Follow-up

SILENT CHIT CHATS – a WISSPER series

The idea of a podcast about women in silent screen studies took shape in my mind during the postdoc at Université libre de Bruxelles, when I was working on W.I.S.S.PE.R. research project.
During the two-year fellowship I had the chance to participate in several invaluable trainings on leadership, communication and networking, among other interesting topics. Such trainings not only were very useful for my research, but they also helped me to reflect about women’s conditions in the academic system, and especially in the film studies domain.
Let’s face it: the academic environment is a kind of jet set, with its own stars and rules. That’s probably what contributes to make it appealing or at least inspiring, in a way. At the same time it is also what kind of de-humanizes the field (due to competition and exclusivity) and what can bring a lot of frustration and unease, especially to young scholars striving to find their place.
So, the first reason for this podcast is exactly this: to bring back some humanity to the academic environment, creating a hopefully comfortable space for sharing experiences, knowledge and wisdom.
The second reason is more specifically related to film studies. In the last twenty years or so, a lot has been done to improve our (ac)knowledge(ment) about women in silent screen, but not much about women in silent screen studies. I think it’s time to do something about it, at least opening the ground for a discussion concerning it and women’s working conditions in (not only academic) film studies.
That’s much needed and healthy.
I hope you will enjoy the conversations.
Best,

Elisa

Episode #1 is already online! SILENT CHIT CHATS with Giuliana Muscio, film studies scholar.