Friday, 3 November 11:00am – 12:00pm

This seminar will be delivered in Chemistry Lecture Theatre 2

Speaker: Dr Anna-Sophie Jurgens, Australian National University

Host: A/Prof Alice Motion

Title: Science goes Pop!

Abstract: Pop culture is where our collective science understandings are created. This presentation takes you into the wonderland of the POPSICULE, the Science in Popular Culture and Entertainment Hub of the Australian National University, which is part of the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science (CPAS). The POPSICULE is an open, community-based interdisciplinary platform that explores the cultural meanings of science with the aim to better understand how pop cultural narratives about science have affected the public discourse and understanding of science, and thus our science-society relationship. Together with students, colleagues, artists and international collaborators, POPSICULE projects, research and teaching investigate an array of exciting themes including science and humour, science in popular performance and (animated) film, science in street art, x-treme environments, Joker Science (and chemistry!), and circus and science. This presentation will give insights into our research streams and projects, why the hub was created, by whom and for whom, where it is heading and how to get involved – how to become a Popsiculist!

Bio: Dr Anna-Sophie Jürgens is Lecturer in Science Communication at the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science of the Australian National University and the Head of the Popsicule, ANU’s Science in Popular Culture and Entertainment Hub. She explores the cultural meanings of science across different media and has published on the history of violent clowns and comic mad scientists, clown robots, and comic performance and technology in numerous academic journals. Her books include Circus, Science and Technology: Dramatising Innovation (Palgrave 2020, edited) and the forthcoming Communicating Ice Through Popular Art and Aesthetics (Routledge 2023, co-edited). Anna-Sophie is the editor-in-chief of the English edition of the peer-reviewed online journal w/k – Between Science and Art and Associate Editor of the Journal of Science & Popular Culture. Find out more about her work on the website of the ANU College of Science.