Cinema: Journal of Philosophy and the Moving Image

14.12.2010

I am one of the editors of a new on-line journal on philosophy and the moving image, along with Patrícia Castello Branco and Susana Viegas. It may be found at http://cjpmi.ifilnova.pt.

Cinema: Journal of Philosophy and the Moving Image is a refereed international publication published by the Philosophy of Language Institute (Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, New University of Lisbon) and it has emerged in articulation with the research project “Film and Philosophy: Mapping an Encounter”. The journal publishes original essays and critical articles, reviews, conference reports and interviews, and releases original art work in the field of philosophical enquiry into cinema. The term “cinema” is here taken in its broadest sense as moving image (and image that moves). Historically, cinema studies have centred on film, but with the digitisation and proliferation of new means of production and distribution have also studied video, television, and new media. This deep engagement with cinematic culture, so understood, can provide tools for a better understanding of contemporary visual culture. Cinema is particularly interested in philosophical approaches to the aesthetics of the moving image as well as in philosophical investigations on particular works and about the contexts in which these works are seen and produced. It accepts submissions in Portuguese, English, French, and Spanish and it offers free access to its content.

Cinema aims at:

• disseminating philosophical investigations into cinema in the broadest sense, that is, including video, television, and new media;
• promoting the link between Portuguese and international scientific communities that develop work simultaneously within the fields of cinema studies and philosophy;
• providing a platform for a fruitful dialogue between various approaches, particular methodologies, topics and interdisciplinary contributions, within the scope of the journal.

These are the contents of the first issue:

“Editorial”, Patrícia Silveirinha Castello Branco, Sérgio Dias Branco, and Susana Viegas

Articles:

“A Care for the Claims of Theory”, D. N. Rodowick (Harvard University)

“Carroll on the Moving Image”, Thomas E. Wartenberg (Mount Holyoke College)

“Deleuze: The Thinking of the Brain”, Raymond Bellour (CNRS/Université Sorbonne Nouvelle - Paris 3)

“Mucous, Monsters and Angels: Irigaray and Zulawski’s Possession”, Patricia MacCormack (Anglia Ruskin University)

“Film Theory Meets Analytic Philosophy; or, Film Studies and L’affaire Sokal”, Murray Smith (University of Kent)

Interview:

“Georges Didi-Huberman: ‘.... ce qui rend le temps lisible, c’est l’image’”, by Susana Nascimento Duarte and Maria Irene Aparício (New University of Lisbon)

Conference Report:

“Cognitive Deleuze: Report on the SCSMI Conference (Roanoke, 2-5 Jun. 2010) and the Deleuze Studies Conference (Amsterdam, 12-14 Jul. 2010)”, William Brown (University of Roehampton)

PhD in Film Studies

09.12.2010

My PhD viva took place yesterday at the University of Kent. The thesis, “Strung Pieces: On the Aesthetics of Television Fiction Series”, was accepted with no corrections by the internal examiner, Dr. Jinhee Choi, and by the external examiner, Dr. Jason Jacobs (University of Queensland), who were generous and attentive in their commentaries and questions.

I am deeply grateful to the School of Arts of the University of Kent for its financial support. This research would have remained a wishful and unrealised project without it. Kent, a wonderful place to study film and related topics, is my birthplace as a scholar and teacher. It will always be part of my life because it is part of my history.

I am also thankful to Dr. Sarah Cardwell, Dr. Catherine Grant (University of Sussex), and Dr. Peter Stanfield, and especially to Prof. Murray Smith and Dr. Steven Peacock (University of Hertfordshire) for their marvellous and dedicated guidance — and essentially for seeing this through. Dr. Andrew Klevan (University of Oxford) and Dr. Su Holmes (University of East Anglia), who were once affiliated with the department of Film Studies at Kent, also contributed in many ways to my thesis. The work of Prof. Jerrold Levinson (University of Maryland), who was Visiting Leverhulme Professor at Kent in 2008-2009, was and has been a source of inspiration and reflection.

Parts of my doctoral research were presented in conferences and sessions at De Montfort University, the University of Glasgow, the University of Kent, and Yale University. It was a pleasure to speak at these events. They were paramount to the development of this investigation. I am indebted to the hosting institutions, to the organisers, and to those who engaged with my work publicly and privately.

My friendly thanks to Helder Alcaparra, Rui Brazuna, and Jorge Pinto for their help on this venture. All the others will remain unnamed, but not unmentioned — a reminder, by absence, that I have thanked them in private and that I shall continue to do so. Still, I have to mention Filipa, my wife, to whom I dedicate the thesis. She has assisted me and heartened me in this lengthy process, like she has done on many occasions.