The 2027 Conference Portal is now open!

2027 ANNUAL CONFERENCE

About the Conference

The Society’s annual conference provides a forum for scholars and teachers of film and media studies to present and hear new research; to provide a supportive environment for networking, mentoring, and collaboration among scholars otherwise separated by distance, language, or disciplinary boundaries; and to promote the field of cinema and media studies among its practitioners, to other disciplines, and to the public at large, in part through public recognition of award-worthy achievements and other significant milestones within the field.

The submission period for 2027 conference proposals will begin Tuesday, July 7, 2026. The deadline for all conference proposals (pre-constituted panels, open call papers, workshops, and roundtables) is Friday, August 28, 2026, 5:00 PM US Central Time.

Membership Questions

All participants (chairs, respondents, paper presenters, panelists, workshop and roundtable participants) must be current SCMS members to submit a proposal and present at the conference. SCMS membership fees are non-refundable. We thank you for your understanding.

If you are not an SCMS member, please create an account here. All new memberships must be approved by SCMS staff. Please allow up to 24 hours for this process to be completed.

Account Approval: New SCMS membership accounts must be approved manually by the SCMS Office and are processed in the order received. An auto-generated email is sent once the account is approved. The SCMS Office is open from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday. Weekend approvals may not be processed until Monday morning. Same-day approvals may take 1-3 hours. 

Password Assistance and Portal Access

Please click the SSO Login button and provide your cmstudies.org username and password to access the portal. The SSO login links your SCMS membership profile to the conference submission portal. When logging in for the first time, you may be asked to grant access to your profile. Please select "full_profile" and proceed to log in. 

Forgot Password: To reset your password, please visit Forgot Password. Enter your SCMS username or the email address associated with your membership to receive a password reset link at that email address. Please check your spam folders if you do not receive the reset link; it will expire in 24 hours. If you do not receive a password reset link, please do not create a new membership profile–contact the SCMS Office for assistance.

Tips for common Portal Access issues:

  • Make sure your membership is active for the 26-27 membership year. It is required to access the portal. 
  • Try using a different browser, preferably Google Chrome.
  • Accept the "cookies" agreement when logging in to the SCMS website.

Waiver Requests

A waiver of the conference registration fee and/or SCMS membership requirement may be granted in exceptional circumstances. These waivers are intended for participants who would not otherwise be likely members of SCMS, such as media practitioners, artists, or distinguished scholars from other disciplines, whose participation would substantially enrich the session. More information, along with the Guest/Contributor Waiver Request Form, can be found at: https://www.cmstudies.org/page/form_waiver_request. Requests must be received by the proposal deadline.

Character Limits

Please note the following character limits (includes spaces) in the submission portal:

          Paper and Panel Titles: 120 characters
          Abstracts and Panel/Workshop/Roundtable Summaries: 2500 characters
          Bios: 500 characters
          Roundtable Speaker and Workshop Participant Topics: 50 characters

Three bibliography sources are required, with a maximum of five sources. There is no character limit on source fields.