Dr Rebecca Beirne

Senior Lecturer

School of Humanities and Social Science (Film, Media and Cultural Studies)

Email:rebecca.beirne@newcastle.edu.au
Phone:(02) 4921 5081

Career Summary

Biography

A leading scholar in the area of lesbian representation in popular culture, Beirne has recently shifted her focus to the study of the representation of mental health conditions in television fictions.

Keywords

Comics
Cultural studies
Film studies
Gender and sexuality studies
LGBTIQ Studies
Mental health in the media
Television studies

Professional Experience

UON Appointment

Title	Organisation / Department
Senior Lecturer	University of Newcastle School of Humanities and Social Science Australia
Senior Lecturer	University of Newcastle School of Humanities and Social Science Australia

Teaching

Code	Course	Role	Duration
FMCS1000	Film, Media, Culture \| School of Humanities and Social Science - Faculty of Education and Arts - The University of Newcastle So many of the defining moments in our lives are accompanied by an experience with the media or have grown out of our relationship with the media. The media are a central part of how we live, work and play. This course provides a interdisciplinary framework for the analysis of our complex relationship with diverse forms of media. It will introduce students to a range of analytical approaches to the study of film, media and culture, and their application to specific texts, situations and events.	Coordinator	3/3/2016 - 20/6/2018

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Publications

For publications that are currently unpublished or in-press, details are shown in italics.

Book (4 outputs)

Year

Citation

Altmetrics

Link

2012

Beirne RC, Televising Queer Women: A Reader, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, Hampshire, 228 (2012) [A4]

2011

Beirne RC, Bennett JE, Making Film and Television Histories: Australia and New Zealand, I. B. Tauris, London, 296 (2011) [A3]

Co-authors	J Bennett

2008

Beirne R, Televising Queer Women: A Reader, Palgrave Macmillan, New York & London, USA & UK, 272 (2008) [A3]

2008

Beirne RC, Lesbians in Television and Text After the Millennium, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 233 (2008) [A1]

Citations	Scopus - 12

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Chapter (10 outputs)

Year

Citation

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Link

2018

Beirne RC, 'Representing Lesbians', The Routledge Companion to Media, Sex and Sexuality, Routledge, New York (2018)

2012

Beirne RC, Habib S, 'Trauma and triumph: Documenting Middle Eastern gender and sexual minorities in film and television', LGBT Transnational Identity and the Media, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, Hampshire 41-58 (2012) [B1]

DOI	10.1057/9780230373310

2012

Beirne RC, 'Queer women on television today', Televising Queer Women: A Reader, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke 1-10 (2012) [B1]

2012

Beirne RC, 'Mapping lesbian sexuality on Queer as Folk', Televising Queer Women: A Reader, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke 63-71 (2012) [B2]

2012

Beirne RC, 'Interrogating lesbian pornography: Gender, sexual iconography and spectatorship', Hard to Swallow: Hard-Core Pornography on Screen, Wallflower Press, London 229-243 (2012) [B1]

2011

Bennett JE, Beirne RC, 'Introduction', Making Film and Television Histories: Australia and New Zealand, I. B. Tauris, London xvii-xxiii (2011) [B2]

Co-authors	J Bennett

2009

Beirne R, 'Television Shows', LGBTQ America Today, Greenwood Press, Westport, CT 1184-1192 (2009)

2008

Beirne R, 'Mapping Lesbian Desire in Queer as Folk', Televising Queer Women, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, United Kingdom 99-107 (2008) [B1]

2008

Beirne R, 'Introduction: A History of Lesbian Television Criticism', Televising Queer Women: A Reader, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, United Kingdom 1-16 (2008) [B1]

2005

Beirne R, 'Embattled Sex: Rise of the Right and Victory of the Queer in Queer as Folk', New Queer Aesthetic on Television: Essays on Recent Programming, McFarland & Company, Inc, Jefferson, North Carolina, United States 43-58 (2005) [B1]

Show 7 more chapters

Journal article (10 outputs)

Year

Citation

Altmetrics

Link

2019

Beirne RC, 'Extraordinary minds, impossible choices: Mental health, special skills and television', Medical Humanities, 45 235-239 (2019) [C1]

Over the last decade, there has been an increase in the number of televisual protagonist and major secondary characters specifically identified within the text as having a diagnos... [more]

Over the last decade, there has been an increase in the number of televisual protagonist and major secondary characters specifically identified within the text as having a diagnosed mental illness. This is a significant development in the context of characters with a mental illness on television, who were previously usually minor and heavily stigmatised. A key trend with these new protagonists and major characters is the attribution of special talents or powers associated with mental health conditions. This paper analyses the discursive construction of this trope in five recent television series: Sherlock (UK, BBC, 2010-), Homeland (USA, Showtime, 2011-), Perception (USA, TNT, 2012-2015), Hannibal (USA, NBC, 2013-2015) and Black Box (USA, ABC, 2014). Theoretically, this paper draws on Sami Schalk's formulation of the superpowered supercrip narrative', which refers to the representation of a character who has abilities or "powers" that operate in direct relationship with or contrast to their disability'. This paper is also indebted to Davi A Johnson's Managing Mr. Monk' (2008) for its discussion of mental illness as attaining social value' through becoming a resource with economic and ethical value, as do the conditions of the fictional characters explored in this article. Schalk's work on disability is here expanded to a more specific discussion of mental illness on television, while Johnson's work is updated to discuss whether the newer characterisations reflect the same rhetorical positioning as Monk (USA, USA Network, 2002-2009), one of the earliest texts celebrated for featuring a lead, sympathetic character clearly and explicitly identified with a mental health condition. Of the five lead characters examined here, three are figured as responsible for their symptoms because they have chosen not to take medication or withdraw from their medication. It is concurrently presented that if they do take medication, it dampens their abilities to perform valuable work in the community, thus removing their use value within the world of the series.

DOI	10.1136/medhum-2017-011410

2015

Beirne RC, 'Piracy, geoblocking and Australian access to niche independent cinema', Popular Communication, 13 18-31 (2015) [C1]

DOI	10.1080/15405702.2014.978001
Citations	Scopus - 2Web of Science - 2

2014

Beirne R, 'New Queer Cinema 2.0? Lesbian-focused films and the internet', Screen, 55 129-138 (2014) [C1]

DOI	10.1093/screen/hjt058
Citations	Scopus - 2Web of Science - 3

2012

Beirne RC, 'Teen lesbian desires and identities in international cinema: 1931-2007', Journal of Lesbian Studies, 16 258-272 (2012) [C1]

DOI	10.1080/10894160.2012.673925
Citations	Scopus - 5Web of Science - 1

2009

Beirne RC, 'Screening the dykes of Oz: Lesbian representation on Australian television', Journal of Lesbian Studies, 13 25-34 (2009) [C1]

DOI	10.1080/07380560802314128
Citations	Scopus - 6

2007

Beirne R, 'Dirty Lesbian Pictures: Art and Pornography in The L Word', Critical Studies in Television, 2 90-101 (2007) [C1]

2007

Beirne R, 'Lesbian Pulp Television: Torment, Trauma and Transformations in The L Word', Refractory: a journal of entertainment media, 11 (2007) [C1]

2007

Beirne R, 'Diamond of Darkness: Liberalism and Colonialism in Edward Zuwick's Blood Diamond', Scope: an on-line journal of film studies, (2007) [C3]

2006

Beirne R, 'Fashioning The L Word', NEBULA: A Journal of Multidisciplinary Scholarship, 3 1-37 (2006) [C1]

2004

Beirne R, 'Queering the Slayer-Text: Reading Possibilities in Buffy the Vampire Slayer', Refractory: a journal of entertainment media, 5 (2004) [C1]

Show 7 more journal articles

Review (1 outputs)

Year	Citation	Altmetrics	Link
2012	Beirne RC, 'Queer German cinema', Directory of World Cinema: Germany (2012) [D2]

Other (1 outputs)

Year	Citation	Altmetrics	Link
2009	Beirne RC, 'Sex Wars of the 1980s', LGBTQ America Today ( pp.1122-1125). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press (2009)

Report (2 outputs)

Year

Citation

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2013

Grushka K, Bennett J, Parkes RJ, Beirne R, Donnelly D, Falzon C, et al., 'Visual media texts: Teaching and assessing the humanities & social sciences in a post-literate age', Centre for Learning and Teaching, 18 (2013) [R1]

Co-authors	Josephine May, Kath Grushka, Robert Parkes, Chris Falzon, Heather Sharp, Debra Donnelly

2013

Grushka KM, Bennett J, Parkes R, Beirne R, Donnelly D, Falzon C, et al., 'Visual Media Texts: Teaching and Assessing the Humanities and Social Sciences in a Post-literate Age', Faculty of Education and Arts, 17 (2013)

Co-authors	J Bennett, Heather Sharp, Debra Donnelly, Chris Falzon, Robert Parkes, Kath Grushka, Josephine May

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Grants and Funding

Summary

Number of grants	7
Total funding	$79,306

Click on a grant title below to expand the full details for that specific grant.

20191 grants / $14,725

Multidisciplinary humanities applications of metadata and computational text analysis$14,725

Funding body: Faculty of Education and Arts, University of Newcastle

Funding body	Faculty of Education and Arts, University of Newcastle
Project Team	Dr Marie-Laure Vuaille-Barcan (Lead), Dr Rebecca Beirne, Dr Erin McCarthy, Prof Christof Schoch (University of Trier) Prof Fotis Jannidis (University of Wurzburg)
Scheme	Strategic Network and Pilot Project Grants Scheme
Role	Investigator
Funding Start	2019
Funding Finish	2019
GNo
Type Of Funding	Internal
Category	INTE
UON	N

20181 grants / $18,081

Australia-Germany Joint Research $18,081

Funding body: University of Newcastle

Funding body	University of Newcastle
Project Team	Doctor Rebecca Beirne, Dr Katrin Betz, Dr José Calvo Tello, Dr Chrisof Schoch
Scheme	Australia-Germany Joint Research Cooperation Scheme
Role	Lead
Funding Start	2018
Funding Finish	2019
GNo	G1800271
Type Of Funding	Internal
Category	INTE
UON	Y

20172 grants / $30,000

Society, Health and Disability Research Group: New Horizons$15,000

Funding body: University of Newcastle - Faculty of Education and Arts

Funding body	University of Newcastle - Faculty of Education and Arts
Scheme	FEDUA Strategic Networks and Pilot Projects (SNaPP)
Role	Investigator
Funding Start	2017
Funding Finish	2017
GNo
Type Of Funding	Internal
Category	INTE
UON	N

Representing Mental Health Conditions on Television, 2006-2016$15,000

Television has historically failed to offer a diverse representation of individuals and characters with mental conditions in a context where. The number and prominence of characters with mental health conditions, has, however, improved in recent years. And as Philo et.al. observe in their 2014 study conducted for UK mental health charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness: “There are encouraging signs that we are moving away from outdated ‘mad and bad’ stereotypes in TV drama and moving towards more authentic, sympathetic and complex characters.”

This study offers a close analysis of lead and major secondary characters and storylines in 32 television series appearing from 2006-2016 to offer a qualitative perspective on whether they have indeed moved away from established stigmatized stereotypes or not. Of particular interest is the potential of having multiple series where protagonists experience a mental health condition, instead of a secondary or one-off character. This study used mixed methods to: identify major characters in Anglophone scripted television series who are narratively diagnosed with a mental health condition; group the results in a variety of permutations including diagnoses, behavioural characteristics, age, gender, and treatment (therapy, medication and hospitalization); and conduct a close analysis of individual representations.

Funding body: University of Newcastle Faculty of Education and Arts

Funding body	University of Newcastle Faculty of Education and Arts
Project Team	Rebecca Beirne
Scheme	Faculty Fellowship (Mid-Career Researcher)
Role	Lead
Funding Start	2017
Funding Finish	2017
GNo
Type Of Funding	Internal
Category	INTE
UON	N

20112 grants / $11,500

Visual Media Texts$10,000

Within our growing knowledge economy, students increasingly encounter disciplines such as history, politics, philosophy, and education through the intersection of new media technologies and popular culture, rather than through the once typical encounter with ‘the book’. Visual culture dominates everyday experience and is becoming increasingly important in teaching and learning (Goldfarb, 2002). Recognising that we live at a time when students prefer to engage with visual media rather than written text, Rosenstone (2001) has dubbed the present age ‘post-literate’, an age where everyone can read but no one will. Prensky (2007) describes the current generation transitioning from schools into the workforce and tertiary education as ‘digital natives’, for whom graphics precede written text as one of the defining features of their engagement in learning. This project recognises the significant work using visual media texts in teaching and learning occurring across the humanities and social science disciplines of the contemporary academy in areas such as history (Bennett & Beirne, 2011; Sealey, 2008), social work (Downey, Jackson, Puig, & Furman, 2003; Ello, 2007), and philosophy (Falzon, 2007; Mulhall, 2002); and its take up as both pedagogy and curriculum in the field of Education (Anderson & Jefferson, 2009). Through developing a dialogue across the Humanities and Social Science disciplines at the University of Newcastle, this project explores how, for what purpose, and to what effect, visual media (including film, television, still images, vodcasts, animation, social media and imaging technologies) are used by academics in the Humanities and Social Sciences to produce 21st century professionals and enhance the student experience. Through surveys, collection of learning artifacts and focus group interviews, it begins to develop an understanding of the variety of texts, assessment strategies and pedagogical approaches used by academics at the case site. Overall the project found that there is a broad continuum of use of visual media texts in the classrooms of academics that participated in the study. It makes a number of recommendations for facilitating and enhancing the use of visual media in tertiary classrooms.

Funding body: Centre for Teaching and Learning, The University of Newcastle

Funding body	Centre for Teaching and Learning, The University of Newcastle
Project Team	Dr Kathryn Grushka, Dr James Bennett, Dr Robert Parkes, Dr Rebecca Beirne, Ms Debra Donnelly, Dr Chris Falzon, Ms Bronwyn Gallagher (RA), Dr Robert Imre, Dr Claire Lowrie, Dr Josephine May, Dr Heather Sharp.
Scheme	Teaching and Learning Grant
Role	Investigator
Funding Start	2011
Funding Finish	2011
GNo
Type Of Funding	Internal
Category	INTE
UON	N

The Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealands Annual Conference, Auckland, 290611 - 1/7/2011$1,500

Funding body: University of Newcastle - Faculty of Education and Arts

Funding body	University of Newcastle - Faculty of Education and Arts
Project Team	Doctor Rebecca Beirne
Scheme	Travel Grant
Role	Lead
Funding Start	2011
Funding Finish	2012
GNo	G1100644
Type Of Funding	Internal
Category	INTE
UON	Y

20081 grants / $5,000

Lesbian in World Cinema$5,000

Funding body: University of Newcastle

Funding body	University of Newcastle
Project Team	Doctor Rebecca Beirne
Scheme	New Staff Grant
Role	Lead
Funding Start	2008
Funding Finish	2008
GNo	G0189587
Type Of Funding	Internal
Category	INTE
UON	Y

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Research Supervision

Number of supervisions

Completed0

Current5

Current Supervision

Commenced	Level of Study	Research Title	Program	Supervisor Type
2021	PhD	From Gay Liberation to "Post-Gay": A Critical Autoethnographic Study of Middle-Aged and Older Gay Men's Experiences with Mediated Identity	PhD (Cultural Studies), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle	Co-Supervisor
2018	PhD	The Game of Survival: The Adaptation of Classical Greco-Roman Mythology in Videogames	PhD (Cultural Studies), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle	Co-Supervisor
2018	PhD	(Re)constructing Subjectivity in Contemporary Coming-of-Age Narratives	PhD (English), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle	Co-Supervisor
2016	PhD	Hella Queer: Lesbian Representation in Contemporary Comics	PhD (Cultural Studies), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle	Co-Supervisor
2012	PhD	Invective Against Culturally Dissonant Women: Ancient Rome and Cyberspace	PhD (Classics), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle	Principal Supervisor

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News

Call for papers: digital research across the humanities

July 15, 2019

Proposals are now being accepted for presentations at ‘Digital research across the humanities’, a two-day symposium to be held at the University of Newcastle, Australia in November 2019.