History
The Society for Cinema and Media Studies Award for Student Writing recognizes graduate students who show outstanding ability in the field of film, television, and media scholarship in keeping with the disciplinary concerns and traditions of humanities-based
film, media, and sound studies. Cash awards of $500, $300, and $200 are made to the winners, and the essay receiving first place is published (subject to revision) in JCMS: Journal of Cinema and Media Studies. Submissions are evaluated by
the Student Writing Award Committee. The awards will be presented at the annual SCMS conference.
Eligibility
- Each entrant must be an enrolled student in a recognized graduate program in film, television or media studies or a related field, and must be a current member of SCMS at the time of submission of the essay.
- Essays prepared by students to fulfill course requirements may be submitted, as may work produced as part of a dissertation or thesis.
- Essays that have been previously published or accepted for publication or are currently under consideration for publication or a prize that includes publication are ineligible.
- Each student may enter only one essay.
- Essays must be between 8,000 and 10,000 words in length, including notes and bibliography.
Procedures
- Entrants must complete the submission form through the Awards portal by the annual deadline.
- A completed nomination form containing the author's name, e-mail address, title of the essay, and identification of graduate program attended. Students may only submit one essay for the award. To maintain the anonymity of the entrant, the author's
name must not appear on or in the essay, or in the file name.
- Before the first-place essay is published in JCMS, its author will work with a faculty mentor and the JCMS editors to revise the essay for publication, in keeping with the developmental editing procedures of the journal.
- Failure to follow procedures will result in disqualification.
