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Science and pop culture are two of the most powerful cultural institutions that we have created to understand, shape and envision our world. Pop culture – including (animated) film, comics and street art – is where collective science understandings are created. This is where our desires, fears and anxieties and about science and technology are reflected, experienced and, sometimes, generated. It is well-known that pop cultural stories and visual imaginaries about science influence our perception of science and our attitudes towards science. Therefore, it really matters to study the cultural meanings of science in pop cultural contexts, such as street art, to clarify how pop cultural narratives about science have affected the public discourse and understanding of science, and thus our science-society relationship. 

In this public symposium, we will not only introduce you to ANU's exciting and innovative research at the intersections of street art and science communication, but also discuss the societal power of street art from different perspectives in theory and practice: We will explore street art as a form of public pedagogy, as a vehicle for science communication and as a treasure trove for pop cultural research. 

Speakers include artist James Houlcroft, science communicator Lee Constable and pop culture scholar Dr Ben Nickl (University of Sydney). The event will be introduced and moderated by Dr Anna-Sophie Jürgens (Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, ANU). 

Speakers
James Houlcroft (aka Houl) is a versatile street artist and teacher. As a street artist he works with a variety of materials – including spray paint, cardboard creations and public surfaces. His art not only adds wit and humour to streetscapes, but can also be found in galleries and is a regular part of festivals; for example, at a recent Enlighten Festival in Canberra, his art was projected onto the façades of Questacon, the National Science and Technology Centre, and the National Library of Australia. 

Lee Constable is an experienced science TV presenter, producer and broadcaster having hosted Australian national TV show, Scope, for 4 years. She loves to mix STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) with media, social justice and the arts in innovative and unconventional ways to reach new audiences. 

Dr Ben Nickl joined the Department of Comparative Literature and Translation Studies at The University of Sydney’s School of Languages and Cultures in 2017. His areas of research and teaching include popular entertainment with a special focus on film and television, culture theory, and technologies of humour. He is working on issues of mass mediation (for example digital feeling in online spaces), questions of translatability, and the posthuman potential of comedy and laughter. 

Dr Anna-Sophie Jürgens is a Lecturer in Popular Entertainment Studies at the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science and the Head of the Popsicule – ANU’s Science in Popular Culture and Entertainment Hub. Her research explores the cultural meanings of science.