Although I might address this directly to Bob Kolker, who is chairing the 1999 SCS Conference Program Committee, I thought his answer--which I hope he will make--would be of interest to the entire SCREEN-L list. Here are the questions: 1) Why has the SCS leadership decided to split the field into "Film and Media Theories" and "Film and Media Histories" as has been suggested by the call for papers for the plenary sessions at the 1999 conference? One of the points I consistently make to my students is that this is a false separation, that theories underpin all history writing and that most theories imply causality (history). 2) Why have we reduced the number of submissions to 1? This might discourage senior faculty from combining with junior faculty on a panel because now everyone will want to maximize their chance of being selected. The older system of 1 submission on a panel and one open-call encouraged senior faculty to help network with junior faculty. Thanks, Janet Staiger ********************************************************** Janet Staiger Professor of Radio-Television-Film Director, College of Communications Senior Fellows Program University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX 78712 USA 512-471-6653 (office) 512-329-5104 (home) 512-329-5144 (home fax) [log in to unmask] ---- Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite http://www.tcf.ua.edu/screensite