RHD presentations

Two RHD candidates are presenting on Friday 4 November, 3:30-4:30pm in room 208 Joyce Ackroyd Bldg 

Jami Leigh Acworth
Audiences Inside: Audience contribution to prison theatre

As books such as Rob Pensalfini’s recent Prison Shakespeare (2016) indicate, theatre in prison is not a new phenomenon. Yet the study of prison theatre performance and specifically the contribution of audiences to prison theatre projects haven’t been adequately explored. Through a consideration of audience responses to a single performance by prisoners incarcerated at Southern Queensland Correctional Centre, this presentation seeks to shed some light on the contribution that audiences can offer to prison theatre participants. Perhaps unsurprisingly prisoner participants appear, generally, to respond positively to audience members being drawn from the general public. What this presentation will reveal however is that audience members report that engaging in a prison theatre performance is as much rewarding for themselves as they would hope it is rewarding for the performers. This presentation offers a glimpse into a broader thesis project by Jami Leigh Acworth, MPhil candidate within the School of Communication and Arts at University of Queensland. Jami Leigh’s broader research interests are in the areas of Shakespeare in contemporary culture, audience reception and Jane Austen in the modern world.

Heather Stewart
Journalism as Craft and Inquiry: Professionalism and Work Practice in a Time of (Iterative) Change

This thesis analyses journalism as a craft that is constantly evolving with new work flows and news practices coming into being with the advent of new forms and means of collecting and disseminating news.  Its title, Journalism’s Craft and Inquiry: the changes to Professionalism and Work Practice in a Time of (Iterative) Technological Change, foregrounds the dual dimension of journalism as a professional craft with a specialised line of inquiry that is subject to continuous and iterative technological change. This thesis is set within the context of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and includes a detailed investigation into the work practices at ABC Radio, Television and Online. It conducts this investigation through: (1) interviews with journalists, (2) professional journalist discussions of their profession and its changes in public forums held on the topic, (3) media commentary, (4) ABC management memos and policies and (5) my own experience of these changes as a working journalist. It also considers how journalistic standards have been adapting and changing with respect to these changing work practices and identifies problems and issues that are emerging including the ‘new problems’ characteristic of journalism in a digital era.

****

Following the lecture, please join us for drinks at St Lucy's.