Communications and Media Studies Research Focus
Researchers in the Communications and Media Studies section (CMS) have strong interests in socio-aesthetic and socio-cultural areas of inquiry. Areas of current research include:
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British cultural identity and its expression in literary and cultural texts;
- The social and political dimensions of everyday media texts and technologies;
- The book and its interface with other media forms
- Audience studies
- Communication theory
- Feminist media studies
- Sport and national culture
- Social theory of the media
- Aesthetic communication
- Music communication
- Political communication and social dramaturgy
- Religious communication
- Games and gaming
- Creativity studies
- Cultural histories of travel and tourism
- Australian and international literary representations of war and conflict
Dr Daniel Black BA (Hons.) (Melb.), PhD (RMIT)
- The relationship between the human body and technology
- The impact of embodiment and our interactions with other human bodies on the design and use of technologies
- Attempts to simulate the human body using technological means
- The interplay between understandings of human life and technological artifacts
Dr Elizabeth Burns Coleman BA (Hons.) Ph.D (ANU)
Research Fellow
- Political philosophy
- Philosophy of law
- Intellectual property
- Applied ethics
- Philosophy of symbols and communication theory
- Philosophy of art
- Communication ethics
- Intangible cultural heritage and intellectual property
“I am interested in supervising cross-disciplinary projects in communications, arts, anthropology, law, and indigenous studies.” - Elizabeth Burns Coleman.
Dr Eduardo de la Fuente BEc (Sydney), BA Hons (UNSW), PhD (Griffith)
- Socio-cultural aspects of music and musicians
- Sociology of the arts
- Style and aesthetics and their role in social life
- Production and consumption of cultural goods
- Consumer cultures
- Urban cultures
- Everyday communication
- Communication theory
- Social and cultural theory
- Modernity and all aspects of cultural modernity
“I have supervised postgraduate and honours theses on topics such as DJs and club cultures, socio-cultural studies of food, the Internet and the public sphere, charities and the media, the media consumption habits of diasporic groups, and the role of listening in everyday life. In other words, I’m open to supervising lots of different topics in communications and the socio-cultural study of phenomena.” - Eduardo de la Fuente.
Associate Professor Robin Gerster BA (Hons), MA, Ph.D (Monash)
Associate Professor
- War, conflict and representation
- Travel writing and representation
- Western cultural and political relationships with and literary representations of the Asia-Pacific (especially Japan).
- Australian responses to nuclear warfare and the nuclear industry generally
"I have a strong research interest and extensive teaching experience in the above fields, and look forward to hearing from prospective higher degree candidates." - Robin Gerster
Associate Professor Kevin Foster BA (Hons.) (Manchester) MA (Sask.) PhD (Monash)
Head of Communications
Honours/Masters Unit coordinator
- Representations of war and conflict (I have particular interests in the Spanish Civil War, the Second World War and Britain's post-war military commitments, most notably the Falklands Conflict)
- War and cultural memory
- Representations of National and Regional Identity with a particular focus on constructions of British regional identities
- British political, literary and cinematic culture from the 1930s to the present day
- Cultural constructions of class
- Football and national/regional identity
- Cultural relations between Latin America and the English Speaking West
“I would welcome enquiries from potential postgraduate students with interests in these and related fields.” - Kevin Foster.
Associate Professor Gil-Soo Han BA (Sungkyul), MA Soc (JNU), MA (Hons) & PhD (UNE)
Research Coordinator
Honours Coordinator
Masters Coordinator
- Religion
- Ethnicity
- Health & illness
- Information, communication and technologies
- Interactions between individual members of society and diverse socio-economic institutions in the fast changing society.
“If you wish to undertake a higher degree research project please feel free to contact me. I am particularly interested in the areas of sociology of media and religion; health communication; ethnic studies; Korean studies; and health sociology.” - Gil-Soo Han.
Dr David Holmes BA (Hons.), PhD (Melb)
- Sociology of Media and Communications
- New Media
- Communications Convergence
- Youth Media
- Online Social Networking
- Political uses of New Media
- Communications and cultural globalisation
- The visual culture of tourism
- Ritual Communication
- Media Ecology (Medium Theory)
Dr Shane Homan BA Hons I (UWS) PhD (Macquarie)
Senior Lecturer
- Popular music
- Media industries
- Cultural/creative/arts industries
- Youth studies
- Media policy
Dr Brett Hutchins BA MA (UC), PhD (UQ)
School Postgraduate coordinator
- Sport and media
- News media
- Computer and video games
- Social theory
- The international growth of e-sport (competitive computer gaming)
- The political economy of sports media
- Independent online news
- Environmental protest
- Regional news media
- Australian national mythologies.
Associate Professor Peter Murphy BA (Hons.) PhD (La Trobe)
Deputy Head of School
- Communication and social theory
- Socio-cultural and socio-aesthetic studies
- Music and Aesthetic Communication
- Political Communication and social dramaturgy
- Creativity Studies
Dr Simone Murray BA (Hons.) (Qld), PhD (UCL), Grad. Cert. in Higher Education (Monash)
Section Honours Unit Coordinator
- Writing, publishing, editing and all facets of contemporary print cultures
- Books in the digital media era
- Book/screen/computer game adaptations, and the global adaptation industry
- Adaptation studies theories and methods
- Global corporate media policies, practices and products
- Feminist analyses of contemporary print cultures (books, magazines, newspapers, online)
- Gendered theories and histories of communication
- Public-service media in the 21st century (eg. webportals, podcasting, video-podcasting)
- Internationalisation of public-service media organisations, services and content
- Fan behaviours, corporate media and intellectual property regimes.
“I am interested in hearing from prospective higher degree research candidates regarding projects in any of the above areas, and in feminist approaches to media generally.” - Simone Murray.
Dr Andy Ruddock BA (Hons.) MA (Cantab), MA (Penn State), Ph.D (Massachusetts)
Honours/Masters Unit coordinator
Section Postgraduate coordinator
- Media Audiences
- Political Celebrity
- Drinking Cultures
- Sport Celebrities
- Sport Fans
- Cultivation analysis
- Media violence
- Quantitative approaches to cultural studies
- Media audience histories
- History of mass communication theory.
“I welcome postgraduate inquiries from anyone interested in audiences and public health.” - Andy Ruddock.
Dr Dimitris Vardoulakis BA (University of Glasgow), PGD (Monash), MA (Monash), PhD (Monash)
- The relation between literature and philosopy
- The relation between culture and the political.
- The Doppelgänger
- Political theology.