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
Lifted from the Ironing Board: The ABC Women's Session, 1935-1973. The Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) broadcast radio programs for women from 1936 to 1971. This project provides the first history of these programs. It will document the establishment and decline of the 'Women's Session' during this period via internal ABC correspondence and audience research, scripts and listeners' letters. It will therefore provide a case study of the dynamic relationships between media production, cir ....Lifted from the Ironing Board: The ABC Women's Session, 1935-1973. The Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) broadcast radio programs for women from 1936 to 1971. This project provides the first history of these programs. It will document the establishment and decline of the 'Women's Session' during this period via internal ABC correspondence and audience research, scripts and listeners' letters. It will therefore provide a case study of the dynamic relationships between media production, circulation and reception that will contribute to understandings of gender formation through popular culture. It will also forge new ways of understanding how women have contributed to the cultural life of the nation during the twentieth century.Read moreRead less
Worldwide: the history of the commercial arm of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). This project will result in a greater historical understanding of how state funded public service broadcasters develop and manage their commercial operations. The BBC's commercial arm was emulated by public service broadcasters across the world, not least by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation which was also a key client and partner. This history will enhance our understanding of public service broadc ....Worldwide: the history of the commercial arm of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). This project will result in a greater historical understanding of how state funded public service broadcasters develop and manage their commercial operations. The BBC's commercial arm was emulated by public service broadcasters across the world, not least by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation which was also a key client and partner. This history will enhance our understanding of public service broadcasting by examining the industrial and cultural innovations that are needed if the delivery of public content in Australia is to survive in a highly privatised digital environment.Read moreRead less
Safer Sex Beliefs and Practices in Multi-Partner Heterosexuals. Recent Australian research has indicated that heterosexuals with multiple or concurrent partners require targeted safer sex messages, and sexual health promotion resources. This is the first Australian study to address these groups, gaining community input into resource development. It is also the first local qualitative study to examine the attitudes, beliefs and safer sex practices of non-lesbian women seeking same-sex partners. T ....Safer Sex Beliefs and Practices in Multi-Partner Heterosexuals. Recent Australian research has indicated that heterosexuals with multiple or concurrent partners require targeted safer sex messages, and sexual health promotion resources. This is the first Australian study to address these groups, gaining community input into resource development. It is also the first local qualitative study to examine the attitudes, beliefs and safer sex practices of non-lesbian women seeking same-sex partners. The information gathered will assist researchers and educators nationally. Identification of media networks will also aid service provision in rural or regional areas.Read moreRead less
Peepshows: Love Letters and the Death Penalty in a Sensation Trial and its Cultural Legacies. Criminal trials are primarily studied by cultural historians and legal scholars without reference to eachother. My aim is to produce a feminist cultural history of a sensation trial and its legacies that addresses the legal, historical and cultural dimensions of the case. The monograph will explore how a woman was hanged on the flimsy ?evidence? of her love letters, and how later critics and cultural pr ....Peepshows: Love Letters and the Death Penalty in a Sensation Trial and its Cultural Legacies. Criminal trials are primarily studied by cultural historians and legal scholars without reference to eachother. My aim is to produce a feminist cultural history of a sensation trial and its legacies that addresses the legal, historical and cultural dimensions of the case. The monograph will explore how a woman was hanged on the flimsy ?evidence? of her love letters, and how later critics and cultural producers used popular forms to speak back to law. The project significance stems from its multi-disciplinary approach, and the innovative synchronic and diachronic framewor, which will provide a model for later cultural studies of trials.Read moreRead less
Early Television Drama in Australia, Great Britain and the USA. This project will reevaluate the history of early television drama by adopting a comparative perspective that examines Australian, UK and US drama during the period 1956-1964. Television drama was both a primary site where emerging national television systems could explore and showcase the potentialities of the new medium and a site in which there was considerable international sharing of critical understandings, production practice ....Early Television Drama in Australia, Great Britain and the USA. This project will reevaluate the history of early television drama by adopting a comparative perspective that examines Australian, UK and US drama during the period 1956-1964. Television drama was both a primary site where emerging national television systems could explore and showcase the potentialities of the new medium and a site in which there was considerable international sharing of critical understandings, production practices and creative ambitions. This project will map an international television ecology by evaluating these three national television drama systems and tracing the systems of interchange among them.Read moreRead less
Film as Philosophy: Understanding Cinematic Thinking. The project benefits Australia by initiating collaboration between the disciplines of film and philosophy, establishing a network of scholars of international renown and a forum for their interaction to steer the future development of a significant field of contemporary interdisciplinary investigation. It will augment Australia's international standing in continental philosophy and serve the community by opening up a new research area that st ....Film as Philosophy: Understanding Cinematic Thinking. The project benefits Australia by initiating collaboration between the disciplines of film and philosophy, establishing a network of scholars of international renown and a forum for their interaction to steer the future development of a significant field of contemporary interdisciplinary investigation. It will augment Australia's international standing in continental philosophy and serve the community by opening up a new research area that stands to integrate film studies within the core of humanities education in tertiary institutions. This will ensure the ongoing relevance of philosophical and aesthetic research to contemporary cultural formations and stimulate ethical debates about culture and the mass media in the broader community.Read moreRead less
Entertainment rights in the age of the franchise: a reappraisal of personality rights under Australian intellectual property laws. Global entertainment industry practice is to assert broad rights in creative entertainment concepts and characters. There is huge global merchandising potential for cultural products, as demonstrated by The Wiggles, Harry Potter and Pokemon. In the US, the UK, Japan and Korea there have been developments to enhance the protection of character and personality rights. ....Entertainment rights in the age of the franchise: a reappraisal of personality rights under Australian intellectual property laws. Global entertainment industry practice is to assert broad rights in creative entertainment concepts and characters. There is huge global merchandising potential for cultural products, as demonstrated by The Wiggles, Harry Potter and Pokemon. In the US, the UK, Japan and Korea there have been developments to enhance the protection of character and personality rights. However there is no current study of the status of the entertainment franchise under Australian intellectual property law. With Australian imports of cultural products at an all-time high and with local productions increasingly geared towards worldwide audiences, this study critically evaluates how Australian law fits with the realities of the global entertainment marketplace.Read moreRead less
Dynamic media: innovative social and artistic developments in new media in Australia, Britain, Canada and Scandinavia since 1990. This study will foreground strengths and remedy weaknesses in Australian new media arts and innovative social uses of new media. By studying the international strategies for social use of dynamic media, this study will provide information for Australians to more extensively implement dynamic media within a social context. It will highlight the innovation of Australian ....Dynamic media: innovative social and artistic developments in new media in Australia, Britain, Canada and Scandinavia since 1990. This study will foreground strengths and remedy weaknesses in Australian new media arts and innovative social uses of new media. By studying the international strategies for social use of dynamic media, this study will provide information for Australians to more extensively implement dynamic media within a social context. It will highlight the innovation of Australian artists and researchers in the development of dynamic media and position these internationally. A major long-term benefit of this study will be an online database that will both profile and be accessible to Australian artists, arts organizations, new media researchers and social innovators. Read moreRead less
Australian Screen Comedy. This project will analyse the different types of screen comedy produced in Australia in order to understand how comedy has shaped a sense of who we are as Australians. It will provide an understanding of why some Australian comedies and comedians succeed at home but not abroad and whether comedy can claim to be representative of an Australian way of life. It will make a contribution to a network of current research projects into the history and aesthetics of Australian ....Australian Screen Comedy. This project will analyse the different types of screen comedy produced in Australia in order to understand how comedy has shaped a sense of who we are as Australians. It will provide an understanding of why some Australian comedies and comedians succeed at home but not abroad and whether comedy can claim to be representative of an Australian way of life. It will make a contribution to a network of current research projects into the history and aesthetics of Australian television and film, producing synergies in national media research.
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