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!
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.
Charlie Wiseman
So many brilliant minds and fascinating research projects were present at #CMCS19 this weekend! We also discussed how to bridge the gaps between our fields and the public…can’t wait to share some of those ideas…
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
Sabrina Moro
I’m so grateful to everyone live twitting #CMCS17 conference! I’ve been following with great interest the discussions from across the world
Kerstin Hacker
Just got the Best Paper Award at the Bridging Gaps: National Identity in Persona, Branding and Activism conference for my Fostering Self-Governance in Zambia paper. Thank you for the opportunity to share my research. @celeb_studies #CMCS17
Franklin T. Wilson
The first night of the @celeb_studies #CMCS17 conference in #Perth #Australia kicked off with the wonderful #HeathLedger A Life in Pictures art exhibit at the Art Gallery of Western Australia. Thanks to @JackieRaphael @celialamyc of the University of Western Australia @uwanews
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
Louise St Guillaume
Thanks @celialamyc and @JackieRaphael for another amazing conference. The collegiality and supportive environments that your conferences create is always great. Hope to see you both soon. #CMCS17
Belinda Glynn
Great final panel looking at different ways of defining and understanding celebrity #CMCS17
Sonjah Stanley
I’ve been thoroughly enjoying papers at the Perth #CMCS17 and plan to stay tuned to future events. Sign me up. #C21stScholars #CelebrityStudies @celeb_studies @CSJcelebstudies
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
Hilary Wheaton
Dr Samita Nandy provided excellent teaching and unit coordination at Curtin University. I had the pleasure of working with her and learned a great deal during that time. Her enthusiasm and passion for academia and her chosen interests is inspiring, and her later founding of CMCS illustrates that she continues beyond her doctoral studies to encourage interest regarding Media and Celebrity studies.
Galyna Duncan
I was really inspired and intrigued by your speech about celebrities who are contributing to society and the world around us.
Abigail Lee, Miss Universe Canada – Miss Congeniality 2006
You have been such a blessing in my life! I love your powerful and perpetual enthusiasm during the Friday afternoons. You give me something to take away on my weekends and something to look forward when I start my week
Christine Bode
Wow Samita!! There is such a wealth and variety of information here that I wouldn’t know where to begin when it comes to commenting on everything. But I would like to say, that as always, you express yourself beautifully, eloquently, and with a passion & fierceness of spirit that is to be deeply admired! I’m honoured to call you my friend and like I said, I am in awe of the pace you keep when it comes to organizing and attending so many educational, creative and activist-empowered events! You’re a force of nature, my dear! With love and gratitude, Christine xox
CCIT 100/101 Institute of Communication and Culture
University of Toronto, Canada
University of Toronto, Canada
Samita Nandy is an outstanding young woman who has shared her vast knowledge with us. She made me have a better understanding of the course due to her educational background.Samita is an excellent leader and role model. I really admire her strive and diligence. Samita guides the tutorial sessions with skill and grace. I really liked her teaching style. – Her teaching style was a plus. Very informative and knowledgeable in what she does.We were given much opportunity to advance ideas. Looks out for her students and tries her best to make the material understanding. Samita presents the course material in a very enthusiastic manner. She teaches in a motivating atmosphere and welcomes different ideasWith her outstanding teaching skills, enthusiasm, and organization she will have a very bright future in communications.
Alexander Tchoumak
Samita’s outstanding contribution to education goes beyond the boundaries of the classroom. Her many significant contributions to and national levels warrant recognition befitting his efforts. As the Communication Director of Nouveau IDEA, a non profit organization for arts and culture with over 3,000 associates, Samita Nandy has advocated learning in the form of community-based education, utilizing post-graduate research, coalition building and documentary film making. Her latest film Frame by Frame: Tushar Unadkat develops the visibility of the South Asian American community and has been broadcasted during her media coverage on Rogers Television in Canada. She has received numerous awards at the provincial and international levels for her outstanding scholarship and leadership in media education and research. At the same time, her South Asian heritage enables her to activate multicultural knowledge and voice cultural diversity in the Canadian society.
Samir Ranjan Chatterjee
I am really impressed by your achievements in getting so many challenging projects completed in such a short time.
Sincere appreciation for your professional editing of my paper. I am most impressed by your thoroughness of attention and exceptionably clear communication in this project. You have added immense value to the paper by the way you have expanded the meaning, added extra clarity as well as reduced the paper to a manageable size. I very much liked your examples at the end of the email pointing out your method of value-adding to the paper have made a hard copy of the paper which I will read on my way to Vietnam on Friday.
Pascal Michelucci
Samita is upbeat, professional and a pleasure to work with as a colleague. I was delighted that Samita was able to work on the CCIT 101 team.
Himani Bannerji
Samita Nandy is perhaps one of the most motivated young academics that I have met, with a degree of diligence which is utterly compelling.
I would like to conclude by reitering my belief that Samita Nandy’s intellectual capacities, achievements, and projects
Andrei Dinu
Samita Nandy has been an outstanding Instructor at the University of Toronto. Out of the many Instructors that I have had, none have been as enthusiastic, hard working, and dedicated as Ms. Nandy. Her passion and caring for students to excel and do their best has always been reflected in the classes led by Ms. Nandy. Her classes were always enjoyable and we learned so much more because of her strong educational leadership and innovative research channels. It has been an honour to be a student of Samita Nandy. I am sure she will continue to be very successful in the same way she has led to the success of many others. I can’t thank her enough for being such a great teacher”
Carrianne K.Y. Leung
Just want to say THANK YOU to Samita and Isabelle for your great presentations yesterday. It was an incredible turn-out which attests to the interest in your fields of study. Best of luck to your future endeavours.
Isabelle Kim
The turn-out is due to your great efforts and CMCE’s presence at OISE and the wonderful community of folks interested in culture/media at OISE.
I really enjoyed Samita’s presentation.
Department of Communications
Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona
Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona
Marita Narberhaus
The parts related to talent, very interesting. The first part, about celebrities and text, too.
Thank you very much for your presentation – very good structured
P. Friexa
Good summary of the main celebrity culture scholars and concepts.
Merce Oliva
Good summary of the main celebrity culture scholars and concepts.
Good presentation!
Monica Figueras Maz
Your lecture has been very interesting for me
Film & Star Studies @filmstarstudies
Special thanks to Dr. Samita Nandy
You’ve achieved great conference thanks to all, to team and participants. Congratulations!!!
Diana MillerCMCS19 Amazing delegates from all over the world present their work and passion on important issues, with research and solutions for a better world!
Dr Samita Nandy (PhD)
Dir.,Ctr for Media & Celebrity Studies | Author, Fame in Hollywood North | Media:Telegraph, CBC, VICE, Flare, Chatelaine
Jacqueline Strayer is an outstanding public speaker with a rare combination of professional skills and life experience that leaves the audience in admiration and awe. Jacqueline kindly offered an interactive panel on personal branding and leadership that was an innovative and much-needed requirement for media and celebrity studies delegates at the 8th NYC Centre for Media and Celebrity Studies (CMCS) conference on storytelling in celebrity culture. I trust that her unique insights have the ultimate capacity to mobilize the fields of media and celebrity studies and practice in the direction of social change that many researchers and celebrity activists desire to see in the current state of affairs. I am incredibly proud of Jacqueline and looking forward to giving a voice to her contributions further.