Christine Cornea

University of East Anglia, School of Film and Television Studies, Faculty Member

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Biography

My teaching and research has broadly been concerned with the cultural significance of popular cinema and television genres. Recent work has specifically revolved around questions of race, gender/sexuality, screen performance, industrial aesthetics and practices in film and television. While my approach draws upon both historical and theoretical traditions, I have made use of qualitative research, in particular the practitioner interview and focus group discussion. I have explored all of these areas in recent publications on both science fiction and speculative documentary, as well in my teaching at MA and BA levels. I am currently working on a further monograph on post-apocalyptic science fiction television as well as a further, interdisciplinary edited collection on ethics in science fiction.

PhD Supervision

I currently supervise 3 Ph.D. students covering various topics, and I have been the primary supervisor for 11 PhD students, who successfully completed between 2011 -2017, on the following topics: apocalyptic science fiction film; representations of mental disorder in the contemporary American Biopic; press discourse surrounding representations of rape in film; sound in the Gulf War film; American Independent Cinema; liminal identities in American science fiction television; gender and contemporary American science fiction television; white American masculinities in the apocalyptic science fiction road narrative; the films of Hal Hartley; the representation of women in the films of Woody Allen and their popular and critical reception; the science fiction novel and meta-narrative strategies.

Professional Activities:

•April 2012-December 2015: Member of AHRC Peer Review College.
•2014: Peer Reviewer for DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst) funding body
•Member of Conference Programming Committee for Society of Cinema and Media Studies(SCMS)
•External Examiner for PhD Thesis, Solent University (July 2017)
•External Examiner for PhD Thesis, University of Southampton (December 2015)
•External Examiner for PhD Thesis, University of Southampton (Spring 2013)
•External Examiner for PhD Thesis, University of Sussex (Spring 2011)
•External Examiner for PhD Thesis, Southern Cross University, NSW, Australia (October 2010)
•External Assessor for Professorship at Edge Hill University
•Have sat on 2 x BA and 2 x MA Course Validation Panels as External Assessor
•2007-2011: External Examiner for the Department of Drama: Theatre, Film and Television, at the University of Bristol.

Conference Keynote Addresses:

•2016 (January) Einstein Forum, Potsdam and Berlin, Germany. Keynote Address entitled, 'Environmental Concerns and Post-Apocalyptic Futures in American Science Fiction Film'.
•2014 (November): University of Lisbon, in Lisbon, Portugal. Keynote Address entitled, 'Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction Television'.
•2013 (January): University of Copenhagen and Aalborg University in Copenhagen, Denmark. Keynote Address entitled, ‘From Nuclear Holocaust to Eco-Catastrophe: The Global Ethics of Science Fiction Film’.

Book Proposal and Book Clearance Reviewer:

•Blackwell Publishing, Liverpool University Press, Palgrave Macmillan Press, I.B.Tauris, Methuen, Bloomsbury.

Peer Reviewer - journals:

•Science Fiction Film and Television journal; WIREs Climate Change journal; Film Studies journal; Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society; Screening the Past journal; Scope journal; Journal of Adaptation in Film and Performance; Transnational Cinemas journal; NECSUS - European Journal of Media Studies.

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Dramatising Disaster: Character, Event, Representation, co-edited with Rhys Owain Thomas, (Cambridge Scholars Press, 1st January 2013)

The imagining of disaster has intensified across a wide range of media entertainment formats and ... more The imagining of disaster has intensified across a wide range of media entertainment formats and genres in recent years and themes of disaster are regularly deployed in fictional films, television drama series, drama-documentaries, comic books and video games. This being the case, it is therefore vital that film and media scholars pay attention to the ways in which disaster is presented to us, to the figurative strategies employed, to the representational history of disaster in media, to the metaphorical resonances of disaster themes, and even to the ways in which entertainment media texts might be understood as part of a broader discourse of disaster within certain historical and cultural contexts. "Dramatising Disaster" presents new and innovative research from both early career and more established academics. Some of the chapters in this edited collection are based upon papers originally presented at a highly successful conference study day held by the School of Film, Television and Media at the University of East Anglia in 2011, while others are specifically solicited contributions. Distinct from previous, more particularised film and media studies in this area, this edited collection is focused not upon a specific disaster or specific disaster context, but upon the wider topic of disaster in popular culture.

Science Fiction Cinema: Between Fantasy and Reality (co-published by Rutgers Univeristy Press/Edinburgh University Press, 2007)

This major new study offers a broad historical and theoretical reassessment of the science fictio... more This major new study offers a broad historical and theoretical reassessment of the science fiction film genre. The book explores the development of science fiction in cinema from its beginnings in early film through to recent examples of the genre. Each chapter sets analyses of chosen films within a wider historical/cultural context, while concentrating on a specific thematic issue. The book therefore presents vital and unique perspectives in its approach to the genre, which include discussion of the relevance of psychedelic imagery, the 'new woman of science', generic performance and the prevalence of 'techno-orientalism' in recent films. While American films will be one of the principle areas covered, the author also engages with a range of pertinent examples from other nations, as well as discussing the centrality of science fiction as a transnational film genre. The films discussed include: "The Day the Earth Stood Still", "The Body Snatchers", "Forbidden Planet", "The Quatermass Experiment", "2001: A Space Odyssey", "Demon Seed", "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", "Star Wars", "Altered States", "Alien", "Blade Runner", "The Brother from Another Planet", "Back to the Future", "The Terminator", "Predator", "The One", "Dark City", "The Matrix", "Fifth Element" and "eXistenZ". Its key features are: it is thematically organised for use as a course text; it introduces current and past theories and practices, and provides an overview of the main themes, approaches and areas of study; covers new and burgeoning approaches such as generic performance and aspects of postmodern identity; and, includes new interviews with some of the main practitioners in the field: Roland Emmerich, Paul Verhoeven, Ken Russell, Stan Winston, William Gibson, Brian Aldiss, Joe Morton, Dean Norris and Billy Gray.

Genre and Performance: Film and Television (Manchester University Press, 2010)

Looking at contemporary film and television, this book explores how popular genres frame our unde... more Looking at contemporary film and television, this book explores how popular genres frame our understanding of on-screen performance. It brings together ground-breaking and inspiring work on this topic from both renowned and newer academics in the field. Previous studies of screen performance have tended to fix upon star actors, directors, programme makers, or they have concentrated upon particular training and acting styles. Moving outside of these confines, this book provides a truly interdisciplinary account of performance in film and television and examines a much neglected area in our understanding of how popular genres and performance intersect on screen. Each chapter concentrates upon a particular genre or draws upon generic case studies in examining the significance of screen performance. Individual chapters examine contemporary film noir, horror, the biopic, drama-documentary, the western, science fiction, comedy performance in ‘spoof news’ programmes and the television ‘sit com’ and popular Bollywood films.