The Department of Film Studies at the University of St Andrews is pleased to offer up to three full studentships for PhD study beginning in September 2013. We offer extensive opportunities for students doing cutting edge research.
Our department is committed to the professional advancement of our students, and offers special sessions dedicated to the writing of cover letters, resumes, and the preparation of teaching portfolios. This student-oriented attitude runs throughout the department, with high-profile academics guiding PhD students through their years of study and preparing them thoroughly for university and industry careers.
Join one of the top three Film Studies departments in the UK; the highest performing department in Scotland, in any discipline; one of the largest PhD programmes in Film Studies.
Research world cinemas, film philosophy, queer theory and gender identity, film festivals, documentary, early cinema and film history.
Contribute to conferences and symposia, student film festivals, the new graduate student journal Frames and the acclaimed Film Festival Yearbook Series.
For more information and to discuss your proposal, please contact us:
www.st-andrews.ac.uk/filmstudies<http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/filmstudies>
The Communication Studies Program of the School of Journalism and Communication at Carleton University invites applications from qualified candidates for a preliminary [tenure-track] position at the rank of Assistant Professor in the beginning July 1, 2013.
Candidates must possess a Ph.D. in Communication or a cognate discipline.
Candidates will have demonstrated excellence in teaching and a commitment to research and scholarship. Successful candidates will be able to participate effectively in both undergraduate and graduate teaching and supervision, as well as demonstrate a long-term research program.
The Communication Studies Program is seeking candidates who can demonstrate teaching experience and research expertise in the area of Communication and Health. Health is one of Carleton University’s four interdisciplinary strategic themes and an area of considerable research strength. Applicants who also have expertise in one of the other three strategic areas, and/or ability to teach methods courses will be given particular consideration. The other strategic themes are: New Digital Media, Global Identities and Globalization, and Sustainability and the Environment.
The Communication Studies Program offers degrees at undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels, and has a combined enrolment of over 1,000 students. It is a leader in the study of communication theory, research and policy, having offered undergraduate degrees since 1979, and is seeking individuals of exceptional abilities to augment its strengths in teaching and scholarship.
Further information on the program is available at http://www1.carleton.ca/communication [1]
Please send complete applications to Professor Eileen Saunders, Associate Director, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1S 5B6. Application packages should be sent in hard copy and will consist of a cover letter, a current curriculum vitae, copies of sample publications, a statement of research achievements and research plan, evidence of teaching performance, and sample syllabi. Applicants should also arrange for three letters of reference to be sent directly to the Associate Director. The *closing date for applications is January 7, 2013*.
Located in Ottawa, Ontario, Carleton University is a dynamic research and teaching institution with a tradition of leading change. Its internationally recognized faculty, staff, and researchers provide more than 26,000 full- and part-time students from every province and more than 100 countries around the world with academic opportunities in more than 80 programs of study.
Carleton’s creative, interdisciplinary, and international approach to research has led to many significant discoveries and creative work in science and technology, business, public policy and administration, and the arts.
Minutes from downtown, Carleton University is located on a beautiful campus in the central portion of Ottawa, bordered by the Rideau River on one side, and the Rideau Canal on the other. With over 12 national museums and the spectacular Gatineau Park close by, there are many excellent recreational opportunities for individuals and families to enjoy. The City of Ottawa itself, with a population of almost one million, is Canada’s capital city and reflects the country’s bilingual and multicultural character.
Carleton’s location in the nation’s capital provides many opportunities for research with groups and institutions that reflect the diversity of the country.
Carleton University is strongly committed to fostering diversity within its community as a source of excellence, cultural enrichment, and social strength. We welcome those who would contribute to the further diversification of our faculty and its scholarship including, but not limited to, women, visible minorities, Aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities, and persons of any sexual orientation or gender identity.
All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply. Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.
All positions are subject to budgetary approval.
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2012), based on a 2007 novel by Paul Torday, tells the story of a British fisheries expert who works for an Arab sheik to introduce Atlantic Salmon into the Yemen River. Ostensibly, the plan is intended to support the sheik’s love of fly fishing but we come to discover that the sheik’s plans have more to do with his desire to bring agricultural prosperity to his region through irrigation. The acting, cinematography, and editing are superb and and the plot is quite interesting if a bit overwrought. Importantly, however, the film is based on flawed science and does not refer to the threatened and endangered status of wild Atlantic Salmon, as University of Maine fisheries expert Michel Kinnison recently explained in an interview with the web series Down to Earth (see video below). I’m not suggesting that fiction films always have to be based on sound science but in this case the director’s decision to remove most of the book’s satire from the film and end on a melodramatic scene is problematic in my opinion because this moment of high drama in the film confirms the scientific validity of the project to the point of likely convincing many in the audience that there are now salmon in the Middle East. As Kinneson suggests, introducing salmon to this region of the world is analogous to terraforming the surface of Mars.
I am currently trying to obtain a DVD copy of Gary Marcuse’s recent film Waking the Green Tiger so I can review it for this site. The film examines the recent development of environmental organizing in China. Hopefully, I will have a more detailed review soon. In the meantime here is a trailer and filmmakers’ description of the film, which screened earlier this year at the DC Environmental Film Festival, which I plan to attend someday.
“Waking the Green Tiger tells the dramatic story of the rise of the first major grassroots environmental movement in China, a significant development that could reshape the country. Seen through the eyes of farmers, journalists, activists and a former government insider, the film traces the historical evolution of the movement and highlights an extraordinary campaign to stop a huge dam project slated for the Upper Yangtze River in southern China.
Featuring archival footage never seen outside China, and interviews with insiders and witnesses, the documentary portrays the fifty year history of Chairman Mao’s campaigns to conquer nature in the name of progress. Mao mobilized millions of people in campaigns that reshaped China’s landscape, destroyed lakes, forests and grasslands, and unleashed dust storms. Despite the evident consequences, critics of this approach were silenced for decades.”
This weekend while channel surfing I stumbled upon a public service ad about tigers tied to the upcoming release of director Ang Lee’s latest film, Life of Pi, which is adapted from the best-selling novel by Canadian author Yann Martel. It’s common knowledge at this point that there are more tigers living in captivity in the United States alone than living in the wild spaces of Asia so I thought I’d do a bit of digging to see how conservations efforts are faring in India. In July 2012 India’s Supreme Court invoked a temporary ban on tiger tourism, particularly around sensitive breeding areas in nation’s oldest tiger reserve, Jim Corbett National Park. By August, however, large groups of protestors, whose livelihoods depend on tiger tourism, took to the streets to protest the court’s ruling.
In October, the court lifted the ban, though, according to a report in the Times of India, also advised “all authorities to strictly adhere to the guidelines notified by the National Tiger Conservation Authority.” Life of Pi is certainly not the first and hopefully not the last film to raise awareness of this issue as tigers, like leopards, lions, cheetahs, and other big cats have long since become listed as endangered species. For example, consider Indian filmmaker Ashvin Kumar’s latest film, The Forest. Famous for a documentary on football (i.e. soccer) Kumar has taken several years to achieve theatrical release for his first fiction film, which features live animals rather than cgi, though several animals were held in captivity during production. Life of Pi, by the way, combines cgi and live action. The Forest deals with issues surrounding human encroachment into wildlife habitat and the inevitable tragedies for humans and big cats that can result from their interaction. Here’s a description and trailer: “A starving leopard has been shot by poachers and can’t hunt his normal prey. This perfect killer has become so accustomed to hunting man that he’s begun to think like us. As darkness falls, a night of terror begins.” If you’re interested, please post you thoughts on Life of Pi, The Forest, and related films to the comments section.
A story by Nick Perry of the Associated Press published today, “Wranglers Say Horses, Other Animals Used in ‘Hobbit’ Movies Died on Unsafe New Zealand Farm,” is raising quite a stir on the blogosphere – even Deadline Hollywood is covering the story. According to Perry, handlers who worked on the new Hobbit films issued a complain that twenty-seven animals have died who were kept in unsafe conditions at a farm and exposed to sinkholes, bluffs, and other “death traps.” According to the American Humane Association, which oversees the treatment of non-human animals used for film production, no animals were harmed “on set” during production. However, as Perry reports, the AHA “also says the wranglers’ complaints highlight shortcomings in its oversight system, which monitors film sets but not the facilities where the animals are housed and trained.” In a response, detailed by Deadline Hollywood in a story titled, “Peter Jackson and ‘Hobbit’ Producers Deny Claims of Abuse in Animal Deaths,” the filmmakers were quick to distance themselves from the deaths, claiming in a press release: “The producers completely reject the accusations that twenty seven animals died due to mistreatment during the making of the films. Extraordinary measures were taken to make sure that animals were not used during action sequences or any other sequence that might create undue stress for the animals involved.”
For ecocritics, this issue highlights the need for further research on the treatment of animals during media production and the need to analyze and theorize the media industry’s increasing use of computer-generated animals. Claire Molloy has recently done some work on the treatment of chimpanzees for an essay in the collection Beyond Human: From Animality to Transhumanism. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Fifth Estate news show also has online video links to its 1982 and 2008 versions of the program Cruel Camera: Cruelty to Animals in the Entertainment Industry. Though it may seem easy to suggest that CGI can eliminate the exploitation of animal labor in media production, many viewers have strong feelings about this issue and the need for “real” animals to be used to represent “real” animals. Consider the ideological and cultural issues that lie behind the following sample of comments left on the Deadline Hollywood website in response to this story:
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Who cares if they killed a few animals. We kill them every day when we eat them! Plus, wouldn’t you rather see a real animal onscreen than a stupid CGI version?
Comment by john — Monday November 19, 2012 @ 12:46pm PST Â
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You are a sociopath.
Comment by JohnJohn — Monday November 19, 2012 @ 1:20pm
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a human died on the set of expendables 2 and another on the new lone ranger. so who gives a shit about an animal dying?
Comment by steve1 — Monday November 19, 2012 @ 11:52am PST Â
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No life, including an innocent animal that has no free will, should be lost because of a movie. Pig
Comment by Producer — Monday November 19, 2012 @ 4:29pm
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Seattle area cinematographer Laura James has been diving into the waters of Puget Sound with her camera to document the effects of highly-polluting stormwater runoff. James is a self-taught freelance filmmaker who leads an educational campaign called Don’t Feed the Tox-Ick Monster to raise awareness about the negative impacts of chemicals, fertilizer, pet feces, petroleum and other toxins that make their way from city streets into local water ways during the rainy season. City streets are made to be impermeable surfaces so they can withstand heavy car and truck traffic without deteriorating. The problem is that toxic substances run directly into drains and waterways rather than being absorbed into the ground our through wetlands where water can be cleaned. The problem is exacerbated during periods of heavy rain when sewer systems cannot handle the flows and so dirty water is dumped directly into the Sound and other waterways. EarthFix (linked in our blogroll), an environmental news website associated with Oregon Public Broadcasting, has a terrific in-depth feature on the efforts of James to document the problem and related efforts of a team of researchers at Washington State University led by Jennifer McIntyre to develop solutions such as “green streets” that direct water flow through specially designed gardens that filter out toxins before they enter waterways. Here is a link to the EarthFix article “How We Got Into Such a Mess With Stormwater” and (below) a video on the issue produced by EarthFix for the OPB show Oregon Field Guide. I’m hoping that Laura will be able to make it down to the University of Oregon after the new year to meet with students in the Environmental Leadership Program who will be documenting the various ways the McKenzie River is important to the ecology and economy of the Willamette Valley.
In case any of you are not signed up for the Environmental Media Association’s newsletter, here are some highlights from the 22nd annual awards ceremony held recently.
(Reposted from ema-online.org)
“The EMA Awards continues to be one of the most sustainable and eco-friendly events in Hollywood. The 2012 Environmental Media Awards green initiatives included the following to create a Zero Waste Event:
- Compostable serviceware and reusable glassware
- Recycling system with color coded bins for paper, plastic, foil, glass, and cardboard
- Chef stations used local, seasonal and organic food whenever possible
- Leftover food was donated to homeless shelters via the Greater West Hollywood Food Coalition
- Green fashion worn by presenters and guests alike
- Special Toyota hybrid lane valet for hybrid, electric and alternative fuel vehicles
2012 EMA Award Winners
Feature Film
Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax (Universal Pictures)
Documentary Film
Chasing Ice (Submarine Deluxe)
Television Episodic Drama
Dallas: “Changing of the Guard†(TNT)
Television Episodic Comedy
Veep: “Frozen Yoghurt†(HBO)
Reality Program
Superfish: Bluefin Tuna (National Geographic Channel)
Children’s Television
Handy Manny: “Beach Clean Up†(Disney Channel)
Digital Content
Don Cheadle is Captain Planet
The Lord of the Rings/Hobbit movies are SO good – I honestly don’t care if they killed 1000 animals to make them – It worth it! PETA – stop your whining and try to address some real problems in the world.
Comment by Steve Crompton — Monday November 19, 2012 @ 3:03pm
The AHA follows the lead of Hollywood management And all these fools who say it is only animals so who cares…I care and hope you choke on your steak.
Comment by Hollyvet — Monday November 19, 2012 @ 3:16pm PST
Its simple really, when you are trying to bring attention to your cause you point the finger at the people with money. Poor farmers won’t be ordered to give millions to Animal rights causes, but if you accuse a big company it gets your cause in the news, makes it easier for you to get donations, and provides a bigger target for the cause.
This is the real world. People and animals died from many causes ranging from murder to accidents to natural causes. Even if you do take every precaution to be humane we’re all mortal.
Comment by Brian K — Monday November 19, 2012 @ 4:33pm PST Â