As the summer approaches we prepare to bid farewell to another group of brilliant minds who have been an invaluable part of the film studies graduate community for the past two years. As our colleagues and friends move on to pursue their PhDs and careers, Grad/Aperture takes a look back over the highlights of the past year.
Several MAs worked together to organize the second annual MA Symposium. The event took place at the popular venue Burritoville, and included presentations on a variety of topics such as Representations of Sound and Urban Spaces on HBO’s The Wire, Vococentrism in Caroline Martel’s The Phantom of the Operator, and Jackie Chan, Independent Distributors, and Crossover Stardom.
Synoptique: An Online Journal of Film and Moving Image Studies had an impressive relaunch. Synoptique is a student run bilingual journal and is dedicated to promoting excellence in critical film writing in accordance with the spirit of innovation and inquiry that has made Film and Moving Image Studies one of Concordia’s signature areas.
Concordia hosted the FSAC conference featuring several presenters from around North America including many of our own MAs and PhDs. The hard work of volunteers from our own community resulted in a successful weekend.
Two members of the graduate community teamed up with a former MA student to organize the Sound and Dissent conference. This conference focused on the intersections of sound and political history and brought together scholars from several Canadian institutions.
We welcomed a new full-time staff member, the prolific Kay Dickinson. Kay’s areas of expertise and research interests include Arab popular and avant-garde culture, revolutionary media, creative labour, the relationship between cinema and music and/or sound, music video, and teen media. She started off her time here at Concordia with a seminar entitled “The Sounds of Struggle.” You can check out her biography here.
Grad/Aperture was launched! A student run website for the graduate students at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema, Grad/Aperture is the place to go for information, links, resources, and events to do with the program and the world of film studies.
What an amazing year! Thank you to all the students who made it possible and congratulations again to our graduating peers.
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