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Mission Statement

The Performance and Stardom Scholarly Interest Group seeks to facilitate and advance research, teaching and scholarly collaboration in the areas of screen performance and film and media stardom. While studies in the areas of performance and stardom have grown in the new millennium, interested scholars are dispersed across multiple areas of study. This SIG provides a networking hub for scholars, teachers and graduate students in this inherently interdisciplinary and diverse field. The SIG strives to be a resource for those interested in expanding the understanding of actors' material and cultural contributions to film and media and in reconsidering actors' and stars' labor and craft. The SIG aims to heighten the visibility of stardom and screen performance scholarship both within and beyond film and media studies. The Performance and Stardom SIG seeks to foster collegial inclusivity, supporting research that reflects a range of methodological approaches (archival, material, aesthetic, historical, ethnographic and more) and a variety of performance and celebrity subjects (different modes, locales, eras, platforms and so forth).

Goals and Objectives

1. To establish a network hub that enhances dialogue among students, scholars and practitioners engaged in research and teaching that analyzes and illuminates stardom, celebrity, screen performance, theories of acting, actors' labor and related critical and industrial categories.
2. To represent and promote research and teaching pedagogy concerning screen performance and stardom within and beyond SCMS.
3. To reflect global diversity in the SIG's membership and initiatives.
4. To facilitate joint research projects, the formation of conference panels and workshops, and the creation of material for JCMS and other publications, academic and non-academic.
5. To foster, wherever appropriate and possible, dialogue between scholars and practitioners working in all forms of film and media.
6. To provide mentorship opportunities for graduate students and junior scholars interested in screen performance and stardom.
7. To offer pedagogical resources for educators interested in aspects of stardom and screen performance (e.g. relevant Oxford Online Bibliography entries).

Bylaws

1. All members of the Performance and Stardom Scholarly Interest Group shall be members in good standing of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies.
2. Annual meetings of the SIG will be convened at or in conjunction with the annual SCMS conference, depending on the conference format (in person or virtual).
3. Two members from the SIG shall serve as Co-Chairs for staggered terms of three years each. These members may include graduate students, precarious laborers, and independent scholars. In addition, two members from the SIG may serve as a Graduate Student Representative and Precarious Laborer/Independent Scholar Representative. The terms of the Graduate Student Rep and the Independent Scholar/Contingent Faculty Rep shall be two years.
4. Election of the Co-Chairs shall be conducted following the SIG's first annual meeting, using an electronic ballot created by the SCMS home office. Subsequent elections will be held as needed to fill Co-Chair positions, with the elections held after the annual SCMS conference via an electronic ballot created by the SCMS home office. Should the professional status of any of the officers change during their terms, an interim officer can be appointed by the officers as needed. In the interim, the co-Chairs will hold an election to re-establish the position in a timely manner.
5. The Co-Chairs must:
1. Communicate with the SIG membership
2. Organize the annual business meetings and prepare minutes of the business discussed
3. Complete the SIG's annual report for the SCMS Board in time for the annual October meeting
4. Create ad hoc SIG task forces or committees as needed.
6. In advance of each conference, the Co-Chairs must also:
1. Submit the time/space request for the meeting as soon as such the requests can be made
2. Solicit SIG sponsorship requests for members' panels and workshops before the deadline
3. Submit the sponsored panel/workshop form by the deadline.
7. At all meetings of the SIG, the vote of the majority of members present constitutes the action of the SIG.
8. When issues are submitted to the members of the SIG for vote via email, the members shall have seven business days to respond. The subject line of the e-mail shall contain the word "vote" to alert members to act.
9. Action on behalf of the SIG may be taken without a meeting if the majority of the responses to the email or survey query are affirmative.