Just a reminder - it's not too late to submit an article to the Velvet Light Trap's upcoming issue. If you cannot get something in for the 9/15 deadline, just let us know & we'll try to accomodate an extension. **** Call for Papers The Velvet Light Trap: A Critical Journal of Film and Television Re-viewing Reception and Audiences The study of audiences has become a major area of interest in the last two decades of film and television scholarship. Audience researchers have responded to theories of spectatorship by situating the spectator in specific historical and industrial contexts. This work has examined a diverse range of topics including historical film audiences, fan cultures, and sites of reception. Scholars have called upon such methodological approaches as ethnographic studies of television viewers and critical analyses of industry practices. As a result of such work, the position of the audience has become one of the most widely discussed issues in the field. Given the central status of this debate, and the emergence of new media technologies and new audiences, the Velvet Light Trap believes it is time to re-open questions pertaining to the audience. With this issue, we hope to examine critically the status of audience research and develop new approaches and areas of study. Possible topics for this issue include but are not limited to: Methodologies of Audience Research --Historiography of audiences --Theories of spectatorship --New perspectives on audiences Industrial Conceptions of the Audience --Niche marketing and narrowcasting --Promotion --Ratings and popularity --Audience testing and feedback Regulating the Audience --Content ratings --Violent, disruptive, and unruly audiences --Child audiences/Audience as child Underexplored Sites of Reception --The Internet --Drive-Ins and other local theaters --Television and public exhibition spaces Audiences and Identity --Global, national, and local audiences --Fan cultures --Marginalized audiences --Historical audiences --Representations of the audience --Nostalgic audiences Papers should be between 15 and 25 pages, double-spaced, in MLA style. All submissions are due September 15, 1997. All submissions will be refereed by the journal's Editorial Advisory Board. Send manuscripts to: The Velvet Light Trap Department of Communication Arts Vilas Hall University of Wisconsin Madison, Wisconsin 53706 For more information or questions, contact: Daniel Marcus ([log in to unmask], 608-256-1803) or Paul Ramaeker ([log in to unmask], 608-257-4638). ---- Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite http://www.sa.ua.edu/screensite