Professor of Film Studies Haidee Wasson has been awarded this year’s Distinguished Service Award from the Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS). The award is given to members of the Society who have demonstrated an exceptional and sustained commitment to the mission of the association.
“We all congratulate Haidee. The Society for Cinema and Media Studies is the biggest professional film studies organization in the world,” says Catherine Russell, Chair of the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema.
Wasson has been actively involved in the SCMS for seven years. She has served on the editorial board for the association’s journal, has been an elected member of its Executive Board, and currently chairs the Nominating Committee, which suggests candidates to run for election on the Board.
“Recognition from that association is as important as it gets for our field,” says Wasson. “I am deeply honoured.”
Wasson chaired the host committee for the society’s annual conference when it was held in Montreal in 2015.
“It was the single highest-attended conference since they began in the 1950s,” says Wasson. “We brought 2000 attendees to Montreal and to many Concordia-organized events. Over 50 Concordians presented and people are still talking about the Montreal conference as a new benchmark for scholarly engagement.”
“People were impressed,” adds Russell. “They were impressed by Montreal, but as an organizer, Haidee did a great job. I think that must have contributed to her award.”
Most importantly, the award was a particular recognition for Wasson’s work on the SCMS Field Notes project, says Russell, which has interviewed many pioneer scholars in the field of film and media studies.
“Basically, she created an oral history of our profession, and our discipline. The interviews are really interesting and they are going to be really valuable,” says Russell.
Initiated by Wasson, the project is based at Concordia and involves film studies graduate students. There are currently 25 interviews with film and television scholars posted on the SCMS website and the project continues to grow.
Wasson will pick up her award at the SCMS annual conference in Chicago this March. She is currently on sabbatical as a Visiting Distinguished Professor at the University of California in Santa Barbara. She is finishing two books: one devoted to the history of the American military and its use of film and film technology; and another focused on the long history of portability and variability in film projection, performance and display.