Doing Women’s Film and Television History VII

18-20 June 2025

University of Lincoln (UK)

Deadline: December 6, 2024

This seventh iteration of the Women’s Film and Television History Network conference will foreground transnational and transmedial approaches to histories of women’s work in and across film, television and related media. The conference seeks to expand women’s film and TV histories by exploring cross-border and cross-medial relationships. 

An 'entangled’ approach to film, TV and media historiography problematises national and mono-medial histories (Cronqvist and Hilgert, 2017). It recognises the complex processes by which film and television are made, distributed, seen and received across borders, be they geographical, cultural, ideological or otherwise defined, and in dialogue with other media.

This compels us to ‘read against the grain’ of existing histories, paying attention to ‘how historical silences are produced’ (Hilmes, 2017). These are the fundamentals of feminist media historiography, and this conference aims to bring women’s voices, figures, organisations, and stories into the light, giving them sharper focus. The conference will emphasise women’s roles in these entanglements. Our understanding of ‘women’ is inclusive and gender-expansive. 

We encourage transmedial approaches that account for the role of women in the long histories of media convergence in different social and cultural contexts, as well as related practices, such as divergence, conglomeration, inter- and cross-mediality. ‘Media’ is defined broadly.  Work that engages with (interconnected) histories of women’s film and television beyond Western contexts is welcome.   

We are calling for papers in any area of women’s film and television history, but especially those that respond to the theme, on topics such as, but not limited to:  

• Entangled and / or transnational women’s media histories and historiography: theory, practice, challenges  
  
• Case studies of film and TV workers across national or medial borders 
  
• Historicising women’s role in digital or online screen media production, distribution, consumption, promotion, publicity or criticism. 
  
• Media convergence pre- and post-digital media 
  
• Feminist and/or decolonising approaches to media archaeology
  
• Methodological challenges and approaches to entangled media histories 
  
• Entangled histories in cinema and TV industries beyond the mainstream e.g. amateur cinema, community television, independent and activist film and TV. 

We welcome proposals in the following three formats:

15-minute presentations, including the following information: 

• title  
  
• 250-word abstract  
  
• brief biography of the author(s).  
  

pre-constituted panels with a maximum of 4 speakers (panel length will be 90 minutes and should include at least 15 minutes for discussion). Pre-constituted panel proposals should include: 

• short (250-word) rationale statement, explaining the constitution of the panel and types of contributions it will include. 
  
• individual abstracts (250 word)   
  
• brief biography of all contributors. 
  

Panels can also be constituted as roundtables, workshops or other non-standard forms. Please contact the organising team to discuss ideas. 

Practice-led contributions which address women’s histories in film, television and audio/visual media are encouraged. Please submit:  

• a 250-word description  
  
• running time 
  
• display requirements   
  
• links to an excerpt and/or full work 
  
• brief biography of creator(s). 
  

If accepted, practice-led contributions may be presented as part of panels or as a limited number of separate sessions/screenings and/or made available to delegates online.   

Please submit here: https://forms.office.com/e/NvRLHtdNa2

Deadline for proposals: 6 December 2024. The acceptance of your proposal will be communicated to you by the end of January 2025. 

If you have any questions please contact Hannah Andrews (handrews@lincoln.ac.uk) and/or Jeongmee Kim (jkim@lincoln.ac.uk). On behalf of the conference organising team: Hannah Andrews, Diane Charlesworth, Jeongmee Kim, and Frances Morgan.

References 

Cronqvist, M. and Hilgert, C. (2017) Entangled Media Histories: The Value of Transnational and Transmedial Approaches in Media Historiography. Media History 23(1): 130-141. 

Hilmes, M. (2017) Entangled Media Histories: a Response. Media History 23(1): 142-4.