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**Spam**: [ecrea] AHRC doctoral opportunity, Aberystwyth and the British Board of Film Classification
Thu May 21 23:47:08 GMT 2009
Further Particulars ? AHRC-funded Collaborative
Doctoral Award between Aberystwyth University
and the British Board of Film Classification:
?How have successive developments in new media
technologies been taken up and used by fans of extreme horror films??
The Arts & Humanities Research Council (award
reference: AH/G018111/1) has awarded a funded
doctoral place to Aberystwyth University, for a
collaboration between the University?s
Department of Theatre, Film & Television
Studies, and the British Board of Film
Classification (BBFC). The award begins on 1
October 2009. Main supervision at Aberystwyth
will be provided by Professor Martin Barker,
with support from Dr Kate Egan and Dr Jamie
Sexton. At the BBFC, Pete Johnson, Head of
Policy and Business Development, will also
contribute to the student?s supervision, and
will be the primary means of access to policy
and practices within the organisation. This
project builds on an existing relationship
between Aberystwyth University and the BBFC,
which culminated in 2006 in a team of
researchers from Aberystwyth, led by Professor
Barker, undertaking contracted research for the
BBFC. This research, into audience responses to
screened sexual violence, has been published via the BBFC?s website.
The purpose of this project is to provide an
opportunity for a doctoral student to explore
the ways in which one chosen community of fans
of ?extreme horror? films have made and continue
to make use of the stream of technological
advances across the last thirty years, in
pursuit of their engagements. A range of methods
from within the broad audience and reception
studies traditions may be drawn upon for this
purpose, partly according to the strengths and
preferences of the student appointed to the
position. The context of the project is the
BBFC?s wish to deepen its knowledge of the ways
in which fan engagements and uses may have been,
and may continue to be, changed by their take-up
of the opportunities offered by the array of new
technological possibilities which have emerged
since the rise of domestic video in the early
1980s. This was the first in a series of
advances and, in the UK, one heavily associated
with fears about possible dangers associated
with the ?video nasties?. Domestic video was
originally feared because it gave unregulated
access to previously unavailable materials, and
because of the ability to watch scenes
repeatedly. But it has since become clear that
these may not have been the only, or indeed the
most important, features of video. The capacity
to own and collect films, to have ?originals?,
different ?cuts?, and to watch in one?s own time
have all emerged as important. And
retrospectively such films have become objects
of nostalgic desire and economic worth, as shown
by the establishment of networks of exchange for particular videos.
As well as video, a series of competing formats
have emerged: notably, laserdisc; DVD; and
Blu-ray. Alongside these developments has come
an array of new means of forming communities,
and exchanging both information and
materials. The internet has given fans multiple
means to talk via chatrooms, special domains,
and favoured websites. Peer-to-peer, and other
file-sharing technologies have become a new
topic of fears, for reasons of copyright
breaches and uncontrolled sharing. Online
catalogues, and international transit of DVDs
and the like have enabled participants to
catalogue and compare different
nationally-available versions, and assemble
knowledge bases on these. Most recently, the
rise of social networking sites, of cheap and
readily available digital film production
technologies, and of mobile video technologies,
have increased the local production and sharing
of ?home-made? and commercial films. Meanwhile,
a flourishing circuit of specialist publications
and horror festivals has leavened and renewed
these virtual communities with other kinds of contact and experience.
?Extreme horror? is our broad expression
intended to encompass a range of different kinds
of interest in cinema. It covers those
interested in older materials (the ?video
nasties? as an example, or B-movie or drive-in
classics), particular national traditions (for
example, Italian, Spanish or J-horror),
exploitation, atrocity, slasher/gore, and
?extreme reality? cinema (the BBFC?s own term
for an as yet un-named cycle of real-death
materials). These partially separate but
interlocking interests have constituted
themselves as particular areas of
connoisseurship, often with distinctive websites, festivals and publications.
This doctoral research is intended to allow
exploration in depth of one of these specialist
communities of extreme horror fans, looking at
the ways in which, over time, new technological
possibilities have been taken up and used. It
will address, among other things: (1) how these
technologies have successively and incrementally
altered the ways in which the films are watched;
(2) how particular versions are valued as a
result, and what counts as ?expertise?; (3) how
the community has been created and maintained,
around and by means of these technologies; and
(4) what fans are looking for in currently
emerging technological developments. The choice
of community will be in part a function of the
particular interests and experience of the
person appointed to this position. The choice
of main methods of research will be the topic of
early discussion between the appointed student and his/her supervisory team.
At the heart of this project, and at the basis
of this collaboration, is the concept of the
?potential viewer?. The BBFC is required by
statute to take account of this, as it makes
decisions on classification. Therefore it has
an interest in obtaining good research knowledge
on the nature of actual viewers and users of
challenging materials. Meanwhile researchers at
Aberystwyth have developed a track record of
both unpacking ?figures of the audience? within
policy and public debates, and for exploring
audiences for such challenging films (and other
materials). This doctoral research will be
positioned within these two intersecting
concerns. Part of the doctoral research will
involve an investigation, at the BBFC, of the
policies and practices of classification
relating to ?extreme horror? materials,
including the issue of their release in
different formats, and how these draw upon
working ideas about the ?potential viewer? and
how s/he is likely to use these materials.
The student appointed will:
· Have a good first degree (2:1 or above)
and a relevant Masters qualification, ideally in
film, media or cultural studies (however we will
consider applicants whose studies have included
components of these, under other titles).
· Have experience of the theory and
practice of audience and/or reception research
(although this may be supplemented by attending
specific taught courses at Aberystwyth in the first year of the award).
· Have good knowledge of general debates
about ?cult cinema?, horror cinema and
associated areas, and ideally have involvement
with at least one community of ?extreme horror? fans.
· Demonstrate the ability to work both
with such a community and with the BBFC, and an
understanding of the challenges involved in
managing the relations between the two.
· Applicants for this award must comply
with the AHRC?s current eligibility rules. EU
applicants are eligible for a full award only if
they can prove that they have been ordinarily
resident in the UK for 3 years (full details are
available in section 2, 22-27 of the AHRC?s
guide to eligibility -
<http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/FundingOpportunities/Documents/Guide%20to%20Student%20Eligibility.pdf>http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/FundingOpportunities/Documents/Guide%20to%20Student%20Eligibility.pdf).
You will be based in Aberystwyth during this
award, but will need to make regular trips to
London to visit and carry out parts of your
research at the BBFC. During your time in
Aberystwyth, you will undertake all normal
research training, as required by the University
and the AHRC, and will be subject to the normal
processes of monitoring and
progress. Studentships attract national rates
for tuition fees and maintenance grant. In
2008-9 the grant level was set at £12,940
p.a. We are awaiting an AHRC declaration on
levels for the forthcoming year. In addition,
you will be able to claim up to £300 per annum
for three years to support travel and associated
costs of visiting the BBFC. The Department of
Theatre, Film and Television Studies also
provides funding support of up to £500 per year
for students to attend conferences or other
external events relevant to their studies.
The BBFC has guaranteed the appointed student
access to its detailed policies and
decision-making processes, subject to the
student signing a confidentiality agreement
drawn up between the University and the
BBFC. The student will also have access, at
need, to the BBFC?s counselling service.
The outcome of this research will be a thesis
designed to meet the requirements of the
University for the award of a PhD. Subject to
certain restrictions around particular materials
and processes to which the student will be given
access by the BBFC, s/he will be able to publish
the outcomes of his/her research, as part of
building a career beyond the doctoral
award. S/he will also have an opportunity, at
completion of the research, to make a
presentation of findings to the Examining Board
at the BBFC, with opportunity for discussion and debate.
How to apply.
Applicants will need to complete Aberystwyth?s
postgraduate application form (available at
<http://www.aber.ac.uk/pga/web/apply.htm>http://www.aber.ac.uk/pga/web/apply.htm).
In addition you should attach an outline
(1,000-1,500 words) of your reasons for interest
in this position, and your proposed research
focus. Please ensure that within this outline you address:
· where, how and to what extent in your
previous studies you have encountered audience
and/or reception research, and what specific
methods of research you have any experience of;
· the nature of your general knowledge of
existing debates around extreme, horror or ?cult? cinema;
· the nature of any personal engagements
within the arena of ?extreme horror?;
· any specific questions you would hope
to answer through this doctoral research, and
what methods you think could most appropriately enable you to answer them.
It will help if you also outline any general
views you hold on the role of the BBFC and its classification practices.
Applications must be received by the University
by 30 May 2009. Interviews will take place in Aberystwyth in late June.
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Nico Carpentier (Phd)
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Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Free University of Brussels
Centre for Studies on Media and Culture (CeMeSO)
Pleinlaan 2 - B-1050 Brussels - Belgium
T: ++ 32 (0)2-629.18.56
F: ++ 32 (0)2-629.36.84
Office: 5B.401a
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European Communication Research and Education Association
Web: http://www.ecrea.eu
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E-mail: (Nico.Carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
Web: http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~ncarpent/
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