The Special Broadcasting Service and Australian Cultural Democracy: Evolution, Uses and Innovation. This project seeks to assess the role and impacts of the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) as a force for democratic change. Four key themes will be investigated: evolution, uses, innovation and cultural democracy, with the aim of documenting and critically assessing how SBS has used cultural difference as a resource for enhancing democratic inclusion and representation. The approach used will be ....The Special Broadcasting Service and Australian Cultural Democracy: Evolution, Uses and Innovation. This project seeks to assess the role and impacts of the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) as a force for democratic change. Four key themes will be investigated: evolution, uses, innovation and cultural democracy, with the aim of documenting and critically assessing how SBS has used cultural difference as a resource for enhancing democratic inclusion and representation. The approach used will be primarily derived from new political theory which focuses on how democratic processes and practices can be deepened in increasingly complex multicultural societies. Such a comprehensive analysis of SBS's unique role has never been undertaken. The research will produce knowledge of SBS's past and present practices that can be used strategically to inform future policy developments and enhance the way the broadcaster approaches its Charter obligations.Read moreRead less
Mobile Indonesians: social differentiation and digital literacies in the twenty first century. This is the first dedicated study of the social implications of mobile telephony's recent and rapid popularisation throughout the country. This project will study metropolitan, urban and rural users to understand how mobile phones create the new and unexpected social networks which will shape tomorrow's Indonesians.
Developing an innovative entertainment-evaluation model to evaluate the efficacy of digital comedy in engaging young men with sexual health knowledge. This project aims to develop an innovative methodology to evaluate the efficacy of using digital comedy to reach young men with information about healthy sexual development. Rates of sexually transmitted infections are rising among young people aged 16-29 in Australia and research shows that young men are poorly informed about healthy sexual devel ....Developing an innovative entertainment-evaluation model to evaluate the efficacy of digital comedy in engaging young men with sexual health knowledge. This project aims to develop an innovative methodology to evaluate the efficacy of using digital comedy to reach young men with information about healthy sexual development. Rates of sexually transmitted infections are rising among young people aged 16-29 in Australia and research shows that young men are poorly informed about healthy sexual development. This project takes an entertainment-education approach, evaluating the use of digitally-distributed entertainment videos to reach young men with this information.Read moreRead less
Australian Film Theory and Criticism. Australian film theory and criticism has burgeoned over the past thirty years, but there is no dedicated book-length study of the field. This research project will fill the gap, not only tracing the specificity of Australian film theory and criticism but also reasserting its place on the international scholarly agenda. In tracing the critical positions, personalities and institutions that have shaped film theory and criticism in this country, this project wi ....Australian Film Theory and Criticism. Australian film theory and criticism has burgeoned over the past thirty years, but there is no dedicated book-length study of the field. This research project will fill the gap, not only tracing the specificity of Australian film theory and criticism but also reasserting its place on the international scholarly agenda. In tracing the critical positions, personalities and institutions that have shaped film theory and criticism in this country, this project will at once disseminate and preserve (for scholars and the general public alike) the legacy of those critical intellectuals who have striven to understand the nation's most popular art and entertainment form, the cinema. Read moreRead less
The global self: screening the history of human rights in the 20th century to the present. This project will research the history and theory of human rights as represented in film and new media. It will analyse the origins and development of human rights theory and document the changes in films about human rights in order to understand how we now conceptualise human rights in the twenty-first-century.
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354670
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$40,000.00
Summary
Cultural Research Network: Cultural literacies, technologies, identities and histories. The Cultural Research Network's initial disciplinary base will be in cultural, media and communications studies. From this foundation it will build collaborative links with researchers from cultural history, cultural geography, cultural anthropology and creative industries to develop the capacity for innovative research into media and cultural technologies, cultural literacies, cultural histories and identiti ....Cultural Research Network: Cultural literacies, technologies, identities and histories. The Cultural Research Network's initial disciplinary base will be in cultural, media and communications studies. From this foundation it will build collaborative links with researchers from cultural history, cultural geography, cultural anthropology and creative industries to develop the capacity for innovative research into media and cultural technologies, cultural literacies, cultural histories and identities. To facilitate interdisciplinary exchange, the network will establish virtual connections, travelling master classses, seminars and symposia. The network will circulate people as well as ideas and information, bringing established Australian researchers into direct contact with postgraduates and young researchers in these fields, and pursuing international linkages.Read moreRead less
Consuming Celebrity: Female stardom and gay subcultural reception. This project explores the function of celebrity in modern culture through a detailed case study of gay subcultural receptions of female stardom. The female star or ?diva? has been an influential figure in gay subcultures since the nineteenth century where it has inspired significant and enduring productions of gay selfhood. The project explores the histories of gay ?diva worship? to analyse the role and uses of stardom in formati ....Consuming Celebrity: Female stardom and gay subcultural reception. This project explores the function of celebrity in modern culture through a detailed case study of gay subcultural receptions of female stardom. The female star or ?diva? has been an influential figure in gay subcultures since the nineteenth century where it has inspired significant and enduring productions of gay selfhood. The project explores the histories of gay ?diva worship? to analyse the role and uses of stardom in formations of cultural identity. Through scholarly publications, the study will make major contributions to our understanding of not only gay culture and history, but the significance of celebrity in modern cultural life.Read moreRead less
Media Classification Systems: An International Comparative Study. The central question for media classification is 'by whom should this be consumed?' This project aims to examine the ways in which this question has been answered across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Encompassing case studies of India, Japan, the United States of America, United Kingdom, Brazil and China, and with a particular emphasis on Australia, the project is intended to produce a comparative history of the emerge ....Media Classification Systems: An International Comparative Study. The central question for media classification is 'by whom should this be consumed?' This project aims to examine the ways in which this question has been answered across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Encompassing case studies of India, Japan, the United States of America, United Kingdom, Brazil and China, and with a particular emphasis on Australia, the project is intended to produce a comparative history of the emergence of media classification systems based on the international exchange of policy approaches, ideas about public interest and the protection of minors and the circulation of media objects. This research aims to address the continuing significance of the media classification question in an era of media convergence.Read moreRead less
War, Computer Games and Contemporary Technoculture. This project examines computer games with a view to understanding the profound interrelationship of war and cultural developments that influences much of the innovation in computer gaming and simulation today. In the wake of the recent escalation of terrorism and state-supported counter-terrorism, war has become even more visible in media and audio-visual entertainment, making the question of the relation between war and mainstream culture one ....War, Computer Games and Contemporary Technoculture. This project examines computer games with a view to understanding the profound interrelationship of war and cultural developments that influences much of the innovation in computer gaming and simulation today. In the wake of the recent escalation of terrorism and state-supported counter-terrorism, war has become even more visible in media and audio-visual entertainment, making the question of the relation between war and mainstream culture one which poses itself with increasing urgency. This project's exploration of computer games is aimed at illuminating crucial features of this wider question of war's place in Australian contemporary culture, connected as it is to the global media context.Read moreRead less
Exploring Internet Induced Changes in Youth Music Consumption. Music consumption is the basis of both a key Australian industry with wide reaching economic impact, and a social practice closely tied to identity formation, relationship development and mood management. This project has significant community and national benefit, in that it will further our understanding of contemporary popular music consumption. In documenting the range of online music products, young consumers' attitudes towards ....Exploring Internet Induced Changes in Youth Music Consumption. Music consumption is the basis of both a key Australian industry with wide reaching economic impact, and a social practice closely tied to identity formation, relationship development and mood management. This project has significant community and national benefit, in that it will further our understanding of contemporary popular music consumption. In documenting the range of online music products, young consumers' attitudes towards them, and their personal music acquisition habits, the project will lead to an understanding of how having access to almost unlimited, personalised music-file collections will affect the role music plays in their lives and the follow-on impact in social, cultural and economic terms.Read moreRead less