Critical communications research in Australia : from radical populism to creative industries

This paper tracks the development of critical communicatiosn research in Australia over a 30 year period. It assesses the relative significance of critical theory, Marxist political economy and cultural studies to the development of such a tradition. it also evaluates the rise of 'creative industries' dicourse as an emergent development in the field, and a distinctive contribution of Australian media and communications research.

Australasian horror

This Australasian horror special issue is an important step forward in putting Australian and New Zealand horror movies on the map of film and cinema studies as a subject worthy of intellectual debate. The journal issue is the first devoted solely to the academic discussion of Australasian horror movies. While an Australian horror movie tradition has produced numerous titles since the 1970s achieving commercial success and cult popularity worldwide, the horror genre is largely missing from Australian film history. While there have been occasional essays on standout titles such as Wolf Creek (Mclean, 2005), an increasing number of articles on ‘Ozploitation’ movies, and irregular discussion about Australian Gothic, overall the nature of Australian horror as a genre remains poorly understood. In terms of New Zealand, debate has tended to revolve around ‘Kiwi Gothic’ and of course Peter Jackon’s early splatter films, rather than Kiwi horror as a specific filmmaking tradition.

An intelligent building model of sustainable architecture in a mechanism of open systems evolution

This paper argues a model of open systems evolution based on evolutionary thermodynamics and complex system science, as a design paradigm for sustainable architecture. The mechanism of open system evolution is specified in mathematical simulations and theoretical discourses. According to the mechanism, the authors propose an intelligent building model of sustainable design by a holistic information system of the end-users, the building and nature. This information system is used to control the consumption of energy and material resources in building system at microscopic scale, to adapt the environmental performance of the building system to the natural environment at macroscopic scale, for an evolutionary emergence of sustainable performance of buildings.

Ways of telling : tacit knowledge transfer for fashion design research

The knowledge and skills of fashion and textiles design have traditionally been transferred through the indenture of an apprentice to a master. This relationship relied heavily on the transfer of explicit methods of design and making but also on the transfer of tacit knowledge, explained by Michael Polanyi as knowledge that cannot be explicitly known. By watching the master and emulating his efforts in the presence of his example, the apprentice unconsciously picks up the rules of the art, including those which are not explicitly known to the master himself (Polanyi, 1962 p.53). However, it has been almost half a century since Michael Polanyi defined the tacit dimension as a state in which “we can know more than we can tell” (Polanyi, 1967 p.4) at a time when the accepted means of ‘telling’ was through academic writing and publishing in hardcopy format. The idea that tacit knowledge transfer involves a one to one relationship between apprentice and master would appear to have dire consequences for a discipline, such as fashion design, where there is no such tradition of academic writing. This paper counters this point of view by providing examples of strategies currently being employed in online environments (principally through ‘craft’) and explains how these methods might prove useful to support tacit knowledge transfer in respect to academic research within the field of fashion design, and in the wider academic community involved in creative practice research. A summary of the implications of these new ideas for contemporary fashion research will conclude the paper.

'The black hole of our history' : a conversation with Louis Nowra

This is an edited version of an interview recorded for Canadian Theatre Review in 1992. By that time Nowra had established a reputation as one of Australia's foremost playwrights. Part of the generation which succeeded the New Wave of the late 1960s and early 1970s, Nowra became known for a stylistic inventiveness which placed him outside the tradition of realist playwriting in Australia. The international outlook in his early plays, and the fact that he was not exclusively preoccupied with Australian settings and subject matter, was often a focal point in critical accounts of his work. In this interview Nowra discusses his 'internationalism', and a range of topics including the playwriting process; the presence of landscape in his plays; and the autobiographical elements in his work.

A tale of six fish: achieving social presence through discussion forums in an offline learning environment

It is widely held, through the Socratic tradition, that discussion is at the heart of learning. Moderated discussion forums have been shown to replicate the debate, argument and verbal defence of viewpoints that we have come to expect in face-to-face learning environments and that we generally accept to underpin learning. While much has been written about discussion forums in educational settings, particularly in how to moderate and promote effective interaction with students at a distance, this paper takes a different approach. It looks at how forums may be used to support face-to-face learning in the contemporary context of the massification of on-campus classes. Further to this, it will argue for discussion forums as an indicator of social presence in the learning environment. It will cautiously conclude that, through purposeful design, this form of asynchronous communication has a valuable role to play in creating a positive and supportive environment for students entering university. Discussion forums are tools with a versatility yet to be fully exploited.

Aurora : an illustrated novella

Aurora, an illustrated novella, is a retelling of the classic fairytale Sleeping Beauty, set on the Australian coast around the grounds of the family lighthouse. Instead of following in the footsteps of tradition, this tale focuses on the long time Aurora is cursed to sleep by the malevolent Minerva; we follow Aurora as she voyages into the unconscious. Hunted by Minerva through the shifting landscape of her dreams, Aurora is dogged by a nagging pull towards the light—there is something she has left behind. Eventually, realising she must face Minerva to break the curse, they stage a battle of the minds in which Aurora triumphs, having grasped the power of her thoughts, her words. Aurora, an Australian fairytale, is a story of self-empowerment, the ability to shape destiny and the power of the mind. The exegesis examines a two-pronged question: is the illustrated book for young adults—graphic novel—relevant to a contemporary readership, and, is the graphic novel, where text and image intersect, a suitably specular genre in which to explore the unconscious? It establishes the language of the unconscious and the meaning of the term ‘graphic novel’, before investigating the place of the illustrated book for an older readership in a contemporary market, particularly exploring visual literacy and the way text and image—a hybrid narrative—work together. It then studies the aptitude of graphic literature to representing the unconscious and looks at two pioneers of the form: Audrey Niffenegger, specifically her visual novel The Three Incestuous Sisters, and Shaun Tan, and his graphic novel The Arrival. Finally, it reflects upon the creative work, Aurora, in light of three concerns: how best to develop a narrative able to relay the dreaming story; how to bestow a certain ‘Australianess’ upon the text and images; and the dilemma of designing an illustrated book for an older readership.

Assessment reform and educational change in Australia

This chapter addresses the changing climate of assessment policy and practice in Australia in response to global trends in education and the mounting accountability demands of standards-driven reform. Queensland, a State of Australia, has a tradition of respecting and trusting teacher judgment through the practice of, and policy commitment to, externally moderated school-based assessment. This chapter outlines the global trends in curriculum and assessment reform, and then analyzes the impact of international comparisons on national policy. The creation of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) together with the intent of establishing a standards-referenced framework raises tensions and challenges for teachers’ practice. The argument for sustaining confidence in teacher-based assessment is developed with reference to research evidence pertaining to the use of more authentic assessments and moderation practices for the purposes of improving learning, equity and accountability. Evidence is drawn from local studies of teacher judgment practice and used to demonstrate these developments and in so doing illuminate the complex issues of engaging the demands of policy while sustaining confidence in teacher assessment.

Playing with picturebooks : postmodernism and the postmodernesque

This thesis traces the influence of postmodernism on picturebooks. Through a review of current scholarship on both postmodernism and postmodern literature it examines the multiple ways in which picturebooks have responded to the influence of postmodernism. The thesis is predominantly located in the field of Cultural and Literary Studies, which informs the ways in which children’s literature is positioned within contemporary culture and how it responds to the influences which shape its production and reception. Cultural and Literary Studies also offers a useful theoretical frame for analysing issues of textuality, ideology, and originality, as well as social and political comment in the focus texts. The thesis utilises the theoretical contributions by, in particular, Linda Hutcheon, Brian McHale, and Fredric Jameson as well as reference to children’s literature studies. This thesis makes a significant contribution to the development of an understanding of the place of the postmodern picturebook within the cultural context of postmodernism. It adds to the field of children’s literature research through an awareness of the (continuing) evolution of the postmodern picturebook particularly as the current scholarship on the postmodernism picturebook does not engage with the changing form and significance of the postmodern picturebook to the same extent as this thesis. This study is significant from a methodological perspective as it draws on a wide range of theoretical perspectives across literary studies, visual semiotics, philosophy, cultural studies, and history to develop a tripartite methodological framework that utilises the methods of postclassical narratology, semiotics, and metafictive strategies to carry out the textual analysis of the focus texts. The three analysis chapters examine twenty-two picturebooks in detail with respect to the ways in which the conventions of narrative are subverted and how dominant discourses are interrogated. Chapter 4: Subverting Narrative Processes includes analysis of narrative point of view, modes of representation, and characters and the problems of identity and subjectivity. Chapter 5: Challenging Truth, History, and Unity examines questions of ontology, the difficulties of representing history, and addresses issues of difference and ‘otherness’. The final textual analysis chapter, Chapter 6: Engaging with Postmodernity, critiques texts which engage with issues of globalisation, mass media, and consumerism. Brief discussion of a further fifteen picturebooks throughout the thesis provides additional support. Children’s texts have a tradition of being both resistant and compliant. Its resistance has made a space for the development of the postmodern picturebook; its compliance is evident in its tendency to take a route around a truly radical or iconoclastic position. This thesis posits that children’s postmodern picturebooks adopt what suits their form and purposes by drawing from and reflecting on some influences of postmodernism while disregarding those that seem irrelevant to its direction. Furthermore, the thesis identifies a shift in the focus of a number of postmodern picturebooks produced since the turn of the twenty-first century. This trend has seen a shift from texts which interrogate discourses of liberal humanism to those that engage with aspects of postmodernity. These texts, postmodernesque picturebooks, offer contradictory perspectives on aspects of society emanating from the rise in global trends mentioned above.

Must see TV : mapping an Australian mediasphere

Australian National Cinema and Australian Television Culture. These two books, magisterial accounts of Australian media cultures, are very different. The first analyses (according to its cover blurb) 'the distinct and diverse nature of Australian cinema'; the second offers 'a picture of Australian television'. The books share an author.2 Despite this, their objects of study are constituted very differently. The first is replete with examples of particular films, analyses of their representational strategies, and links to the social context of production. The second addresses almost no programs and those that are mentioned appear only in passing. There is no analysis of any particular television text. The difference between these books cannot be explained in terms of authorial fickleness: rather, it represents the different ways in which television and film have been constructed as objects of study. While film has a recognised canon and a tradition of close textual analysis, in the study of television the programs themselves have tended to vanish - as they do in Australian Television Culture. Most academic work on Australian television is not interested in its programs. Writers have tended to find other aspects more rewarding: industries, institutions, ownership, legislation, technology and production.3 Australian Television Culture is part of this tradition; and an example of how such work, done well, can be a useful contribution to understanding the medium.

Local and global : cultural globalization, consumerism, and children's fiction

According to Zygmunt Bauman in Liquid Modernity (2000), the formerly solid and stable institutions of social life that characterised earlier stages of modernity have become fluid. He sees this as an outcome of the modernist project of progress itself, which in seeking to dismantle oppressive structures failed to reconstruct new roles for society, community and the individual. The un-tethering of social life from tradition in the latter stages of the twentieth century has produced unprecedented freedoms and unparalleled uncertainties, at least in the West. Although Bauman’s elaboration of some of the features and drivers of liquid modernity – increased mobility, rapid communications technologies, individualism – suggests it to be a neologism for globalisation, it is arguably also the context which has allowed this phenomenon to flourish. The qualities of fluidity, leakage, and flow that distinguish uncontained liquids also characterise globalisation, which encompasses a range of global trends and processes no longer confined to, or controlled by, the ‘container’ of the nation or state. The concept of liquid modernity helps to explain the conditions under which globalisation discourses have found a purchase and, by extension, the world in which contemporary children’s literature, media, and culture are produced. Perhaps more significantly, it points to the fluid conceptions of self and other that inform the ‘liquid’ worldview of the current generation of consumers of texts for children and young adults. This generation is growing up under the phase of globalisation we describe in this chapter.

All fours

A short stage play in the absurdist tradition. It was published by the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in "Movimiento Paroxista Revista Literatura" 1(1), 2011, pp. 17-25.

Hypercapitalism : a political economy of informational idealism

In this this paper I identify specific historical trajectories that are directly contingent upon the deployment and use of new media, but which are actually hidden by a focus on the purely technological. They are: the increasingly abstract and alienated nature of economic value; the subsumption of all labour - material and intellectual - under systemic capital; and the convergence of formerly distinct spheres of analysis –the spheres of production, circulation, and consumption. This paper examines the implications of the knowledge economy from an historical materialist perspective. I synthesise the systemic views of Marx (1846/1972, 1875/1972 1970 1973 1976 1978 1981), Adorno (1951/1974 1964/1973 1991; Horkheimer and Adorno 1944/1998; Jarvis 1998), and Bourdieu (1991 1998) to argue for a language-focused approach to new media research and suggest aspects of Marxist thought which might be useful in researching emergent socio-technical domains. I also identify specific categories in the Marxist tradition which may no longer be analytically useful for researching the effects of new media.

Busway platform bus capacity analysis

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), because of its operational flexibility and simplicity, is rapidly gaining popularity with urban designers and transit planners. Earlier BRTs were bus shared lane or bus only lane, which share the roadway with general and other forms of traffic. In recent time, more sophisticated designs of BRT have emerged, such as busway, which has separate carriageway for buses and provides very high physical separation of buses from general traffic. Line capacities of a busway are predominately dependent on bus capacity of its stations. Despite new developments in BRT designs, the methodology of capacity analysis is still based on traditional principles of kerbside bus stop on bus only lane operations. Consequently, the tradition methodology lacks accounting for various dimensions of busway station operation, such as passenger crowd, passenger walking and bus lost time along the long busway station platform. This research has developed a purpose made bus capacity analysis methodology for busway station analysis. Extensive observations of kerbside bus stops and busway stations in Brisbane, Australia were made and differences in their operation were studied. A large scale data collection was conducted using the video recording technique at the Mater Hill Busway Station on the South East Busway in Brisbane. This research identified new parameters concerning busway station operation, and through intricate analysis identified the elements and processes which influence the bus dwell time at a busway station platform. A new variable, Bus lost time, was defined and its quantitative descriptions were established. Based on these finding and analysis, a busway station platform bus capacity methodology was developed, comprising of new models for busway station lost time, busway station dwell time, busway station loading area bus capacity, and busway station platform bus capacity. The new methodology not only accounts for passenger boarding and alighting, but also covers platform crowd and bus lost time in station platform bus capacity estimation. The applicability of this methodology was shown through demonstrative examples. Additionally, these examples illustrated the significance of the bus lost time variable in determining station capacities.