
Dr Jessica Balanzategui
PhD (Screen and Cultural Studies), The University of Melbourne, Australia; Bachelor of Arts (Honours), James Cook University, Australia
- School of Social Sciences, Media, Film and Education
- Centre for Transformative Media Technologies
- Department of Media and Communication
- AS425 Hawthorn campus
- ORCID profile
Biography
Jessica Balanzategui is a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Transformative Media Technologies. She is the Founding Editor of Amsterdam University Press's book series, Horror and Gothic Media Cultures. Jessica's research examines entertainment cultures and aesthetics, with a particular focus on screen genres for and about children - particularly those that trouble expectations and definitions of "child appropriateness" - and horror and the Gothic. As part of these areas of speciality, her widely published research illuminates how genre, storytelling, and aesthetics operate in digital cultures (such as YouTube, subscription video on demand services, and online scary storytelling cultures), and in tandem, the impacts of technological, industrial, and cultural change on screen genres and their audiences, including child audiences.
Her book, The Uncanny Child in Transnational Cinema: Ghosts of Futurity at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century (Amsterdam University Press, 2018) is available in full online via OAPEN after being selected via the "Knowledge Unlatched Select" open-access publishing scheme:
http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/25965
Jessica's work has been published in a wide range of leading international journals including New Media and Society, Convergence, The Journal of Visual Culture, Television and New Media, The Velvet Light Trap, and NECSUS: European Journal of Media Studies.
Jessica was awarded the 2020 Australian Film Institute Research Fellowship to examine how Australian children's television genres have changed in accordance with industrial, technological, and policy developments. She is also Chief Investigator on the large-scale industry-funded project, Australian Children's Television Cultures, funded by the Australian Children's Television Foundation. The four year project aims to better understand the multi-faceted cultural impact of Australian children's TV in the era of streaming video services and significant policy change. Jessica previously led other grant-supported interdisciplinary research projects including: one on the futures of cinema exhibition, with a particular focus on the rise of the immersive experience and entertainment destination, and another which examined how digital technologies are reshaping how children play, combining perspectives from media and children's development studies.
Jessica welcomes applications from prospective PhD students in cinema and screen, digital cultures, and childhood studies.
Research interests
Digital Media, Film and Television
PhD candidate and honours supervision
Higher degrees by research
Accredited to supervise Masters & Doctoral students as Principal Supervisor.
Fields of Research
- Screen And Digital Media - 360500
- Communication Technology And Digital Media Studies - 470102
- Screen And Media Culture - 470214
Teaching areas
Digital Media, Film and Television
Awards
- 2021, National, Australian Awards for University Teaching Citation, AAUT
- 2021, Swinburne, Adobe Innovation Grant: Learning By Doing,Digital Paratexts, Adobe/ Swinburne Univeristy of Technology
- 2020, Swinburne, Vice-Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence, Swinburne University of Technology
- 2020, Swinburne, Faculty of Health, Arts, and Design Teaching Excellence Award, Swinburne University of Technology
- 2020, National, Australian Film Institute Research Collection Fellowship, Australian Film Institute
- 2019, Swinburne, Outstanding Researcher Award (Early Career), Swinburne University of Technology
- 2019, International, Knowledge Unlatched Select Open Access Publishing Grant, KU Select/Amsterdam University Press
- 2018, Swinburne, Dean's Award for Emerging Researcher, Swinburne University of Technology
Professional memberships
- 2021 (current): Vice President, Screen Studies Association of Australiasia and New Zealand, Australia
- 2019 (current): Editor, Amsterdam University Press (Horror and Gothic Media Cultures Series, Founding + Chief Editor), International
- 2018 - 2021: Treasurer, Screen Studies Association of Australiasia and New Zealand, Australia
- 2017 (current): Member, Society for Cinema and Media Studies, United States
- 2019 (current): Member, Association of Internet Researchers, United States
- 2019 (current): Member, European Network for Cinema and Media Studies, Netherlands
- 2016 (current): Member, Gothic Association of New Zealand and Australia, Australia
Publications
Also published as: Balanzategui, Jessica; Balanzategui, J.
This publication listing is provided by Swinburne Research Bank. If you are the owner of this profile, you can update your publications using our online form.
Recent research grants awarded
- 2021: Tracking, Evidencing, and Maximising the Impact of the Australian Children Television Foundation?s Activities, 2021-2024 *; Australian Children's Television Foundation funding
- 2018: SceneHunter *; VILLAGE ONLINE INVESTMENTS PTY LTD
- 2017: Film Genres in the Digital Age *; VILLAGE ONLINE INVESTMENTS PTY LTD
* Chief Investigator
Recent media
- 2021-10-08: Concerns for the Futre of Aussie Kids TV - 2-Ser Radio
- 2021-09-24: How Aussid Kids TV is Shaping Our Culture - 2-SER Radio
- 2021-09-23: Is Australian produced TV important for you and your family? - ABC Radio Melbourne
- 2021-09-15: Nostalgia for Kids' TV is here to stay - ABC Radio National
- 2021-09-01: Australians Flock to Streaming Services - The Australian
- 2020-11-20: Future of Aussie Children's TV is At Risk - 2-Ser Radio
- 2020-10-27: Film Jive Podcast: A Sonospheric Corpose - Film Jive Podcast
- 2020-06-25: Disney's wrestling with its racist history on Disney Plus - CNET
- 2019-09-24: Interview: "Navigating YouTube content and children" - ABC Radio National
- 2019-09-11: "In an age of Elsa/Spider-Man romantic mash ups, how to monitor YouTube’s children’s content?" - The Conversation
- 2019-08-29: "More streaming services could change what we watch on TV and how we watch it" - The Convsersation
- 2019-04-15: Interview: Streaming and the Changing Television Landscape - ABC Radio Melbourne
- 2014-02-28: Wolf Creek 2 Knifed by Intellectual Snobbery - The Age
- Film and Television Reviewer - ABC Radio Goulburn Murray
- Film and Television Reviewer - Big Life Conversation 94.1FM 3WBC
- Film/ Television and Popular Culture Commentator - ABC Radio Melbourne
- Interview and Film Reviews - Senses of Cinema Podcast
- Television Reviewer - ABC Radio Melbourne