Testimonials

David P. Marshall

The ability to connect directly with the entire group, both individually and collectively. Great work! Engaged and fun. Keep building the quality. Celia + Jackie were wonderful hosts.

Sally Totman

The variety of topics / case studies. Thank you. It was a very enjoyable, interesting and well organized conference.

Nathan Farrell

The smaller setting. Parallel sessions mean difficult decisions about what sessions to miss. Its good that we were able to see ALL sessions. It was great!

Dr Samita Nandy (PhD)

Dir.,Ctr for Media & Celebrity Studies | Author, Fame in Hollywood North | Media:Telegraph, CBC, VICE, Flare, Chatelaine

Film & Star Studies @filmstarstudies

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Special thanks to Dr. Samita Nandy

You’ve achieved great conference thanks to all, to team and participants. Congratulations!!!

Diana Miller

September 16 at 8:48 PM · CMCS19 Amazing delegates from all over the world present their work and passion on important issues, with research and solutions for a better world!

   

Chris Campanioni (chriscampanioni.com)

I was impressed at the level of discussion during the Q&A sessions for each panel, and I was especially grateful for the organization of the conference and the time allocated for conversation during each panel.

It was a wonderful weekend with CMCS and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to contribute to the ongoing discourse.

Victoria Kannen

Thanks #CMCS18 for awarding my presentation “Snooki has #noshame: Representations and Redefinitions of Celebrity, Beauty, and Empowerment on Instagram” the Best Celebrity Chat award!

Cláudia Ferreira

Had an amazing time talking #timesup with @sniksw at #CMCS18. Thank you everyone for the throughout questions and comments, we really appreciate it. Now looking forward to relaxing with some Portuguese tapas!

Ellena Cullen

Nice to finally be around other people who study the Kardashians

Pete Sigal

The interactions with others from different backgrounds, great presentations

Claudia Teresa Martins Ferreira

The panels were very interesting and the social moments were very well planned. I had a very good time.

Thank you for this opportunity

Nikki Soo

Topics were interesting! e.g., Youtube microcelebrity

Capacity to share our work

Bronagh Allison

Pace of talks; refreshments constantly available

Great conference. Delighted to have been attended

Pamela Wunderlich

All the fine, intelligent scholarship and variety of research

Javon Johnson

The broad range of topic & approaches which was incredibly enlightening

Olga Andreevskikh

The diversity of presentations, topics, researchers’ background

Nilofar Suhrawardy

Presentations of delegates. The intellectual focus of most papers.

Maureen Brewster

Enjoyed small group / intimate atmosphere

Birte Fritsche

The people: open minded, international, very kind, many different perspectives. Thank you very much for the conference

Lindsay Parker

Variety of presentations from different disciplines and range of topics

Conference was well organized and paced

Simone Antoniaci Tuzzo

It was possible to see every paper. Thank you so much. I love!

Piia Õunpuu

Topical presentations linking with my own research. Thank you for accepting our paper!

Maria Murumaa-Mengel

The intimacy, the conversations, the very different contexts people came from.

Thank you!

Lori Hall-Araujo

Small, welcoming

Vehbi Gorgulu

Thank you very much for organizing this wonderful and productive meeting. Everything was perfect. Hope to see you in future conferences. All the best

Luis Fernando Romo

Fascinating. The most. The best. In one hearts. In our minds. We have bridged #CMCS18

Warm environment, lovely delegates, amazing welcome

create a virtual community to enhance our knowledge and bridging gaps

Madison Magladry

I had an amazing time yesterday and Friday night, this is definitely a conference to watch!!

Renne Middlemost

And thanks to @JackieRaphael and @celialamyc for their hospitality

Lea Diaz

Amazing quality and variety of speakers

Friendly atmosphere especially because the conference was not that big and we all get to know each other

I find the conference has very well chosen topics, interdisciplinary, so that we have covered a wide range of vibrant issues from different perspectives

This conference has been so gratifying at so many levels! To me, it would be fantastic if we keep our collaboration and would love to explore chances, possibilities and would love to be involved. I want to say thank you to the organizers.

Belinda Middleweek

Opportunity to connect with scholars from around the world; depth of presenters’ research; keynotes and sharing of their expertise. Thank you for  your hospitality and for a lovely conference.

Aleksandra Kristic

Learning new things, broadening my perspectives.

You were so kind and professional. I really hope we’ll meet again.

Bhoomi Thakore

Interdisciplinary nature, some great & interesting presentations! Thanks to the organizers – look forward to seeing this organization grow

Stacie Jankowski

This was a great conference! I would definitely want to present here again. Liked how the different areas fit together.

Sheridan Humphreys

Meeting + hearing from specialists in other disciplines. Informal room. Layout is good.

Thank you! Great conference.

Susan Liesenberg

Wonderful keynotes. Good coffee. The place. The informality. Organization. Attention. Sympathy. Kindness. Nice people. Plural stuff

Loved all

Bernardo Palau

Sharing with people from different backgrounds

Lori Henson

The diversity of presenters

Jennifer Mullen

Research by Dr. Marshall

The organization of information prior to arrival

A broad range of topics discussed

Regina Range

The vibrant conversations and the different disciplines coming together

Thanks so much for a wonderful conference and all the terrific  organization

Susan J. Eddington

The ability to communicate or have a conversation with all

Summer Sutton

The variety of disciplines represented

Alexander Araya

Nothing like a conference about “celebrity” to discover that you have been promoting yourself in all the wrong ways. @celeb_studies #BGCS16 

Great discussions and networking. Sessions were really organized and with lost of points in common. Great work.

Ron Strickland

Lots of interesting papers – no concurrent sessions – I learned a lot.

A friendly group. My congratulations to the organizers. You did a very nice job!

Tomasz Olczyk ‏

@celeb_studies Great conference, inspiring papers, and we won chocolates #BGCS16

Small, intimate, lot occasions to communicate

Louise St Guillaume

The small size of the conference + the opportunity to chat + get to know everyone; the interdisciplinarity. It was intimate and thought-provoking.‏

@JackieRaphael @celialamyc @celeb_studies Thank you for organising such a great conference! Looking forward to the next one #BGCS16

Great day @celeb_studies #BGCS16! Looking forward to tomorrow!

Diana-Luiza Dumitriu ‏  

Day 3: Broadening the celebrity spectrum @celeb_studies #BGCS16 Great presentations and engaging discussions! Networking and feedback. This was a great conference; Insightful and engaging discussions. Really enjoyed the high interdiciplinarity of the presentations!

Marie Bennett ‏  

#BGCS16 Great day. Some fascinating papers on a wide yet connected range of topics.

Very enjoyable conference – great venue

Carla Rovavert

The fantastic range of talks, particularly those that explored neoliberalism

Well done on a great conference!

Ronak Ghorbani

Intimacy! Getting to know people – something often missing from conferences. I really enjoyed the cross-disciplinarity of the conference

Having a workshop for grad students on publishing would be fantastic! Thank you for all your hard work and organizing!

Niloy Ulusoy

Quiz night 🙂 All presentations were fine for me to learn much about celebrity studies

Annelot Prins

The size of the group! Really liked the variation! Thank you so much for organizing this conference and for inviting me!!!!

Walter Chan

Diversity of ideas presented.  Thanks for such an awesome conference! Good job!

Jing Wang

Meeting and talking to such brilliant people!

Lixin Wang

Thanks it’s a wonderful conference

Ian Dixon

Great papers + discussion. Thank you

Douglas Machado Silva

The small size of the conference.

I loved the event

thank you so much! the conference was amazing! #bgcs15

Rebecca Halliday

Fantastic roster of papers on diverse + interesting topics

Elina Valovirta

Discussions, friendly atmosphere, 15-minute format, everything worked well: so well organized!

Thank you for everything!

Andrew Munro

The diversity of backgrounds & perspectives

The range of themes is great

Elliot Pill

Big thanks to celeb_studies @famecritic @JackieRaphael for a super interesting and thought provoking conference in #NYC #greatjob

Ellen G. Kempler

@celeb_studies You’ve got an interesting angle on writing. Happy creative travels from Gold Boat Journeys http://gold-boat.com

Michael Lovelock

Thanks to @celeb_studies @samita_nandy and Louis for a very interesting and inspiring conference in Toronto! Wide range of interesting papers, practical and relevant topic

Colin Scheyen

So inspiring to meet and share knowledge with everyone at Bridging Gap: Higher Education, Media and Society conference #BGCS15 #Ryerson

Chuck Carney

Great variety of fields, topics

Averie MacDonald

The interactive aspects / workshops – time for organized discussion! This was so unique and wonderful. Thank you for including all kinds of diverse voices, including  several young people / emerging academics. CONTINUE THIS!!!

Jacquelyn Cain

I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for your great (and important) conference. I came away with lots of ‘food for thought’ for my own studies, and was also introduced to communities of practice that I would never have encountered in my ‘isolated’ academic community that is Film Studies. I especially liked how much the talks focused on the future of pedagogy–the platforms for intellectual dialogue are changing, but the impetus behind them remains the same! 

Stephanie Patrick

“Great first day at Bridging Gaps conference in #Toronto. Looking forward to day two!”

“Thanks to panelists @royalhistorian @FromPhDtoLife @samita_nandy and @Shannon_Skinner for their media workshops! #academicbranding #BGCS15″

Shannon Skinner

“Great #conference and #media workshop today with @FromPhDtoLife @royalhistorian and @samita_nandy #BGCS15″

Jennifer Polk

“Looking fwd to #BGCS15 today! Part of a panel/workshop w @samita_nandy @royalhistorian @Shannon_Skinner. Fun! Higher ed & media # withaPhD“

Nathan To

Interesting conference on bridging gaps in higher ed, media & society. Now: How best to leverage media issues in #socialinnovation? #bgcs15 Quite enjoyed the “open mic” session. More would be great!

Herman Howard

The different speakers and topics

Thank you – I enjoyed the conference in Toronto

Alex Symons

Engaging papers, small venue (location!)

Well organized, fun event!

Josh Nathan

I am truly honored to join as a panelist along with Shetal Shah, Shannon Skinner, Dr Samita Nandy, and Dr. Jackie Raphael: https://lnkd.in/btT8RTZ. I’ll also present a new academic paper about the Implications of Journalism’s Tall Tales on a Telling Public. Here’s some GREAT additional information about the conference from the Centre’s Chairs: https://lnkd.in/bEin6mV” New York City 2015

#BGCS15 Is a stunning hit as America’s first int’l conference on celebrity culture: Bridging Gaps!

Phenomenal people and presentations here

Robert S. E. Caine

“I always had a concept of what a celebrity is — a famous person created by the entertainment industry. However, Dr. Samita Nandy’s assertion that a celebrity is not  actually a person, but a concept or persona of what the “public” wishes to see as an entity to idolize, seems to have merit. Celebrity or the concept of celebrity is quite complex; celebrity status is actually created by movie/television studios, creative arts directors, agents of the film/entertainment industry, media outlets, and of course, public relations specialists. Where upon an individual or entity is made public, created as a source of entertainment or envy, the general public indoctrinates this person or entity as a celebrity image — this is a complex dynamic of a community/society, in concert, evolving an individual as someone to be placed on a pedestal, namely, as a public figure to be idolized and loved by many.    The “celebrity” status disconnects the iconic symbol from their individualistic self, segregating them from their real and personal life experiences outside of their celebrity persona, and places the highly recognised “idol” or “star” in a spotlight whereby they endure the eyes of the public; their faux image — the persona that has been forced onto them by admirers, has now developed from the pressures and expectations of their “public,”  resulting in the icon’s life emerging involuntarily transparent when in public view.  In essence, many so-called celebrities live double lives: their private life with private relationships, private triumphs and failures, and private thoughts and feelings, as well as their public lives thrust upon them by their gushing fans — hence, the celebrity image or persona for which they obtained as an unwritten obligation as a by-product of their acquired fame is inescapable.”

Ana Albuquerque

Selfies in Celebrity Activism: Persona in Celebrity Photography and Social Justice presented by Dr. Samita Nandy (CMCS, from Toronto, Canada) was a powerful, dynamic and intellectually enriching lecture. There was a clear approach to what a persona is and what a celebrity is, the semiotic role of the self-portrait, the meaning of authenticity in celebrities and how their image can be used. Tabloids often make headlines with celebrities on their daily lives, their personal affairs, where they went to and with whom, but to a lesser extent on their role in “social advocacy”, “political lobbying” or “supporting causes” for example. More than an issue of fascination for image, people engage emotionally with the characters / personas / celebrities. When they become (more) real and their image is more than a face on the screen or on the red carpet, or the advertising of their professional roles, they also become individuals, citizens taking an active role in society, often using “selfies”. But attention will always be on their image, which suggests an emotional diversity and indefinition.

It was an honour having Dr. Samita Nandy at the University of Beira Interior. She is a generous person with very clear and clarifying views and at the same time she makes us think and ask questions. In a personal note, her lecture led my attention to the importance of Art History in today’s technological self-portrait, mainly achieved through the “selfie” phenomenon. And while I was writing, I questioned myself: Do celebrities want or ever be able to be, as Pulp sings, “common people”?

Thank you so much, Dr. Samita Nandy.

You always be welcomed.

International Conference “Public and Private in Mobile Communications”, March 19th-20th 2015, Faculty of Arts and Letters – University of Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal.

Jeanie Tran

“Yesterday, I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Samita Nandy, the founder of the Centre for Media and Celebrity Studies. I am currently working on an opinion piece about celebrity representation in journalism, and Samita’s expertise on the subject matter was incredibly helpful. She challenged me to reassess my own perception of what the culture of celebrity means and how it functions. “A celebrity is a media text… paparazzi, red carpets, glamorous dresses, limousines – these are the signs that connote the meaning of glamour and fame.”

Samita also got me to rethink my role and responsibility as a journalist in relation to how I should go about covering celebrity stories. In the mass media, performers are commodities used to generate profit. Samita emphasized that there is a more meaningful way to cover celebrity. She stressed the importance of incorporating critical interpretation, providing context, and treating celebrity culture as a platform for addressing larger social issues.

I’m very glad to have found out about the Centre for Media and Celebrity Studies. They are a great resource for expertise and materials related to the fields of media, communication and cultural studies. I’m grateful for Samita for having shared her knowledge with me, and for getting me to think more deeply about all the systems at work beneath the glam and glitz”

Merci Olivia

Good summary of the main celebrity culture scholars and concepts. Good presentation! I hope we can keep in touch.

Marta Narberhaus

The parts related to talent, very interesting. The first part, about celebrities and text, too. Thank you!

Mitra Ghosh

Explanation of ‘ordinariness’ and ‘extraordinariness’

I appreciate the presentation, how Samita delivered her speech. It was excellent.

Emmanuel Lopez 

“Congrats Samita on a fantastic event last night! I had a great time doing my motivational talk and also enjoyed your presentation! Super audience too. And excited we were interviewed for Urban Television! Feeling SO GOOD this morning!

What a fantastic evening of inspiring talks, soulful dances, warm-hearted people and delicious foods!!! Thank you Samita and everyone involved! It was an honor to be a speaker that this special event.”

Nidhi Shrivastava

“It was a pleasure to be there and become part of such an event with awesome and empowering presenters”

Vaughn Berkeley

“Just wanted to say congratulations on a great event and a warm thanks to everyone Jenny met last night. Jenny, publisher of EternityWatch Magazine, is looking forward to connecting with folk in 2014.”

Imran Noor Mohammed

“CONGRATS! A lovely evening of courageous vulnerability and fierce resilience through embodied storytelling, personal journey reflections and the sharing of learned lessons along the way!” 

Ashima Suri

“Thank you so much dear Samita for a beautiful evening! It was truly an honor to be part of this amazing night. Absolutely loved the energy from the presenters and guests. Hugs!!! Xx”

Heryka Miranda

“Such an awesome night with reaffirmation of some simple but profound truths of life and how to live it, love vs fame, breakout performance that condensed a lifetime into minutes (Samita Nandy) and emotional performances that creep upon you and take over before you realize it was your own story (Ashima Suri) and of course good food!” 

Rosey G

“Last night , I couldnt help feel like I walked away empowered and informed. Thank you to all the panelists for sharing your personal journeys with us and Samita your performance was sensual, emotional, and deep!”

Laila Plavins

“The event was a pleasant refresher for self realization and reminder to ‘be’.that change I wish to make in the world. ENJOYED !”

Ravi Kumar 

“Great Institution involved in advancing the Study of Media & Celebrity Culture.”

“Amazing Presenters & Relevant topics…BLESSINGS”

Freshta Gak

“Thankful to have been part of an empowering, soulful and creative evening….wish you continued love and success”

Soma Mandal Datta

Examples to illustrate content matter – Sex & the City (2008) clip helped getting an idea of what to expect.

I look forward to seeing more of your work in the future

Silvia Lozeva

The presenting itself was most delightful.

The photos of celebrities.

Great topic & work, Samita! Keep digging into the problems further & see what comes out – it will be most interesting to hear it next time

Andrew Cameron

The interesting nature of the topic. I was quite engaged by the difference in the “star system” of Canada and the US. Well done! I was very interested!

Maureen Clibbens

The presentation generated a great deal of interesting discussion

 Your lecture has been very interesting for me