Politics of the Screen

Scope and Purpose

The Politics of the Screen research cluster aims to achieve a nuanced understanding of 'screen cultures' in contemporary society. We want to explore, and evolve methodologies to articulate, the variable roles currently and prospectively played by screens in the fields of surveillance, spectacle, communication, action-images, architecture, self-representation, data-management, medicine, labour, mobile technologies, and so on. We particularly want to establish the groundwork for a critical and political intervention in these intertwined processes.

Current Activities and Projects

Various individual projects have either been completed or are under way; these can be followed up by accessing our individual web pages. We are currently organising a one-day symposium on screen cultures for February 2007, where invited and interested intellectuals can begin to exchange ideas on the broad issues sketched above. This relatively informal gathering will begin drawing together a national network of affiliated scholars.

Proposed Activities and Projects

The symposium will provide the catalyst for a more substantial conference on the topic in December 2007. This conference will draw on the full breadth of international scholarship and expertise in the area of screen cultures. We will be applying for a grant to fund the collaborative book project we want to generate out of it. We also intend to apply for an ARC Discovery Project grant.

For details of the one-day symposium, "Politics of Screen Cultures," February 23, 2007, University of Sydney, select Symposium in the menu at left.