Amy Chambers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Amy Chambers
Manchester University Press eBooks, Feb 7, 2018
Research on public attitudes towards science has revealed that individuals' personal values and b... more Research on public attitudes towards science has revealed that individuals' personal values and belief system are crucial factors in determining how they respond to new developments in science, technology and medicine, such as nanotechnology . Few cultural institutions have more influence on personal values and belief systems than religion, and few cultural products have as much impact on public perceptions of science as the mass media. In popular works and in many scholarly texts the interface between science and religion has traditionally been depicted as one of unbridgeable conflict . This divide has a long pedigree in British Gothic literature. It takes early form in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein , where a scientist plays God and creates a grotesque creature, rendering himself monstrous in the making of what the outside world deems a monster. In Bram Stoker's Dracula (2003 [1897]), the fearless vampire hunters must turn to ancient religious rites to defeat a monster that has descended upon an unsuspecting and technologically advanced London on the cusp of a new century. A distrust of scientists, who have turned away from morality and religion to dabble disastrously in questions of creation, runs through classic science fiction stories of biological horror and hybridity, like H. G.
Critical Studies in Television: The International Journal of Television Studies
Journal of Science Communication
The film ‘Don't look up’ engages a woman science advisor, historically a very male-dominated ... more The film ‘Don't look up’ engages a woman science advisor, historically a very male-dominated role. Because the character of woman scientist Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) cannot be easily transformed into a commodity, she is side-lined as a scientific voice as she attempts to warn Earth of the coming apocalypse. For marginalised scientists, their value depends on how their identity markers are used. ‘Don't look up’ is a satire of audience apathy, corporate greed, and media manipulation but still offers a very nihilistic vision of the impact of scientists and their expertise.
The Palgrave Handbook of Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Literature and Science
Immediate Media Company. BBC, Mar 18, 2021
Learning Onscreen: The British Universities and Colleges Film and Video Council, Mar 31, 2021
Long before we had the technology to make it a reality, humans have been fascinated by the concep... more Long before we had the technology to make it a reality, humans have been fascinated by the concept of artificial intelligence (AI): a completely human-made being that can learn and make decisions independently. We have wondered how they would look, sound, and act. Most often, and in true self-centric form, we have wondered how they would feel about us. Less frequently do we
This inclusion policy was drafted and used for the Science in Public 2019 conference. <br>I... more This inclusion policy was drafted and used for the Science in Public 2019 conference. <br>It was accompanied by a Code of Conduct which all participants and speakers were briefed on prior to attending the conference.<br>Participants were further briefed at the conference.
The International Encyclopedia of Gender, Media, and Communication, 2020
Women’s voices have been historically underrepresented in the practice, reporting, and representa... more Women’s voices have been historically underrepresented in the practice, reporting, and representation of science. On screen and page they have often been secondary or almost entirely absent from the discourses of science in mainstream media (non-fiction and fiction). This entry will explore the intersection of science, media, and gender by analysing different creative and communicative platforms and how they can specifically capture women’s expertise in the sciences. We consider how representation provides agency and allows for an intersectional approach to the analysis of how science and scientific expertise is communicated to the public. The discourse of women in science needs to move more swiftly away from stories about exceptional individual woman scientists towards a normalisation of women scientists where they are framed within a community of professional, capable women.
Fighting for the Future, 2020
Women scientists are often seen as anomalous exceptions in the fictional (and indeed real) world ... more Women scientists are often seen as anomalous exceptions in the fictional (and indeed real) world of white, male dominated scientific research. Even in the supposedly race and gender blind future of Star Trek, a black woman science specialist is considered revolutionary. Science and technology are a backdrop for the Star Trek universe. The theory and practice that gives the narrative a spectacular speculative frame is often perceived as neutral (or at least benevolent) as Starfleet explores the universe. Star Trek idealises science and the scientist, and throughout much of its history the science future it imagines has been distinctly white and male. This chapter argues that Star Trek has historically given women the space to be scientists, but Discovery goes further than previous entries into the canon by taking a black woman scientist from the margin to the centre of the story and offering a future when neither race nor gender present a barrier.
Science fiction filmmakers often create their own ‘archives’ of science-based materials (articles... more Science fiction filmmakers often create their own ‘archives’ of science-based materials (articles, newspaper cuttings, interviews with scientists/manufacturers) in order to produce artefacts (e.g. a film) that in turn produces an archive of materials that should be of interest to both cultural and science history/communication scholars. This paper makes specific reference to Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), and A Clockwork Orange (1971), and primary research conducted at the National Air and Space Museum (The Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA), the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Archives (Margaret Herrick Library, LA, CA), and University of the Arts London. Stanley Kubrick’s now iconic 2001: A Space Odyssey, released a year prior to the moon landing in 1969, explored ideas of alien control over evolution and presented futuristic images of space travel and colonisation, an imagined future that continues to influence scientists and creativ...
The Palgrave Handbook of Women and Science since 1660, 2022
In the Flesh is a darkly comic, cuttingly satirical and consciously ambivalent queer domestic hor... more In the Flesh is a darkly comic, cuttingly satirical and consciously ambivalent queer domestic horror drama set in a post-apocalyptic reimagining of our present. Proceeding from the view of the monsters, the series tracks the evolving relationship between the main protagonist Kieren, a queer Partially Deceased Syndrome (PDS) sufferer (a medically controlled and self-aware [or conscious?] zombie) and the communities and identities which form his world. Mastered by the State through the medical machine (the National Health Service), Kieren and his fellow PDS sufferers live through an accelerated reimaging of the history of queer sexuality in Britain, allowing the series to critically examine the affective construction and maintenance of identity, exploring how we locate, assimilate, reject and perform identities within a claustrophobic British and specifically northern obscenely domestic setting.
This thesis contends that all types of film hold historical value and should be appreciated as re... more This thesis contends that all types of film hold historical value and should be appreciated as relevant and valuable sources for contemporary historians. It is argued that feature films, and in particular fictional feature films, are overlooked as sources of information for scholars analysing contemporary history. Planet of the Apes (dir. Franklin J. Schaffner, 1968) is used as a case study to indicate the breadth of information available within the complex audio-visual text. This study contributes to the study of the under-researched film Planet of the Apes that holds an important place within the history of the American science fiction genre. The film is worthy of study because it can be understood as a countercultural document. It reflects upon, engages with and at times critiques the complexities of the political and social culture of the United States in the 1960s. Close analysis of the film provides insight into the attitudes of the filmmakers and their intended audience revea...
History of the Human Sciences, 2021
Science and religion pervade the 1973 horror The Exorcist (1973), and the film exists, as the mov... more Science and religion pervade the 1973 horror The Exorcist (1973), and the film exists, as the movie’s tagline suggests, ‘somewhere between science and superstition’. Archival materials show the depth of research conducted by writer/director William Friedkin in his commitment to presenting and exploring emerging scientific procedures and accurate Catholic ritual. Where clinical and barbaric science fails, faith and ritual save the possessed child Reagan MacNeil (Linda Blair) from her demons. The Exorcist created media frenzy in 1973, with increased reports in the popular press of demon possessions, audience members convulsing and vomiting at screenings, and apparent religious and specifically Catholic moral outrage. However, the official Catholic response to The Exorcist was not as reactionary as the press claimed. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office of Film and Broadcasting (USCCB-OFB) officially and publicly condemned the film as being unsuitable for a wide aud...
Science Fiction Film & Television, 2019
The Journal of Religion and Popular Culture, 2016
Planet of the Apes confronts and exposes both anti-authoritarian and politically conservative att... more Planet of the Apes confronts and exposes both anti-authoritarian and politically conservative attitudes to religion and its relationship to advances in science in the United States at the end of the 1960s. The film explicitly questions religion and its position within government, scientific advancement, and education while simultaneously existing as an artefact of the Judeo-Christian infused culture of post-war United States and post-censorship Hollywood. This article uses the lens of science and religion to analyze the under-researched Planet of the Apes and the transformation of its scientific narrative throughout the film's production, dissemination, and reception history from novel, to script, to screen.
Transgression in Anglo-American Cinema, 2016
Manchester University Press eBooks, Feb 7, 2018
Research on public attitudes towards science has revealed that individuals' personal values and b... more Research on public attitudes towards science has revealed that individuals' personal values and belief system are crucial factors in determining how they respond to new developments in science, technology and medicine, such as nanotechnology . Few cultural institutions have more influence on personal values and belief systems than religion, and few cultural products have as much impact on public perceptions of science as the mass media. In popular works and in many scholarly texts the interface between science and religion has traditionally been depicted as one of unbridgeable conflict . This divide has a long pedigree in British Gothic literature. It takes early form in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein , where a scientist plays God and creates a grotesque creature, rendering himself monstrous in the making of what the outside world deems a monster. In Bram Stoker's Dracula (2003 [1897]), the fearless vampire hunters must turn to ancient religious rites to defeat a monster that has descended upon an unsuspecting and technologically advanced London on the cusp of a new century. A distrust of scientists, who have turned away from morality and religion to dabble disastrously in questions of creation, runs through classic science fiction stories of biological horror and hybridity, like H. G.
Critical Studies in Television: The International Journal of Television Studies
Journal of Science Communication
The film ‘Don't look up’ engages a woman science advisor, historically a very male-dominated ... more The film ‘Don't look up’ engages a woman science advisor, historically a very male-dominated role. Because the character of woman scientist Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) cannot be easily transformed into a commodity, she is side-lined as a scientific voice as she attempts to warn Earth of the coming apocalypse. For marginalised scientists, their value depends on how their identity markers are used. ‘Don't look up’ is a satire of audience apathy, corporate greed, and media manipulation but still offers a very nihilistic vision of the impact of scientists and their expertise.
The Palgrave Handbook of Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Literature and Science
Immediate Media Company. BBC, Mar 18, 2021
Learning Onscreen: The British Universities and Colleges Film and Video Council, Mar 31, 2021
Long before we had the technology to make it a reality, humans have been fascinated by the concep... more Long before we had the technology to make it a reality, humans have been fascinated by the concept of artificial intelligence (AI): a completely human-made being that can learn and make decisions independently. We have wondered how they would look, sound, and act. Most often, and in true self-centric form, we have wondered how they would feel about us. Less frequently do we
This inclusion policy was drafted and used for the Science in Public 2019 conference. <br>I... more This inclusion policy was drafted and used for the Science in Public 2019 conference. <br>It was accompanied by a Code of Conduct which all participants and speakers were briefed on prior to attending the conference.<br>Participants were further briefed at the conference.
The International Encyclopedia of Gender, Media, and Communication, 2020
Women’s voices have been historically underrepresented in the practice, reporting, and representa... more Women’s voices have been historically underrepresented in the practice, reporting, and representation of science. On screen and page they have often been secondary or almost entirely absent from the discourses of science in mainstream media (non-fiction and fiction). This entry will explore the intersection of science, media, and gender by analysing different creative and communicative platforms and how they can specifically capture women’s expertise in the sciences. We consider how representation provides agency and allows for an intersectional approach to the analysis of how science and scientific expertise is communicated to the public. The discourse of women in science needs to move more swiftly away from stories about exceptional individual woman scientists towards a normalisation of women scientists where they are framed within a community of professional, capable women.
Fighting for the Future, 2020
Women scientists are often seen as anomalous exceptions in the fictional (and indeed real) world ... more Women scientists are often seen as anomalous exceptions in the fictional (and indeed real) world of white, male dominated scientific research. Even in the supposedly race and gender blind future of Star Trek, a black woman science specialist is considered revolutionary. Science and technology are a backdrop for the Star Trek universe. The theory and practice that gives the narrative a spectacular speculative frame is often perceived as neutral (or at least benevolent) as Starfleet explores the universe. Star Trek idealises science and the scientist, and throughout much of its history the science future it imagines has been distinctly white and male. This chapter argues that Star Trek has historically given women the space to be scientists, but Discovery goes further than previous entries into the canon by taking a black woman scientist from the margin to the centre of the story and offering a future when neither race nor gender present a barrier.
Science fiction filmmakers often create their own ‘archives’ of science-based materials (articles... more Science fiction filmmakers often create their own ‘archives’ of science-based materials (articles, newspaper cuttings, interviews with scientists/manufacturers) in order to produce artefacts (e.g. a film) that in turn produces an archive of materials that should be of interest to both cultural and science history/communication scholars. This paper makes specific reference to Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), and A Clockwork Orange (1971), and primary research conducted at the National Air and Space Museum (The Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA), the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Archives (Margaret Herrick Library, LA, CA), and University of the Arts London. Stanley Kubrick’s now iconic 2001: A Space Odyssey, released a year prior to the moon landing in 1969, explored ideas of alien control over evolution and presented futuristic images of space travel and colonisation, an imagined future that continues to influence scientists and creativ...
The Palgrave Handbook of Women and Science since 1660, 2022
In the Flesh is a darkly comic, cuttingly satirical and consciously ambivalent queer domestic hor... more In the Flesh is a darkly comic, cuttingly satirical and consciously ambivalent queer domestic horror drama set in a post-apocalyptic reimagining of our present. Proceeding from the view of the monsters, the series tracks the evolving relationship between the main protagonist Kieren, a queer Partially Deceased Syndrome (PDS) sufferer (a medically controlled and self-aware [or conscious?] zombie) and the communities and identities which form his world. Mastered by the State through the medical machine (the National Health Service), Kieren and his fellow PDS sufferers live through an accelerated reimaging of the history of queer sexuality in Britain, allowing the series to critically examine the affective construction and maintenance of identity, exploring how we locate, assimilate, reject and perform identities within a claustrophobic British and specifically northern obscenely domestic setting.
This thesis contends that all types of film hold historical value and should be appreciated as re... more This thesis contends that all types of film hold historical value and should be appreciated as relevant and valuable sources for contemporary historians. It is argued that feature films, and in particular fictional feature films, are overlooked as sources of information for scholars analysing contemporary history. Planet of the Apes (dir. Franklin J. Schaffner, 1968) is used as a case study to indicate the breadth of information available within the complex audio-visual text. This study contributes to the study of the under-researched film Planet of the Apes that holds an important place within the history of the American science fiction genre. The film is worthy of study because it can be understood as a countercultural document. It reflects upon, engages with and at times critiques the complexities of the political and social culture of the United States in the 1960s. Close analysis of the film provides insight into the attitudes of the filmmakers and their intended audience revea...
History of the Human Sciences, 2021
Science and religion pervade the 1973 horror The Exorcist (1973), and the film exists, as the mov... more Science and religion pervade the 1973 horror The Exorcist (1973), and the film exists, as the movie’s tagline suggests, ‘somewhere between science and superstition’. Archival materials show the depth of research conducted by writer/director William Friedkin in his commitment to presenting and exploring emerging scientific procedures and accurate Catholic ritual. Where clinical and barbaric science fails, faith and ritual save the possessed child Reagan MacNeil (Linda Blair) from her demons. The Exorcist created media frenzy in 1973, with increased reports in the popular press of demon possessions, audience members convulsing and vomiting at screenings, and apparent religious and specifically Catholic moral outrage. However, the official Catholic response to The Exorcist was not as reactionary as the press claimed. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office of Film and Broadcasting (USCCB-OFB) officially and publicly condemned the film as being unsuitable for a wide aud...
Science Fiction Film & Television, 2019
The Journal of Religion and Popular Culture, 2016
Planet of the Apes confronts and exposes both anti-authoritarian and politically conservative att... more Planet of the Apes confronts and exposes both anti-authoritarian and politically conservative attitudes to religion and its relationship to advances in science in the United States at the end of the 1960s. The film explicitly questions religion and its position within government, scientific advancement, and education while simultaneously existing as an artefact of the Judeo-Christian infused culture of post-war United States and post-censorship Hollywood. This article uses the lens of science and religion to analyze the under-researched Planet of the Apes and the transformation of its scientific narrative throughout the film's production, dissemination, and reception history from novel, to script, to screen.
Transgression in Anglo-American Cinema, 2016