Buzzwords?
Well, the SCMS conference program is out in preliminary form. My first reaction is, wow, that's a lot of panels and papers. Far more than I remember before. It's going to be tough choosing which to attend.
Second, certain topics seem to be popular but the most overwhelming theoretical approach seems to be the public sphere. A few panels are specifically about the topic, and a good couple dozen papers seem to be on it. This oversaturation of work on the public sphere might curb my enthusiasm for making it a tenet of my current book project, except that I still feel that scholarship hasn't adequately addressed the means that Hollywood (and those who watched feature films) came to understand cinema's intervention in the mass public sphere. Let me hope, though, that "public sphere" fatigue doesn't set in soon.
UPDATE: Idiot me: I'd blanked out on the fact that "Media in the Public Sphere" is the theme of this year's conference.
Second, certain topics seem to be popular but the most overwhelming theoretical approach seems to be the public sphere. A few panels are specifically about the topic, and a good couple dozen papers seem to be on it. This oversaturation of work on the public sphere might curb my enthusiasm for making it a tenet of my current book project, except that I still feel that scholarship hasn't adequately addressed the means that Hollywood (and those who watched feature films) came to understand cinema's intervention in the mass public sphere. Let me hope, though, that "public sphere" fatigue doesn't set in soon.
UPDATE: Idiot me: I'd blanked out on the fact that "Media in the Public Sphere" is the theme of this year's conference.
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