and its previous conferences, visit the website: http://scsmionline.org.
Guidelines for Submission
This year the organisers invite proposals for three different kinds of presentation. You may submit a proposal that can be considered for multiple formats or just one depending on which format you believe will be most suitable for your proposal.
Long Presentation: This will consist of a 25-minute presentation, including clips or illustrations, followed by 25 minutes of Q&A. This format should be reserved for well-developed projects that present potentially controversial or conceptually complicated ideas or for presentations that require numerous movie clips or the unpacking of a lot of research data.
Short Presentation: This will consist of a 23-minute session that will be divided between an 18-minute presentation and a 5-minute discussion. This format may be suitable for work in progress or ideas that may be presented more succinctly.
Poster Presentation or Demo: This may be any form of research display or demonstration. Presenters will have the opportunity to present and discuss their work during a 90-minute drinks reception/poster presentation session. A poster presentation may be the most effective way to present the methods and findings of empirical research, critical or analytical scholarship with a single strong question or thesis, or live demonstrations of short movies, essay films, or interactive installations (that can be suitably presented on a laptop or screen). A poster presentation is also the way to reach the greatest number of eyes at the conference, since the poster presentation/reception will be a plenary session, while paper presentations will have up to three concurrent panels.
Proposals must be submitted on-line using the form at this link. The questions on the proposal submission form are listed below. It is easiest if you draft your answers with a word processing application and then cut and paste them into the online form when you are ready to submit. The deadline for proposals is midnight (GMT) 22nd December, 2014. Late proposals or those that do not fulfil the technical requirements stated below will not be considered.
Proposals will be selected solely on their merits, according to the following criteria (please be sure to address each one):
The appropriateness of the topic to the interests of SCSMI,
The conceptual clarity and intellectual rigour of the project,
The contribution the project makes to advancing current understanding,
The carefulness and thoroughness of the proposal.
The content should not have been presented elsewhere in an identical form,
and must include
o Title
o List of authors
o Brief biographical statement for presenting author (25-100 words)
o A proposal (500-800 words in length)
o Bibliography of key sources (up to five; use MLA or APA format).
o A short abstract (for the conference programme; 80-160 words).
Notification of acceptance of proposals will be made by February 2nd, 2015. If an author has selected multiple possible presentation formats they will be accepted for only one format.
Presenters at SCSMI conferences must be current members of the Society. Non‐members are free to submit a proposal, but if their proposal is accepted, they have until March 15, 2015 to join SCSMI, otherwise the acceptance of their proposal will be withdrawn. To join SCSMI or learn more about membership costs and privileges, visit SCSMI’s website at http://scsmionline.org/
Further questions about the conference, the abstract submission process or any problems encountered during submission should be addressed to scsmi2015@gmail.com.