CFP REMINDER: WEST WING WEEK ON TV (August 6-12, 2000) This is WEST WING week on TV with re-runs of selected episodes on each night. Here is an opportunity to focus in on a major series which has attracted both elite and popular interest. (Young scholars in particular will enjoy this opportunity to analyze new materials.) The episode aired last night dealt, in part, with the "conflict" between evangelical Christians ("the Christian Right") and Jews...clearly a timely topic in the week in which Senator Lieberman was selected as a Vice Presidential running mate for Al Gore. But there are constant references to "real" political issues in the series and this is just one in passing... It is also a great opportunity to consider writing a paper for the FILM & HISTORY conference in November. We are not against your analyzing a particular episode in depth. Here are some of the more obvious questions and issues: 1. How does the episode represent or mis- represent the Clinton White House? 2. How does the series differ from its predecessor, Aaron Sorkin's THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT (Dir. Rob Reiner, 1995)? 3. What themes are being conveyed by the show--either overtly or through more subtle means than dialogue? 4. What parallels and differences do you see between the concept of the Presidency in the series and previous renderings of the high office in film and TV? 5. Cinematography in WEST WING. (Deft.) 6. Lighting and mise en scene in WEST WING. (Also brilliant and a major component for message.) Results: Come up with a project and bring it to THE PRESIDENCY IN FILM AND TV conference in November at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in LA. An anthology of papers will be formed from the presentations and will become a book edited by Peter Rollins and John E. O'Connor of Film & History Magazine. Soft deadline for absract is 1 September, 2000. Conference runs from November 10-12, just after the Presidential election. Full information on conference is at the Film & History Web site. http://h-net.msu.edu/~filmhis or Go to Yahoo and search for Film & History Peter Rollins Peter C. Rollins, Editor Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and TV Studies (Web site: http://h-net.msu.edu/~filmhis) RR 3 Box 80 Cleveland, OK 74020 (918)243-7637 and fax 5995 [log in to unmask] Comments: Individual subscription information on the web site as well as information and FAQ's about the CD-ROMs. There are also discussion items and essays on Saving Private Ryan, Amistad, CNN's Cold War, and a host of other topics. The Table of Contents for the last thirty years is there as well. Lastest issues deal with the Medieval Era in film. Next issues will focus on Television as Historian and edited by Gary Edgerton (Old Dominion U). Next conference is in November, 2000 on The Presidency in Film at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, California (45 mins. north of LAX). Information and registration details are on the web site! http://h-net.msu.edu/~filmhis ---- To sign off Screen-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF Screen-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]