Dr Phoebe Macrossan has a Bachelor of Journalism/Bachelor of Arts (Media Studies) from the University of Queensland, as well as a Bachelor of Arts (Film)(Hons) and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. D.) (Film, Television, New Media) from the University of New South Wales. Her research interests are popular music on screen, including film, television and digital screen media, as well as celebrity culture and film genre studies. Her areas of expertise are screen genres, popular music on screen and celebrity culture.
Dr Macrossan is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA) and the Screen Media Study Area Coordinator at UniSC. She has taught students in media, film and screen studies since 2013 and encourages them to think historically, theoretically, and analytically about film and media. She is currently the Sound and Music Scholarly Interest Group Co-Chair for the Society for Cinema and Media Studies. She was the Postgraduate Executive Member for the Screen Studies Association of Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand (SSAAANZ) between 2016 and 2018 and is a co-founder and former President of the Sydney Screen Studies Network (SSSN).
Dr Macrossan’s research has been published in leading media studies and popular culture journals, including Creative Industries Journal, Journal of Popular Culture and Popular Music. She has published research on a range of topics including contemporary American screensong, jukebox musical Across the Universe, musical television series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Nashville and Glee, as well as Beyonce’s visual albums. Dr Macrossan recently lead a research project on the Sunshine Coast Screen Industry, commissioned by the Sunshine Coast Council (2022), and was a researcher on the project Independent Screen Production on the Gold Coast (2020) commissioned by the Gold Coast City Council to examine the size, capacity and structure of the screen production workforce and ecology on the Gold Coast. She has also co-edited a special issue on television creator Ryan Murphy and is currently working on two book projects; one on the forgotten history of the Australian film musical and the other on the utopian modalities of contemporary screensong.
Dr Macrossan offers potential research projects for PhD, Masters and Honours students in the areas listed below:
- Screen studies
- Media studies
- Cultural studies
- Popular music
- Celebrity studies
- Film studies
- Television studies
- Digital media
- Creative Industries
Professional Memberships
-
Screen Studies Association of Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand (SSAAANZ)
-
Society for Cinema & Media Studies (SCMS)
-
International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM)
Professional Awards
- Dean’s Student Leadership Award, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, UNSW, 2017.
- Research Excellence Award, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, UNSW, 2016.
- Australian Postgraduate Award, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, UNSW, 2016.
- Dean’s Student Leadership Award – People and Culture Shortlist, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, UNSW, 2015.
- Postgraduate Travel Grant, International Association for the Study of Popular Music – Australia and New Zealand, 2015.
- The Media, Film and Theatre Honours Prize, School of the Arts & Media, UNSW, 2008.
- Dean’s Commendation for Academic Excellence, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Queensland, 2007.
- Dean’s Commendation for Academic Excellence, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Queensland, 2006.
Professional Social Media
Research Grants
|
Grant/Project name |
Investigators |
Funding body & AUD$ value |
Year(s) |
Focus (of research grant) |
|
Screen Production on the Sunshine Coast |
Phoebe Macrossan, Mark Ryan, Peter Innes |
Sunshine Coast Council $24,940
|
2022 |
The Sunshine Coast Council has identified the screen industry as an emerging high-value industry and that a scoping study to investigate the size, activity, and structure of the industry is a number one priority. The aim of this study is to map the Sunshine Coast Screen industry to identify the current workforce, eco-system, growth areas and opportunities. |
|
Australian Teens, Global Screens and Television: A Pilot Audience Study 2022 |
Anna Potter, Harriot Beazley, Phoebe Macrossan, Clare Archer- Lean |
LAUNCH Internal Grant Scheme, UniSC $20,673 |
2022 |
This project investigates the neglected demographic of teenagers and their engagement with television and streaming video services content. This innovative, interdisciplinary project will be the first to take a participatory and rights-based approach, ensuring that teenagers’ own views and opinions are the foci of the research. |
|
The Forgotten History of the Australian Film Musical |
Phoebe Macrossan |
SPARK Internal Grant Scheme, UniSC $10,000 |
2022 |
This research project represents the first sustained scholarly study into the history and development of the Australian film musical. The project includes a close historical analysis of the archive material in the Australian Film Institute (AFI) Research Collection and the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) as well as an industrial, cultural and textual analysis of key case studies. |
|
Intersections in Film and Media Studies |
Jane Mills, Jessica Ford, Phoebe Macrossan, Melanie Robson. |
School of the Arts & Media Research Grant Scheme, UNSW $2000 |
2017 |
This research project enabled scholars from the Sydney Screen Studies Network to present on their work in a series of seminars and contribute to a special issue of Fusion Journal. It examines the intersections and distinctions between film, television, video and other screen- based media in aesthetics, funding, research, and pedagogy. |
|
Screen Studies Politics, Ideology, Philosophy |
Jane Mills, Jessica Ford, Phoebe Macrossan, Melanie Robson. |
School of the Arts & Media Research Grant Scheme, UNSW $2000 |
2016 |
This research project enabled scholars from the Sydney Screen Studies Network to present on their work in a series of seminars. It also funded a three-day academic writing bootcamp for ECRs and HDRs in screen studies. |
|
Screen Studies: Form, Genre, Aesthetics |
George Kouvaros, Jessica Ford, Phoebe Macrossan, Melanie Robson |
School of the Arts & Media Research Grant Scheme, UNSW $2000 |
2015 |
This research project titled enabled scholars from the Sydney Screen Studies Network to present on their work in a series of seminars. It also funded a one-day symposium and a journal article writing workshop for scholars working in screen studies in Sydney. |
Dr Macrossan offers potential research projects for PhD, Masters and Honours students in the areas listed below:
Research areas
- Screen studies
- Media studies
- Cultural studies
- Popular music
- Celebrity studies
- Film studies
- Television studies
- Digital media
- Creative Industries
Teaching areas
- Screen Media
- Media Studies
Program coordinator
Specialist areas of knowledge include popular screen media and popular music, pop stardom, film and television studies.
In the news
What Aussie teenagers told us about not watching local TV
3 JulA new study by UniSC investigates how, why and to what extent Australian teenagers aged 13 to 19 engage with long-form TV drama and movies in their daily lives, including Australian stories.
5 Aussie musicals you might not have heard of – but really should see
10 Nov 2023There is actually a long history of popular Aussie musicals you may not have heard about yet, writes Dr Phoebe Macrossan.