Gender and Communication Section
The Gender and Communication section invites candidates for the positions of chairs and vice-chairs. Nominations and self-nominations are welcome. The section will hold elections at the annual conference in Leicester during its business meeting on Friday, July 29 from 16:00 to 17:30. The deadline for submitting nominations is July 13, 2016.
The Gender and Communication Section currently has two chairs, Kaitlynn Mendes, University of Leicester, UK, and Margaretha Geertsema-Sligh, Butler University, USA, and two vice-chairs, Mehita Iqani, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, and Wajiha Raza Rizvi, Film Museum Society, Pakistan. At the meeting, the section’s chairs and vice-chairs will all step down, and the vice-chairs will contest for the positions of chairs.
Terms are for four years and re-election for a second term is possible. Responsibilities include all phases of conference programming for the section as well as participation in association-wide decision making during face-to-face meetings at the annual conference and after the conference through e-mail.
Interested candidates should send their name, institutional position and a statement (500 words at most), to Margaretha Geertsema-Sligh (mgeertse[at]butler.edu) with a copy to IAMCR General Secretary Maria Michalis, m.michalis[at]westminster.ac.uk and to the IAMCR secretariat, membership[at]iamcr.org.
Candidates and statements
For Chair:
- Wajiha Raza Rizvi, Film Museum Society Lahore, Pakistan
- Mehita Iqani, University of the Witwatersrand
Statements
Wajiha Raza Rizvi, Film Museum Society Lahore, Pakistan
Wajiha Raza Rizvi (Dr.) Founder/Director Film Museum Society Lahore (Nonprofit since 2007), Associate Professor Forman Christian College, Visiting/Guest Faculty at University of the Punjab, COMSATS, Kinnaird and Superior, Media/Academic Consultant, Vice President Fulbright Alumni Association Lahore and Punjab President British Alumni Association of Pakistan, focuses on race, region and gender issues in media especially international war films and Pakistani cinema, has about a hundred media productions to her credit.
I am a Fulbright, FCOSAS, Chevening and GIMD Research Scholar from Pakistan. I did bachelors in Graphic Design from National College of Arts Pakistan, masters in Television Documentary from Goldsmiths’ University of London UK, and PhD in Communication Studies from University of the Punjab Pakistan. Oklahoma State University USA, Department of Journalism and Media Oslo Akershus University College, London Film & Media and IAMCR have helped me tremendously in improving my scholarship. My PhD dissertation: The censorship of visual pleasure in Pakistani films focuses on female representations in films in the pre-and-post-1979 eras. It also examines the censor certificates to evaluate the excisions of female representations by Central Board of Film Censorship Pakistan in the two eras in the light of the Motion Picture Ordinance (1979) issued by then Martial Law Government. It is included in the country directory and repository managed by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan. I am also working on its publication in book form.
The IAMCR has contributed in my professional growth and academic skills since I attended the IAMCR 2012 - Durban Conference as a PhD Scholar from University of the Punjab Pakistan with support from Oslo Akershus University College Norway. The IAMCR honored me by making me a member of the Abstract Review Committee of Emerging Scholars Network the same year.
The IAMCR gave me the opportunity to publish my 2012 conference paper "BeDevil: Colonialism and Children of Miscegenation" and another cross mark publication "Politics, propaganda and film form: Battleship Potemkin (1925) and Triumph of the Will (1935)" in Journal of International Communication in Spring 2013 and 2014 respectively, under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Naren Chitty. Since then I have published over fifteen. The IAMCR is a great academic platform. It takes care of its members and participants’ academic and professional needs and it provides them the opportunities to excel in the academic world, and be acknowledged. By increasing my productivity, the IAMCR has contributed in Pakistan’s development.
As Vice Chair of Gender & Communication Section in 2015-2016, I have learnt from the Chairs how to organize the Gender and Communication Section and prepare and participate in annual conferences of IAMCR. This experience has improved me as a professional and academician. I believe my knowledge and skills will further if I am elected Chair of the Section. I will contribute in furthering IAMCR’s work in the region and across the globe. I also hope to further the work of the Gender & Communication Section with the help of (Co)Chairs, predecessors, and conference participants, and am considering the publication of a book based on papers/proceedings of IAMCR 2016 - Leicester Conference/others if Chairs and members agree.
The IAMCR has connected me to world’s best academic pool of people who work together for academic excellence, cooperation, collaboration, and mutual understanding. I believe many more researchers from Pakistan and the rest of the world can work together to achieve a common goal. The IAMCR brings together the world of academicians and commits them to excellence and delivery in a systematic manner. I hope I can extend what I received from IAMCR to many more in Pakistan and abroad. I have learnt from all its members who are committed to analyzing and reducing the othering, and rising together above many differences.