News & Events

Find out what’s going on !


Ancient tragedy goes bossa nova…

Our "Science. Art. Film." screening & discussion of "Black Orpheus" on 27 March, 6pm, Arc Cinema, explored important questions around culture and representation, with its complex intersection of a French/Italian/Brazilian co-production, set amongst the Afro-Brazilian community and based on an ancient Greek myth. How does art shape society and culture, particularly in relation to the complexities of racial identities? How does this dynamic interaction manifest itself and change over time? 
Thanks to our wonderful speakers - Dr Karo Moret-Miranda, Dr Tatiana Bur and Rita Agha, our super engaged audience and the ANU African Studies  Network - for a marvellous film night & discussion at the Arc Cinema of the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia!

How can we re-imagine the book – a traditional medium, physical object and knowledge broker – through awe and wonder, art and technology? A research-based pop-up book series with an augmented reality app could be one idea… so… Welcome to the project “ULTRA-PERCEPTION: Science goes pop”!

Together with ANU researchers from different disciplines, a Canberra artist and a Canberra animation company we are working on a series of animated research-based pop-up spreads that bring science to life in new – and very colourful – ways.
Discover our work-in-progress video, and stay tuned for more updates on this project!
– video created by Nic Vevers from the ANU College of Science; with Dr Terhi Nurmikko-Fuller and Dr Hanna Hoyne; animation by Eye Candy.

This project is supported by KINETIC, a funding scheme for “for game-changing new ideas” piloted in 2023 by ANU Physics, the ANU MakerSpace, Wizer and Compton School.

Now online! Discover our new “Science. Art. Film.” program on the website of the National Film and Sound Archive – and register now for our exciting upcoming events!

2024 PROGRAM: Jaws (1975) + Panel – Wednesday 28 February, 6pm Black Orpheus (1959) + Panel – Wednesday 27 March, 6pm Vesper (2022) + Panel – Wednesday 17 April, 6pm Interstellar (2014) + Panel – Wednesday 15 May, 6pm Chappie (2015) + Panel – Wednesday 5 June, 6pm


New publication!

‘She’s cute like a Chihuahua pup with rabies, or a baby swinging an open razor’ – discover the humour of Harley Quinn with us!

New project!

Our project idea around “Environmental Circus” is now part of the 2024 SILBERSALZ science & media training programme!

SILBERSALZ Institute is a unique training programme for scientists wanting to break into the media sphere. In cooperation with MC2 Grenoble, Hexagone Scène Nationale and Pariscience, the Institute continues on the success of SILBERSALZ Institute 2023, and Documentary Campus’ 20-year expertise in factual project funding and customised media training.


“Science. Art. Film.” is now taking a break – but we will be BACK IN FEBRUARY 2024 with a new exciting programme. Stay tuned!

While you wait for the new programme, check out our video with Dr Gemma King on signed language and science in “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”!


This was our “Science. Art. Film.” series in Semester 2 (2023)! – We travelled from the technological future past of Blade Runner to comic scientists in filmic comics adaptations to synthetic biology – thanks to our amazing speakers, our wonderful audiences and the fantastic team of the National Film and Sound Archive !!!

Blade Runner + Discussion – 18 August 2023, 6pm

What is in a memory? Why do we feel emotions? How do they relate to our sense of identity, self, and responsibility? Blade Runner (1982) encourages us to reflect on how these questions on memories, emotions, and selfhood do not only define what it means to be human, but also how we relate to those who have similar capacities, including those who do not have an organic body. The film will provoke conversations on how the cognitive and emotive capacities of replicants, human-like androids with superior strength and a similar level of intelligence to humans, could influence how we perceive them and advocate for their rights and liberties. The screening will be preceded by a brief introduction on robots in popular culture and on ethical issues raised by embodied artificial intelligence. After the screening, there will be a panel discussion involving scientists and ethicists. So come, and join us in exploring the meaning of memories, and how they relate to life, love, and liberty, through this classic science fiction masterpiece.

‘A masterpiece of dystopian science fiction on film.’ – Daily Telegraph

Sound of Metal + Discussion – 21 September 2023, 6pm

Why are so many films about deafness also about music? Why do cinema and television so often represent hearing loss as a tragedy, and cochlear implants as a magical ‘cure’ for deafness? In some ways, the 2019 American Sign Language-film Sound of Metalrepeats these patterns. In others, it subverts them, challenging hearing audiences to think differently about how deafness might impact our sense of self and our relationships with others, and how technology might intersect with them. 

Join us to learn not about the “science of deafness”, which has a long and exclusionary history among hearing researchers, but about cochlear implants and the complicated place they hold in Deaf Culture, as discussed by an all-Deaf panel. 

This event is a part of the Sign on Screen project, supported by the Australian Research Council at the Australian National University and the National Film and Sound Archive.

‘One of the film’s best features is its refusal to indulge in triumph-of-the-human-spirit clichés that so often weigh down disability narratives.’ –The Wrap   

Total Recall + Discussion – 12 October 2023, 6pm

Total Recall(1990), hailed as one of the best science fiction films of all times, raises many questions about technology, including: What is real and what is fantasy in inner and outer techno-space? How can we understand this science fiction film as a place to test theories about how far we can go with the idea that technology is influenced by social pressures and desires – and to what extent are our expectations changed by the influence of technology? In what ways have science fiction motifs inspired ‘real life’ research? And why has this film actually become a cult classic? Find out about all of this and more in our panel discussion!

‘The fierce and unrelenting pace, accompanied by a tongue-in-cheek strain of humour in the roughhouse screenplay, keeps the film moving like a juggernaut.’ – Variety

Batman & Robin + Discussion – 8 November 2023, 6pm

The DC universe is populated with scientists. From Harley Quinn to Swamp Thing, scientists appear as troubled and troubling vaude-villains, as suspicious Frankensteinian creature-creators and enigmatic alchemists engaging in violent delights. Joel Schumacher’s 1997 American superhero film Batman & Robin features two spectacular examples: Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman) and Mr Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger) – and thus science galore! This evening is not only about the biologist behind Poison Ivy and the cryogenicist behind Freeze, but also about why they are so insanely, deliciously ridiculous and (thus) worth a closer look from both a science and humour perspective. The introduction to the film will introduce you to the research on science in comics and popular film being undertaken at the ANU and take you on a journey through the mesmerising scientist narratives of the DC universe. After the screening, there will be plenty of time for your thoughts, comments and questions about the film. There is good reason to expect a wildly entertaining and amusing film night and discussion! 

‘An amiable, almost farcical Batman episode, with George in Nespressso mode.’ – The Guardian

Rise of the Planet of the Apes + Discussion – 7 December 2023, 6pm

‘We gave her what we call ALZ-112, a gene therapy that allows the brain to create its own cells in order to repair itself. In biology, this is called neurogenesis. Here at GenSys, we call it a cure to Alzheimer’s.’ Cures and enhancement; natural and artificial. Modern biotechnologies are often framed as urgent solutions to pressing problems. And yet, there are always risks – of unexpected consequences and transgressed boundaries. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) explores these themes and many more. It stars James Franco, Frieda Pinto and the inimitable Andy Serkis, and is the first film in a trilogy. Here, the desire to develop biomedical solutions mixes uneasily with species enhancement, and the film raises a host of troubling questions about control and order, our relations with and responsibilities to non-human species, and ultimately our place in the natural world. 

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is spectacle with a kick: the transcendence of the normal in creatures so like ourselves is both an entertainment and a needling rebuke to human vanity’ – The New Yorker

Check out our NFSA website and discover our new programme!

Science, art and film are among the most powerful cultural institutions we have developed to understand, shape and envision our world.  

Screening monthly for FREE at Arc Cinema, SCIENCE. ART. FILM. is a new series that uncovers wacky, weird and wonderful facets of science and art in films.  

Films are screened in discussion with artists and ANU scholars from different disciplines.  

Presented by the National Film and Sound Archive, Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science and ANU Humanities Research Centre.


Discover our new Popsicule publications!

Did you know that one of the most groundbreaking science narratives in film history – The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) – was inspired by a popular performance? Just published in The Journal of Popular Culture
🥳
Discover the scientist (identity) behind the violent clown in our new research article on HARLEY QUINN, aka DR HARLEEN QUINZEL

Two papers on environmental fragility published on the same day!

Find out more on the website of the Journal of Science & Popular Culture
In contemporary Indigenous Australian fiction, all (non-)human animals, plants and the land are interconnected and interdependent.They are aware that they are not in the environment but are the environment. The planet and its non-human inhabitants have a creative agency and capacity for experience that demands our ethical consideration. In this article we investigate how Ambelin Kwaymullina’s Tribe novels and Ellen van Neerven’s novella Water empower environmental awareness by promoting sustainability and protection of the environment – within their fictional worlds and beyond. We argue that the human–nature relationship explored in these science fiction texts conveys the importance of Indigenous biocultural knowledge for resolving twenty-first-century global challenges. We  clarify the role of fictional texts in the broader cultural debate on the power and importance of Indigenous biocultural knowledge as a complement to western (scientific) understanding and communication of environmental vulnerability and sustainability. Contemporary Indigenous Australian literature, this article shows, evokes sympathy in readers, inspires an ecocentric view of the world and thus paves the path for a sustainable transformation of society, which has been recognized as the  power of fiction. Indigenous Australian fiction texts help us to rethink what it means to be human in terms of our relationship to other living  beings and our responsibility to care for our planet in a holistic and intuitive way.
We are celebrating proud of the first authors of the TWO papers published in the Journal of Science & Popular Culture: Isabel Richards wrote her brilliant Honours thesis at CPAS (a while ago) and Parth Thaker took our ‘Science & Humour’ course (SCOM2006/6006), from which his writing project emerged. Both papers explore fascinating and important environmental themes in (different) cultural contexts. BRAVO!
This article explores how environmental knowledge about global warming  and the melting of ice is communicated through humour in the computer-animated films Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006) and Happy Feet Two (2011) and the educational role that ecocritical narratives can play. Bringing together approaches drawn from science communication, humour and animation studies, popular entertainment studies and the  environmental humanities, we argue that both films communicate environmental fragility and awareness through comedy without ridiculing the seriousness of climate change, with humour serving to highlight the representation of climate change across both fictional and real-life contexts.

New publication!

Enacting reflexivity in techno-scientific research systems is an ongoing challenge for responsible innovation (RI) researchers and practitioners. Drawing on one of the most successful films of Hollywood’s silent years –Victor Seastrom’s He Who Gets Slapped (1924) – this paper argues that the study of popular culture can make a vital contribution to enacting reflexivity by illuminating the messy emotions involved in changing established techno-scientific norms and by providing cultural resources to foster innovative ways of approaching the transformational goals of RI. Enhancing reflexivity in research systems requires cultural work to challenge established identities associated with being a scientist and to illustrate alternatives that might enable RI aspirations. Our reading of the eponymous clown-scientist and the film’s key dramatic moment of traumatic loss highlight how the cultural forces of personal identity and identification can draw attention to and challenge institutional power, and serve as a new resource for RI researchers and practitioners.


It’s Kinetic: Science goes pop – funding for Popsicule project!

Find out more about our pop-up project!

Science galore! “ULTRA PERCEPTION: Science  goes pop” is one of the WINNERS of the Kinetic funding scheme for ‘game-changing ideas’! – developed by ANU Physics, ANU MakerSpace and the Compton School.

Visual concept orchestrated in MidJourney by TA.
We are celebrating with an extraordinary Kinetic winner-pal: the Grover project (the Geoglyph Rover, a drawing machine)!
Visual concept orchestrated in MidJourney by TA.

Street Art, Science Communication & Pop Culture – two public symposia

Street art is visual art in public spaces — public art — created for public visibility. Street art addresses a huge and highly diverse audience: everyone in a city. In this public symposium, we discussed to what extent science-inspired street art can be considered a means of science communication, what strategies street artists use to communicate their ideas through large-scale murals, and how street art can be understood as a vehicle for creative grassroots environmental creativity. Street art is unique in that it is both a producer of public knowledge and a participant within the environmental discourse, as it represents knowledge of environment but also reflects the public’s perception of this knowledge. Together with exciting guest speakers, we introduced our audience to ANU’s multifaceted and innovative research and learning activities at the intersections of street art and science communication, and also celebrated the launch of the street art episode of our Sci_Burst podcast – a podcast that explores the cultural power of science!

Science and pop culture are two of the most powerful cultural institutions that we have created to understand, shape and envision our world. Pop culture – including (animated) film, comics and street art – is where collective science understandings are created. This is where our desires, fears and anxieties and about science and technology are reflected, experienced and, sometimes, generated. It is well-known that pop cultural stories and visual imaginaries about science influence our perception of science and our attitudes towards science. Therefore, it really matters to study the cultural meanings of science in pop cultural contexts, such as street art, to clarify how pop cultural narratives about science have affected the public discourse and understanding of science, and thus our science-society relationship.

In this public symposium, we celebrated ANU’s exciting and innovative research at the intersections of street art and science communication and discussed the societal power of street art from different perspectives in theory and practice: We explored street art as a form of public pedagogy, as a vehicle for science communication and as a treasure trove for pop cultural research.

As part of the Uncharted Territory Festival, the Popsicule discussed the fascinating influences and interconnections between street art, science (communication) and pop culture in two public symposia – with amazing guest speakers!

Speakers include Canberra artist Byrd, artist Faith Kerehona (video), Blake Thompson, Isabel Richards and Ella McCarthy from the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science (CPAS) but also Canberra artist James Houlcroft, science communicator Lee Constable and pop culture scholar Dr Ben Nickl (University of Sydney). The events were introduced and moderated by Dr Anna-Sophie Jürgens (CPAS, ANU).

Find out what the ANU College of Science wrote about these events…

The POPSICULE is now Instagram!

Follow us!

You can enrol now for our upcoming course on “Science & Humour” (SCOM2006/6006, online-only intensive, 10-14 July 2023)

This was our “Science. Art. Film.” series in Semester 1 (2023)! – We travelled from comic zombies to responsible innovation to synthetic biology – thanks to our fantastic speakers!!!

AKIRA – 35MM + DISCUSSION

AKIRA provides unforgettable glimpses into the dystopian metropolis of Neo-Tokyo, the lives of futuristic high-speed gangs and the psychic and transcendent powers that one of the protagonists develops. The film revolves around nuclear-energy-caused telekinesis, destruction, rebirth, technological revolution – and much more.  
What do technology and culture scholars today think about the kinetic energy of the iconic animated film and its vision of future technology and science?

I, TONYA + DISCUSSION

Discover the – totally true? – story of one of the most athletic and controversial female figure-skaters in the United States, Tonya Harding, and the conspiracy regarding the 1994 attack on rival skater Nancy Kerrigan. In conversation with an expert in screendance and figureskating, this evening is about the power of female bodies on ice stages, bodily humour and identity performance. How can we capture the humour of this tragic and turbulent story of ambition – and is there such a thing as physical ice comedy? Enjoy the chill!

ELYSIUM – 35MM + DISCUSSION

Elysium is a thought-provoking science-fiction film that explores the consequences of technology, innovation and social injustice. Set in a dystopian future where technology has created a society divided by class and wealth, the movie follows a factory worker named Max (Matt Damon) as he fights to bridge the gap between the privileged elite and the struggling masses.  With powerful performances from Damon and Jodie Foster, and a story that will keep you on the edge of your seat, Elysium is a must-see for anyone interested in the impact of technology on society and the importance of responsible innovation.  
 

RAMPAGE + DISCUSSION

What happens when gene editing runs amok? The 2018 American sci-fi action-adventure monster movie Rampage – adapted from the video game series and starring Dwayne Johnson – offers a scenario where mutated animals destroy Chicago. Almost. The film explores contemporary advances in biotechnology – specifically around CRISPR-based gene editing and synthetic biology – and offers plenty of thought-provoking questions about the future of these newfound possibilities to engineer life.  Such questions revolve around: the potential for both benefit and harm and the trade-offs involved; the role of power, property and private corporations; and the differences, if any, between biomedical and environmental applications of emerging biotechnologies.  

WARM BODIES

Warm Bodies is a 2013 zombie romantic comedy film directed by Jonathan Levine and based on the 2010 novel by Isaac Marion. The film loosely traces the story of William Shakespeare’s 16th century tragedy, Romeo and Juliet – with a twist Romeo is ‘R’ (Nicholas Hoult), a quite literally) heartless zombie. On meeting Julie (Teresa Palmer) – a living human – R’s heart begins to change. The film explores adaptation and genre-mashing while also offering a unique representation of a potent symbol in western culture: the heart.  Throughout the centuries, literary, cultural and medical discourse has reinforced the heart as a critical organ, a sign of life, a symbol of identity, humanity, and a means of representing the self. The heart is central to human ontology; a vital organ and a pervasive metaphor. 

Our new program for Semester 2 (2023) is now online!


New publication by Popsicule collaborator Dr Mathieu Leclerc and team!

Unearthed – Art in Archaeology & Anthropology

Unearthed – Art in Archaeology & Anthropology is the magazine detailing the pieces displayed at the exhibition of the same name held in June 2021 at the Australian Centre for China in the World on ANU campus. For tens of thousands of years art has been the means though which we as humans have interpreted, understood and expressed our world. Pairing visual art with archaeology might appear unusual at first, but the two disciplines are not dissimilar in the ways in which they strive to examine and interpret human lives, cultures and experiences. 

Our foremost intention with Unearthed was to engage not only with artists among the ANU archaeology and anthropology community, but also with people who had no prior experience producing or exhibiting artwork. It was our aim to inspire new ways of expressing research creatively or bringing artistic thought into everyday academic practice. We wanted to allow participants the greatest level of freedom when producing work for the exhibition, meaning all mediums were accepted, and experimentation encouraged. This resulted in an incredible diversity of medias, from watercolours, 3D printing and crochet to microphotography, digital art and sculpture. Amassing such a diverse array of artworks made the catalogue of Unearthed both timeless and modern, pushing the boundaries of what might be seen in a traditional museum-based exhibition.

Unearthed was organised by a team of graduate students (Isabella Shaw, Iona Claringbold, Elisa Scorsini and Rachel Alley Freeman) and their lecturer (Mathieu Leclerc) from the School of Archaeology & Anthropology. Thanks to funding received from the ANU CASS–CAP Archaeology & Anthropology Leadership Group!


The Popsicule congratulates 2022 “Science & Humour” student Vinhara Goonesekera for publishing a thought-provoking piece on “Science as Fantasy: Humour and Human Psychology” on the wonderful Fantasy/Animation platform!


The Popsicule is celebrating the brand-new Popsicule brochure – created by Teri Lim!

Learn more about Teri and her amazing design projects on her Popsicule profile!

What better way to start the new year than with a trip to the moon? 

24 January, 6pm, Arc Cinema (National Film and Sound Archive) 

Head back in time to the year 1960s and 1970 with this Canberra  premiere screening of two critically acclaimed short documentary  chronicling the Apollo missions. Thrillingly told using  never-before-seen archival footage and audio recordings, Apollo 11 Quarantine takes you to what happened to NASA's most celebrated mission, the first to land humans on the Moon, after returning to Earth. Last Steps will also show the last time humans have left the Moon, and what we may see when we go back. These  screening will be introduced by producer Stephen Slater, who supplied  much of the previously-unseen footage and recordings of the Apollo  missions. Have you always wanted to travel to the moon? Here's your chance!
The event will be moderated by Dr Brad Tucker and Dr Anna-Sophie Jürgens.
 
Ticket here: https://tickets.nfsa.gov.au/Events/THE-LAST-STEPS-AND-APOLLO-11-QUARANTINE-EXPLORING-THE-MOON-AS-YOU-VE-NEVER-SEEN-BEFORE

New publication on the power of humour to communicate and counter social conventions about science and gender! (January 2023)

Our brand-new paper  examines how female scientists are portrayed through humour (and what  kind of humour!) in two popular animated entertainment series for  children — Spongebob Squarepants and Adventure Time — and how their  portrayal reinforces or challenges gender stereotypes in cultural  representations of science. You can read the paper online on the Frontiers website!
Congrats to ‘Science & Humour’ student Jade Soucy-Humphreys and CPAS PhD candidate Karina Judd!

Merry Christmas! From killer robot to sweatshop boss: Santa on screen…


First student-led publication emerging from SCOM2006 published in JCOM! (August 2022)

Congrats! Find out more in the Journal of Science Communication!

New article about the Joker in the ANU Reporter! (July 2022)

You can find this article on the ANU Reporter website.

Refreshed and revamped! Our cross-college, interdisciplinary series – now a collaboration between the Humanities Research Centre, the Centre for Environmental History and CPAS – will be back in Semester 2!

Conversations Across the Creek 2022

The potential, challenges, processes and realities of collaboration,  conversation, and contestation across, between, and with, humanities and  science disciplines will be explored in this series, which brings  together researchers from diverse fields working together or using  innovative methodologies from other fields to address a specific issue  or topic. It shows that despite our disciplinary norms, practices of  open curiosity, critical thinking, and team-work underpins research  excellence across the ANU.

Our discussion topics present issues and concerns at the heart of  both humanities and science research, and significance for the community  at large. The speakers show that despite being based in ‘home’  disciplines as diverse as archaeology, anthropology, history, visual  art, astronomy, medicine, and demography, our research methods and  solutions are always improved through dialogue across difference.

Conversations Across the Creek has been running for  several years to provide a space for continuing dialogue among ANU  scientists, social scientists, and humanities scholars. It recognises  that despite the physical separation of the sciences from the humanities  on our campus (separated by Sullivan’s Creek), shared intellectual  spaces and communities of practice continue to grow apace, and with  great results.
 In 2022, the series is convened by Kylie Message (HRC), Anna-Sophie Jurgens (Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science), Elisa de Courcy (Centre for Art History and Art Theory), Alison Behie (School of Archaeology and Anthropology), and Ruth Morgan (Centre for Environmental History).
 Video presentations of the conversations will be shared on the HRC  /ANU website via You Tube thanks to the expertise of Amr Tawfik (School of Art and Design).
Photo by Marius Masalar via Unsplash
Photo by Lochlainn Riordan via Unsplash
Photo by Jack Bassingthwaighte via Unsplash
2022 Program
  
August: Increasing understandings of maternal health threats through cross-disciplinary research
Cynthia Parayiwa (PhD student, School of Archaeology and  Anthropology), Dr Mike Roettger, School of Demography), Dr Amita Bansal  (JCSMR). Chair: Dr Alison Behie (School of Archaeology and Anthropology)
Wednesday 17 August, 2022. 1pm -2pm
Green Couch Room, Peter Baume Building 42A, ANU
  
September: Biodiversity  CANCELLED!
Professor Arnagretta Hunter (medicine), Professor Mitch Whitelaw  (School of Art and Design), Cameron Boyle (PhD student, School of  Sociology). Chair: Dr Ruth Morgan
Thursday 22 September, 2022. 1pm -2pm
Green Couch Room, Peter Baume Building 42A, ANU
 
October: Visualising research
Dr Anna Madeleine Raupach (School of Art and Design), Dr Mathieu  Leclerc (School of Archaeology and Anthropology), Dr Martyn Jolly  (School of Art and Design). Chairs: Dr Anna-Sophie Jurgens (Australian  National Centre for the Public Communication of Science), Dr Elisa de  Courcy (Centre for Art History and Art Theory)
Thursday 20 October, 2022. 10:30-11:30am
RSSS Auditorium, 146 Ellery Cres, ANU

Communicating Urgency Through Humour: School Strike 4 Climate Protest Placards

An international seminar on humour as a vehicle for climate change communication – January 2022 –

Organised by Dr Anastasiya Fiadotava
Protest placards are an important part of School Strike 4 Climate (SS4C) protest culture and illustrate how protesters view, understand and share their environmental concerns. Many of the placards use humour to convey the messages of their creators. Bringing together science communication and humour studies, this seminar examined the communicative functions of humour in Australian SS4C posters by asking to what extent protest signs can be understood as a vehicle of science communication. The seminar reveals how humorous protest placards become the means of grassroots creativity, exploring bottom-up science communication in an ambiguous, but accessible and enjoyable form. This collaborative project emerged from a SCOM2006 student report: CPAS student Matthew Hee led this collective writing adventure, now published in JCOM! 

Parasites in Pop Culture: Science and Culture at Play

Interdisciplinary seminar on the cultural and scientific power of parasites – October 2021 –

Poster by Konrad Lenz / Organised by Professor Carol Hayes
Oni demons, parasites, flesh-eating giants, vampires, zombies – global pop culture is rife with monsters. The popularity of this genre is on the increase in our pandemic-riven world. Parasites particularly are ubiquitous, yet their depiction in popular culture has not attracted much attention. An ‘infectant’ that lives in or on another living organism, a parasite transforms its host as it draws on their energy to survive – often to the detriment of the host. So how does the parasite subvert the behaviour of the host, redirect their energies onto a different path, even if that is a path toward destruction? 

Infectious Laughter: From Comic Zombies to Joker Science

A Seminar on Humour and Contagious Diseases in Popular Entertainment – May 2021 –

Photo by Jürgen Bürgin / Poster by Konrad Lenz / Organised by Dr Anna-Sophie Jürgens
This project examined the interplay between humour, science and pandemics in culture. It investigated the ways humorous interpretations of infectious diseases shape, cultivate and reinforce cultural meanings of diseases and science. 

Zoomposium on Performance, Science & Technology

Photo by Jürgen Bürgin / Poster by CPAS student Melanie McMahon / Organised by Dr Anna-Sophie Jürgens
Techno-wizards, science-maniacs, characters called Hokus and Pokus, digitally resurrected Ghosts, potentially inexistent aliens... and many other fascinating cultural creatures emerging from the intersection between science, technology and fantasy populated the virtual meeting space of the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science on 27 November 2020. This international online conference explored the way popular entertainment – including historical science shows, clown acts, magic lantern and robot performances – represents and interacts with science and technology. Investigating an array of historical and contemporary examples, drawing from comic book stories, stage performances, visual media, museums displays and popular film, among others, in their academic presentations speakers examined the ways popular culture has played an important role in shaping cultural ideas of science and in exciting the public imagination about scientific themes and discoveries.