George Watson Visiting Fellowship
The George Watson Fellowship was established by a gift from Mrs M.L. Watson in honour of her son George Watson.
The object of the fellowship is to promote visits (biennial) to the University of Queensland by scholars in any of the fields of study taught by the School of Communication and Arts in order that staff and students of the University may benefit from their special knowledge and experience.
2023: Professor Anabel Quan-Haase, University of Western Ontario
The Evolution of #MeToo: A Comparative Analysis of Vernacular Practices Over Time and Across Languages
Presented by Professor Anabel Quan-Haase
This talk addresses central questions to the #MeToo movement and examines the evolution of the movement over time and space. Drawing from a thematic analysis of 960 tweets for English, 960 tweets for German, and 753 tweets for Mandarin, this presentation explores how the #MeToo movement was taken up and used in different ways in the first 12 months. The presentation draws on the concept of platform vernacular to examine how X (formerly Twitter) users engage in the movement. The talk argues that these vernacular practices function more than simply as the dominant “grammars of communication” in #MeToo but connect individual experiences of sexual violence to broader political structures such as patriarchy, homophobia, xenophobia, and racism. The presentation contributes to scholarship in the field of new media, feminism, and communication by showing how hashtags are taken up by the public in different ways and how shared vernacular practices emerge across languages, even when the content, focus, or rhetoric may diverge.
Anabel Quan-Haase is a Professor of Information and Media Studies and Sociology at the University of Western Ontario. She is a sociologist who studies social networks and social change. Her interdisciplinary work and teaching focuses on understanding the effects of technology on society such as digital activism and digital social capital. Her current research projects examine how young people use instant messaging, Facebook, mobile phones, and other communication tools, and what the social consequences are for their social relations, community, and social capital. She received her Masters degree in Psychology from the Humboldt-University in Berlin in 1998 under the supervision of Dr. Herbert Hagendorf and her Ph.D. in Information Studies from the University of Toronto in 2004 under the supervision of Dr. Lynne Howarth.
2022: Professor Murray Pomerance, RMIT University Melbourne (Adjunct Professor)
Like Finding a Clue in a Detective Story: Understanding Blow-Up
Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up (1966) is not only one of the most beautiful colour films ever made but an enduring puzzle for the thoughtful viewer as well. This talk will explore some of the features of this important film, especially its challenge to the act of looking, its exploration of dramatic movement and time, and its analytical gaze at youth, ambition, and the hunger for success.
About the Presenter
Murray Pomerance is an independent scholar living in Toronto, and Adjunct Professor in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University, Melbourne. He has published widely about cinema, including Michelangelo Red Antonioni Blue: Reflections on Cinema; Color It True: Impressions of Cinema; The Film Cheat: Film Artifice and Viewing Pleasure; Virtuoso: Film Performance and the Actor’s Magic; and Cinema, If You Please: The Memory of Taste, the Taste of Memory. Forthcoming in November is Uncanny Cinema: Agonies of the Viewing Experience. The Hitchcock Quartet, which includes already An Eye for Hitchcock, A Dream of Hitchcock, and A Voyage with Hitchcock will conclude in February 2023 with A Silence from Hitchcock. With R. Barton Palmer, he is co-editor of Autism in Film and Television: On the Island.
2018: Professor Ling Chen, Hong Kong Baptist University
Host Community Acculturation Orientations, Ethnic Minority Communication, and Perceptions Toward Ethnic Minorities
Two studies are shared about acculturation orientations of Chinese Hongkongers, with respect to Hongkongers of South/South-East Asian ancestral origin, and their relationship to several common factors, including general perceptions toward these minority members, contact and communication with the latter, and Chinese cultural value orientations as well as intercultural communication competence. Analyses of survey data show that transformation-integrationism and exclusionism, of home community acculturation orientations, stood out in association with several other factors, and intercultural contact and communication in social activities with South/South-East-Asian Hongkonger acquaintances also made a difference in perceptions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
About the Presenter
Professor Ling Chen is an international leading researcher in intercultural communication. Prof. Chen joined Hong Kong Baptist University in 1997, from the University of Oklahoma, USA. Over the years, Prof. Chen has served as Dept. Head, Acting Dean of the School and Research Graduate Student Coordinator of the School of Communication. The Research and teaching Areas of Prof. Chen include organizational communication, intercultural communication, psychology of communication, communication and argumentation, interpersonal communication competence, language and social interaction, and Chinese communication. Prof. Chen has published widely in academic journals/books, edited books, and has held leadership positions in professional associations and editorship in major journals
Historic List of George Watson Fellows
- 2022: Professor Murray Pomerance, RMIT University Melbourne (Adjunct Professor)
- 2018: Professor Ling Chen, Hong Kong Baptist University
- 2015: Associate Professor Mark Andrejevic, Pomona College
- 2013: Professor Maria Delgado, University of London
- 2011: Professor James English, University of Pennsylvania
- 2009: Professor Bonnie Kime Scott, San Diego State University
- 2007: Associate Professor Mark Sanders, New York University
- 2005: Professor Richard Freadman, La Trobe University