Graeme Turner (born 1947) is an Australian professor of
cultural studies and an Emeritus Professor at the
University of Queensland
, mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work
, established =
, endowment = A$224.3 million
, budget = A$2.1 billion
, type = Public research university
, chancellor = Peter Varghese
, vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry
, city = B ...
. During his institutional academic career he was a Federation Fellow, a President of the
Australian Academy of the Humanities
The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia. It operates as an independent not-for-profit organisation partly funded by the Australia ...
, founding Director of the Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies at the University of Queensland, and Convenor of the ARC Cultural Research Network.
Turner gained a master's degree from
Queen's University, Canada
Queen's University at Kingston, commonly known as Queen's University or simply Queen's, is a public research university in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Queen's holds more than of land throughout Ontario and owns Herstmonceux Castle in East Sus ...
, and his doctorate from the
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...
, in the UK. He taught at the Queensland Institute of Technology (now
Queensland University of Technology
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public research university located in the urban coastal city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. QUT is located on two campuses in the Brisbane area viz. Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove. The univ ...
), the West Australian Institute of Technology (now part of
Curtin University), and was Professor of Cultural Studies in the English Department at the University of Queensland before becoming the founding Director of the Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies in 1999. He was elected an ordinary member of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 1997, and was elected president in 2004. From 2001 until 2004 he was a member of the Expert Advisory Panel for Creative Arts and Humanities of the
Australian Research Council.
In 2004, Turner was successful in his application for the ARC Cultural Research Network, one of only 24 Research Networks funded by the ARC, while in 2006 he was awarded a Federation Fellowship by the ARC to study "Television in the post-broadcast era: The role of old and new media in the formation of national communities".
In his speech to the
National Press Club (Australia)
The National Press Club is an association of primarily news journalists, but also includes academics, business people and members of the public service, and is based in Canberra, Australia.
History
The National Press Club was founded in 1963 a ...
on 3 September 2008, the
Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator the Hon
Kim Carr
Kim John Carr (born 2 July 1955) is an Australian former politician who served as a Senator for Victoria between 1993 and 2022. Representing the Labor Party, he was a minister in the Rudd and Gillard Governments.
Carr is a graduate of the Un ...
announced that Professor Turner, had been appointed to the Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council (
PMSEIC
The Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council (PMSEIC) is the Australian government's principal source of advice on science, engineering and innovation issues, as well as relevant aspects of education and training. When PMSEIC wa ...
). This makes Turner the only Humanities scholar on the Council, and only the second since the Council's inception (as the Prime Minister's Science Council) in 1989.
Turner is one of the key figures in the development of cultural and media studies in Australia. His work is used in many disciplines:
cultural and
media studies,
communications
Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...
, history,
literary studies
Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. T ...
, and
film and
television studies
Television studies is an academic discipline that deals with critical approaches to television. Usually, it is distinguished from mass communication research, which tends to approach the topic from a social sciences perspective. Defining the field ...
. His over-arching research interests include Australian film and media, issues in
Australian nationalism
Flag of Australia
Australian nationalism asserts that the Australians are a nation and promotes the national and cultural unity of Australia. Australian nationalism has a history dating back to the late 19th century as Australia gradually deve ...
, popular culture, celebrity,
talkback radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...
, audience studies, and the role of television in a post-broadcast era increasingly dominated by new media formats such as the Internet. His current research focuses on the transformation of "cultural fields".
In 2015, the journal ''Cultural Studies'' published a special issue "commemorating and evaluating the contribution of Graeme Turner to the field". Edited by Gerard Goggin, Anna Pertierra and Mark Andrejevic, this issue included contributions by
Meaghan Morris,
Toby Miller
Toby Miller (9 August 1958) is a British/Australian-American interdisciplinary social scientist with areas of concentration including cultural studies and media studies. He is also the author of several books, numerous articles, and is a guest c ...
, Frances Bonner,
Tony Bennett
Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birt ...
, John Byron, and Melissa Gregg.
Turner was appointed an
Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the
2019 Queen's Birthday Honours for "distinguished service to higher education through pioneering work in the field of cultural studies and the humanities".
Selected bibliography
*''Mapping the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences in Australia'' (with Kylie Brass), Australian Academy of the Humanities, 2014.
*''Locating Television: Zones of Consumption'' (with Anna Cristina Pertierra), Routledge, 2013.
*''What’s Become of Cultural Studies?'', Sage, 2012.
*''Ordinary people and the media: The demotic turn'', Theory, Culture and Society series, Sage, 2010.
*''Television Studies After TV: Understanding television in the post-broadcast era'', Routledge, 2009 (co-edited with Jinna Tay).
*''The Media and Communications in Australia, third edition'', Allen & Unwin, 2010 (with
Stuart Cunningham
Stuart Cunningham (born 1953) is Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Communication and Media Studies at QUT.
Biography
He is a Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Communication and Media Studies, Queensland University of Technology, and Former ...
). Previous editions 2002, 2006.
*''Film as Social Practice, fourth edition'', Routledge, 2006
*''Ending the Affair: The decline of television current affairs in Australia'', UNSW Press, 2005
*''Understanding Celebrity'', Sage, 2004
*''The Film Cultures Reader'', Routledge, 2002
*''British Cultural Studies: An Introduction, third edition'', Routledge 2002
*''Fame games: The production of Celebrity in Australia'', Cambridge 2000 (with Frances Bonner and P. David Marshall)
*''National Fictions: Literature, Film, and the Construction of Australian Narrative'', Allen and Unwin, 1986
Notes
External links
Australian Academy of the Humanities websiteThe Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies websiteThe ARC Cultural Research Network website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Graeme
1947 births
Living people
Queen's University at Kingston alumni
Alumni of the University of East Anglia
Queensland University of Technology faculty
University of Queensland faculty
Australian non-fiction writers
Fellows of the Australian Academy of the Humanities
Australian literary critics