Macquarie University Faculty of Science

Catherine Simpson

Profile

Background

Catherine has been seconded from the Media discipline (Dept of MMCS, Faculty of Arts) to set up and convene Macquarie’s new Science Communication programme. You can find out more information at: http://www.scom.mq.edu.au/

Before joining Macquarie in 2002, Catherine taught media, film and cultural studies at a number of institutions around Australia including University of New South Wales, University of Western Sydney and Murdoch. She completed her PhD thesis, “Imagined Geographies: women’s negotiation of space in contemporary Australian cinema” at Murdoch University, Perth in 2001 and has since fantasized about becoming a cultural geographer. With her partner Bruce Jeffreys, she narrowly survived co-directing an Australian film festival in Istanbul in 1994 and a reciprocal Turkish film festival that toured Sydney, Melbourne and Perth in 1998. While living in Istanbul in the mid 90s, Catherine taught English to university students.

Catherine has a first class Honours degree in English from the University of Western Australia, and an RSA TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) qualification from Edith Cowan University in Perth. In 2000 she completed IFU's (International Women's University) postgraduate cert. at Hanover & Bremen Universities in Germany.

With a Macquarie Teaching and Learning grant in 2008, Catherine set up a new Honours seminar unit in the Department of Media, Music, Culture & Communication called ‘Eco-interventions: Cultures of Climate change’. Since then she has become fascinated with the ecological humanities and is also pursuing research in car cultures.

Her established research, teaching and publications are primarily in the areas of: Australian and Turkish cinema; construction of identity and space on screen especially in relation to nationhood, gender and the body; screen automobile cultures; film festivals; transnational, diasporic and small national cinemas; the work of Australian female filmmakers. She welcomes graduate students in any of these areas and any of the emerging areas above.

Since joining Macquarie University she has convened, designed, lectured and tutored across a broad range of units from first year to Honours within the disciplines of media, gender and cultural studies, film studies and now science communication.

Publication Record (last 5 years)

Book

Book Chapters, Refereed Papers & Review Articles

Catherine Simpson, 2010, “On Animals, Archives and Embroidery; An Interview with Shirley Barrett”, Metro Magazine, Number 165, pp. 20-25.

Catherine Simpson, 2010, “Australian eco-horror and Gaia’s Revenge: Animals, Eco-Nationalism & the ‘New Nature’”, Studies in Australasian cinemas, 4.1.2010, (accepted, forthcoming)

Catherine Simpson, 2010, “Shifting from Landscape to country in Australia, after Mabo”, Metro Magazine, Number 165, pp. 88-93.

Catherine Simpson 2010, “From ruthless foe to national friend: Turkey, Gallipoli and Australian nationalism” in Media International Australia, 776, 2010 (forthcoming).

Catherine Simpson, “Tinkering at the Borders: Lucky Miles’ Difference, Distance and Dud Maps” in Diasporas of Australian Cinema (Intellect, UK, 2009).

Catherine Simpson & Anthony Lambert, “Introducing Diasporic Hybridity in Australian Cinema”, Diasporas of Australian Cinema (Intellect, UK, 2009)

Antje Gnida and Catherine Simpson, “ANZAC’s Others: ‘Cruel Huns’and ‘Noble Turks’” in Diasporas of Australian Cinema (Intellect, UK, 2009).

Simpson, Catherine. 2009, “Cars, climate and subjectivity: car sharing and resisting hegemonic automobile culture”, M/C Journal, 12(4).

Catherine Simpson 2009 “Take it all off baby! Take it all off! The Australian Kamasutra” in Senses of Cinema, Issue # 53. www.sensesofcinema.com/take-it-all-off-baby-take-it-all-off-the-australian-kamasutra-love-serenade-shirley-barrett-1996/

Catherine Simpson “Turkish Cinema’s Rennaissance” Turkish Film Council Newsletter April 2009, LA.

Simpson, Catherine “ Reconfiguring Rusticity: Feminizing Australian Cinema's Country Towns” in Studies in Australasian Cinemas, 2.1 2008, pp. 47-59.

Lambert, Anthony and Simpson, Catherine, 2008. “Jindabyne's Haunted Alpine Country: Producing (an) Australian Badland”, M/C Journal, Vol. 11, No. 5 (2008) - 'country', http://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view Article/81

Simpson, Catherine, “Lucky Miles: Difference, Distance and Dud Maps” in Sustaining Culture: Cultural Studies Assoc of Australia, 2007 Online Proceedings http://www.unisa.edu.au/com/minisites/csaa/onlineproceedings.htm

Simpson, Catherine “Taking the 'nation' out of Gallipoli; Tolga Örnek's Gallipoli: The Frontline” in Metro Magazine No 153, June 2007. 

Simpson, Catherine “Bonds of War: Interview with Tolga Örnek” in Metro Magazine No 153, June 2007.

Simpson, Catherine "Antipodean Automobility and Crash: Treachery, Trespass and Transformation of the Open Road" in Australian Humanities Review Issue 39-40, September 2006.

Simpson, Catherine "Turkish Cinema's Resurgence: The Deep Nation Unravels"in Senses of Cinema, Issue No 39, April-June 2006

Simpson, Catherine & Anthony Lambert, (eds) "The Glittering Tart: Imaging Sydney" (Co-edited with Anthony Lambert) in SCAN, Vol 2, Number 1, April 2005. 

Simpson, Catherine "Getting 'Out there on the Edge': Reflections on the first Turkish film festival in Australia and Contemporary cinematic revival" in Alternative Perspectives on Turkey's Cinematic Landscape in ArteEast, Special Issue, October 2006.

Simpson, Catherine "Cruising Country: Automobility in non-urban Australia" in SCAN Magazine, 2005, http://www.scan.net.au/scan/magazine/display.php?journal_id=43">

Simpson, Catherine "Turkish films and festivals: Glancing Eastwards" in Realtime, Issue No 70 December 2005,

Simpson, Catherine “Introducing the Glittering Tart: Imaging Sydney” (with Anthony Lambert) in SCAN, Vol 2, Number 1, April 2005.

Simpson, Catherine "Beyond Glitter to Grief: Australian Cinema After Mabo" in Australian Humanities Review: Issue 34, January/February 2005

Conference Papers:

Simpson, Catherine, “Re-invigorarting Landscape cinema in Australia, after Mabo” at the Baz Luhrmann’s Australia Reviewed Conference, 7-8 December 2009.
Simpson, Catherine, “Embodying Family and non-normative maternity: two filmic negotiations (Janet Merewether’s Maverick Mother & Safina Uberoi’s A Good Man)” Somatechnics Conference, Sydney, November 20-21st, 2009
Simpson, Catherine, “Ozploitation and Gaia’s Revenge: Eco-Nationalism and the ‘New Nature’ at the B for Bad Cinema: Aesthetics, politics and Cultural Value, Monash University, Melbourne, April 15-17, 2009.
Simpson, Catherine, ‘Diasporas of Australian Cinema’ (panel with Anthony Lambert & Grisha Dolgopolov) at the Film & History Association of Australia and New Zealand, University of Otago, November 2008. (Virtual presentation: “Shifting Image of the Turk in Australian Visual Culture”)
Simpson, Catherine, “Eco Interventions: Climate Change Narratives, Representations, Cultures (Interdisciplinary and collaborative Honours Curriculum development)”, paper presented at the Disciplining Innovation Learning & teaching symposium, Macquarie University, November 21st, 2008
Simpson, Catherine, “Lucky Miles & the Diasporic No Road Movie” presented at the CSAA (Cultural Studies Association of Australasia, University of Adelaide, December 2007.
Simpson, Catherine, “Somatic Obsessions: Bodily Provocations and Power in the Films of Rolf de Heer” presented at the Body Modification Conference Mark II, Macquarie University April 2005
Simpson, Catherine, “Mechanical Colonisers: Crashes, Boggings and Auto-immobility in Australian cinema”, New Urgencies in Australian Studies Conference, Sydney Mint, May 2005