My newest academic article is now out in Media International Australia. Based on the ‘extended-mixed methods’ model developed by Janet Fulton and others, my paper looks at the role podcasting can play in communicating palaeontology, and science more generally. I completed the study mostly through actual podcast production (Fossils and Fiction) so in part I […]
Over summer 2023-24, I completed my latest formal qualification: the Undergraduate Certificate in Palaeontology from the University of New England, Australia. This is four undergrad subjects drawn from those available within the palaeobiology major of the Bachelor of Science. Some thoughts/reflections on the whole process and the course itself: Motivation I had been looking around […]
WordPress + ActivityPub + Friends is the web we need decades in the making A decade ago, or more, there was talk all over the higher ed blogs about how best to use WordPress (+others) for blogging with students. Federation, syndication, wikis, badges, domains, and more were the talk of the web. Remember that? Here […]
My colleagues Michelle O’Connor, Professor David Marshall and I are editing a special edition of M/C Journal on ‘audio’. Here’s the Call for Papers: Sound is a physical phenomenon. It propagates as acoustic waves through space and time via physical media including solids, liquids, and gasses. Humans have spent much of our cultural history producing […]
The Universities Accord interim report indicates an interest in the establishment of a National Regional University (following the 2008 Bradley Review recommendation for just such an institution). The interim report states: The Review is considering the views of stakeholders who believe that establishing a NRU as a second national university, with a distinctive institutional and […]
IMDB Travis Holland, Charles Sturt University In June 1993, director Steven Spielberg released a film that unleashed a wave of technological change in film-making and simultaneously helped to revive popular interest in dinosaurs. Jurassic Park, based on Michael Crichton’s novel, spawned five blockbuster sequels as well as a multitude of spin-off games, toys, novels, and […]
A reflection on my participation in the Southern Hemisphere Space Studies Program and what it means for my career.
If you’ve ever found yourself unable to access a journal article locked behind a paywall, either off or on campus, this tip will help you easily get through any journal or database to which your institution subscribes on your behalf if they use EZ Proxy. Google Chrome javascript:void((function(){location.href=’https://ezproxy.[InstitutionalURL]/login?qurl=’+encodeURIComponent(location.href);})());
Travis Holland, Charles Sturt University Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons, will speak at the Sydney Opera House this weekend on the secrets of the show. Now in its 28th season, The Simpsons is one of the mostly widely lauded, and enduring series in TV history. But has it peaked creatively? Is it time […]
I’m increasingly annoyed with media studies— a field I’ve devoted years to — and this is why. My plea for interventionist academics. My colleague Rob Carr (an historian) suggested on Facebook today that academics need to ask “how is my research going to benefit society, and will it benefit society as much as another research topic?” “Marshall […]