Projects & Popsicularities

Together with a network of national and international researchers, students, cultural innovators, creators, producers and funders, we are championing new ideas and cross-sector collaborations. Discover our exciting projects – and join us!

Across all our research streams and Popsicularities, we aim to diversify our understanding of science in pop culture & build narrative power – to shape the way we talk, think and feel about science. For example, we are keen to move beyond the ubiquitous ‘mad scientist’ trope by unpacking the potential of humour to shape our science narratives (and thus our science-society relationship), and we are fascinated by exploring and developing alternative scenarios and imaginaries to the effects and legacies of the fable of human exceptionalism – to drive meaningful change.

Ultra-Perception: Science Goes Pop

The ULTRA-PERCEPTION (prototype) project re-imagines the book as a traditional medium, physical object and traditional knowledge broker, by amplifying it into an interactive, technologically-empowered tool for intergenerational discovery and learning. Explore how insights from Synthetic Biology, Environmental Humanities and other disciplines can animate you away!

Science in Comics: Why so serious?

What can we learn from science in fictional comics about the cultural meanings of science? What role does humour play in science in comics? How does the Joker participate in, and contribute towards, complex cultural inquiries and transmedial discourses around science/technology and popular entertainment?

JOKER SCIENCE

Discover our SCience in Comics Group

Xtreme Environments in (Popular) Art and Fiction

What can (popular) art teach us about our imagined or unimaginable ecological past, present and future? Discover the facets of human entanglement with the biosphere through our Xtreme projects, which explore how (popular) art and aesthetics can facilitate a deeper engagement with environmental urgencies, and how different artistic media and mediums can contribute to a healthy scientific culture within society – if not a heightened sense of responsibility for our planet.

Street Art, Science & Engagement

As street art is inextricably linked to our environment and often aims to stimulate critical reflection on the challenges we face in the 21st century, it is not surprising that our relationship with this and other environments (present, past and future), the interconnectedness of people, places and land, and environmental issues and concerns more broadly, play an important role in street art and graffiti murals. This series of co-created and co-authored conversations takes a closer look at these themes.