Profile
Research
Administrative
Teaching
Home  /   Staff  /   Researcher Profiles  /  Dr Phillip McIntyre

Dr Kenneth ( Phillip ) McIntyre

Work Phone (02) 4985 4522
Fax (02) 4921 5896
Email
Position Senior Lecturer
School of Design Communication and IT
The University of Newcastle, Australia
Office ICT3-55, Ict Building

Biography

Dr Phillip McIntyre is a social scientist who researches how new things are created by human beings. He seeks to answer a basic question: what is the most rational way to explain how novel things are bought into being? In addition to this basic research question, he also seeks to answer an applied question: How can these explanations help to increase human kind’s ability to generate new and useful things? As well as having a research focus on creativity and innovation, Dr McIntyre also teaches media production and media studies courses in the Bachelor of Communication program. He is the Head of Discipline for Communication and Media in the School of Design, Communication and Information Technology. He was recently a Visiting Fellow at Leeds Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom working with a research group in sound production in the Faculty of Information and Technology. He is an Executive Member of the Australian and New Zealand Communication Association (ANZCA), a current member of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM) and the Association for the Study of the Art of Record Production (ASARP). He sat on the Editorial Board of Perfect Beat: The Pacific Journal of Research into Contemporary Music and Popular Culture between 2006-2011 and is a reviewer for the Art of Record Production international conference proceedings, 2007-2011. His most recent media production was a documentary series on the wine industry for ABC Radio. Previously Phillip McIntyre was involved in the music industry where he was a songwriter, instrumentalist, musical director and manager for various groups dealing with promoters, record companies and distribution labels. He managed a section of a large music retailer and his work as a music journalist entailed interviewing and writing feature stories on a wide range of musicians including David Bowie, John Fogerty, Paul Kelly, Don Walker, Daniel Johns, Mandawuy Yunupingu, Tim Rogers and many others. He has produced and presented a local music radio program on 2NUR FM as well as currently sitting on its Advisory Board. A number of the music videos he produced, directed and edited have been broadcast on ABCTV and he continues to produce and engineer music CDs for local artists. He has taught in the Ausmusic Basic Music Industry Skills course at TAFE, which included Daniel Johns from Silverchair as a student in the songwriting course he taught, as well as teaching courses for the Music Industry Training Package at WEA. His doctoral research investigated the creative process of songwriters as cultural producers. He has since published widely in this area. His recent book, 'Creativity and Cultural Production: Issues for Media Practice' (2012) was published by Palgrave MacMillan.

Qualifications

  • PhD, Macquarie University, 2004
  • Graduate Certificate (Practice-Tertiary Teaching), University of Newcastle, 2005
  • Bachelor of Arts (Communication Studies)(Honours), University of Newcastle, 1995
  • Bachelor of Arts (Communication Studies), University of Newcastle, 1994

Research

Research keywords

  • creativity and cultural production
  • creativity and innovation
  • media practice
  • popular music industry
  • record production
  • songwriting
  • sound production

Research expertise

Dr Phillip McIntyre is a researcher who has also had over twenty-five years of relevant industrial and professional experience in all facets of the Australian music industry.

He was awarded his PhD in March 2004, and has been publishing material in refereed publications and delivering his research to an international audience in conference settings. His academic research is centred on the production phase of the communication process and the relationship between creativity and cultural production. For his doctoral thesis he tested and verified the systems model of creativity, developed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, by conducting an extensive ethnographic study of popular music songwriting. This research involved participant observation facilitated by operating in the milieu of the music industry. It was triangulated with audience surveys, document analysis and a significant number of in-depth interviews with local, national and international level songwriters.

Apart from this ongoing ethnographic research focus which he has extended to record production he also has an interest in the use of innovative research methods to examine the creative process, such as Practitioner Based Enquiry. As a result of these interests, a wide-ranging knowledge of the theories of creativity and ample practical experience in project management, sound and video production, and music journalism, he brings a valued set of skills which are directly applicable to his research.

Collaboration

Communication and Media, Creativity and Innovation, Creativity and Cultural Production, Popular Music, Record Production, Creative Practice as Research.

Fields of Research

Code Description Percentage
200101 Communication Studies 50
200104 Media Studies 40
190499 Performing Arts And Creative Writing Not Elsewhere Classified 10

Memberships

Body relevant to professional practice.

  • Member - Australian New Zealand Communication Association
  • Member - International Association for the Study of Popular Music

Editorial Board.

  • Member - Perfect Beat: The Pacific Journal of Research into Contemporary Music and Popular Culture
  • Associate Editor - International Journal of the Book.

Other

  • Member - Association for the Study of the Art of Record Production

Appointments

Visiting Fellow
Leeds Metroploitan University (United Kingdom)
01/01/2010 - 01/06/2010

Administrative

Administrative expertise

Dr Phillip McIntyre is currently the Head of Discipline of Communication and Media and sits on the School of DCIT Executive Committee. He is also currently the Program Convenor for the Communication and Media Honours Program. In this role he was the Chair, Bachelor of Communication (Honours) Review Committee for the Faculty of Science & IT in 2004.

In 2005 he was a member of both the Faculty of Science & IT and the School of DCIT Research Training Committees. He has also been a member of the School of DCIT RHD Progress Committee, as well as sitting on the School's CT&L Committee. As well as being the Library Liaison Officer for the Department of CAMA between 1998 and 2001 he was also, for a short period, the Acting Head of Department in 2001.

Dr McIntyre also sits on the Advisory Board of the University radio station 2NURFM.

In his prior professional life Dr Phillip McIntyre's aptitude for project management and administration can be seen in his active involvement with the award winning band Supersonic. The most recent project Phillip was involved in for Supersonic ran from 2003 to 2004 and was primarily funded by a group of investors. Phillip was instrumental in negotiating this funding. The project involved the coordination and oversight of the recording, manufacture, release and promotion of a popular music single, an album of songs and a video, as well as the business management of the musical group involved. Phillip undertook the planning, budgetary and oversight responsibilities during this project period (2003-2004). The project required engaging a PR firm (AMB), a manufacturing plant (MAD) as well as negotiating conditions and terms with a commercial distributor (MGM) for the product. The project also saw him acting as the producer of a promotional videoclip using an eight person crew. The administration of this entire project by Phillip McIntyre eventually involved the organisation of the work and transportation of five personnel touring across the east coast of Australia. Dr Phillip McIntyre's professional management, creative capability and administrative expertise was instrumental in the success of this project.


Teaching

Teaching keywords

  • communication and media studies
  • creativity and cultural production
  • media practice
  • media production - radio
  • media production - sound
  • popular music studies

Teaching expertise

When Dr Phillip McIntyre commenced studying for his BA(CS) Honours degree as a mature age student at the University of Newcastle in 1994 he was asked to lecture at the same time into the Communication & Media Arts program at the University. Following this Honours year, he continued to lecture and tutor in a variety of courses at the University for the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, the Department of Leisure and Tourism as well as continuing to teach into the Communication and Media program. At this time he also taught into the BMIS Music Industry Skills course at the Hunter Institute of Higher Education (TAFE). He has also taught courses in the Music Industry Training Package for WEA. Since he achieved a full time continuing position at the University he has taught into a significant number of courses in the Communciation and Media program.

His teaching philosophy encompases an observable congruence between theoretical understanding and professional practice. His emphasis on mentoring is premised on the realisation that learning can be facilitated through interactions built on concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualisation and active experimentation. This approach dovetails well with the overall PBL approach espoused by the University.

Dr McIntyre undertook and completed the Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Teaching in 2005. His SET and SEC scores have been consistently high and he received a commendation from the PVC of the Faculty Science & IT for his contribution to teaching in the Faculty in 2006.

Teaching interests

Communication and Media Studies and Media Production.

Dr McIntyre has taught, and continues to teach, a variety of courses. These have included:

CMNS3320 International Media Studies
CMNS1050 Introduction to Audio Communication
CMNS3110 Digital Video Post Production
CMNS111 Mass Communication and Society,
CMNS261 Narrative Studies,
CMNS266 Television Studies,
CMNS105 Radio 1
CMCS267 Introduction to Sound
CMNS2040 Music Video                                   
CMNS3130 Advanced Video Production
CMNS3300 Broadcast Journalism        
CMNS3370 Sound Project
CMNS1060 Audio Programmes                                     
CMNS2670 Soundscape Studies                                   
CMNS3070 Advanced Audio Communication
CMNS2050 Radio Industry Studies
CMNS2600 Audience Studies
CMNS2310 Principles of Sound

Programs

Courses