Cinema and media studies have been a prominent part of American academy since the 1960s and at a few universities since the 1910s, but it was only in the mid-1990s that the field was declared to be an emerging discipline. A discussion on the state of cinema and media studies is presented as they stand on the verge of being officially recognized as…

From 1895, the traditional date for the birth of cinema as everybody knows it (that is, the projection of celluloid, in public space, for money--a racket first stumbled upon by Auguste and Louis Lumiere in the basement of the Grand Cafe in Paris), until now, the 35mm photographic image has been the preferred canvas for motion-picture art. Through…