An explosive end to an explosive year: Congrats to the POPSICULE!
Team POPSICULE have ended an already explosive year with a bang, becoming recipients of the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Programs that Enhance Learning!
The Vice-Chancellor's Award for Programs that Enhance Learning recognise learning and teaching support programs and services that make an outstanding contribution to the quality of student learning and the student experience of higher education at ANU.
Together with PhD candidates, Honours students, MA, BA and PhB students, Research Project students, student interns and ANU alumni, Popsiculists create and promote research-based public events and inclusive experiential community-focused, research-driven knowledge adventures. They run engaging seminars and public workshop all fostering collaborations across students, scientists, artists and other co-conspirators in Canberra and beyond.
As written on the POPSICULE website: "A huge thank‑you to everyone who has supported, inspired, empowered, energised and contributed to this journey – we’re beyond thrilled to receive this recognition. Here’s to more creativity, collaboration and pops of Popsiculism ahead!"
Here are some more highlights from POPSICULE's busy year:
It was another exciting year for Science. Art. Film.! With the support of the NFSA, the film screenings continued to draw crowds and conversation around some of the best in science in film.
Some highlights from the year include having Dr Weli Costa, winner of last year's Dance your PhD competition with this music video "Kangaroo Time", on the panel for the year's first showing Tank Girl, and having a sold out cinema for Satoshi Kon's anime masterpiece Paprika.
Women scientists in American television comedy
Karina Judd, Bridget Gaul and Anna-Sophie Jürgens published this monograph on the representation of women scientists in american television comedy and how it is affected by and affects in turn the perception of wider society.
From the matching article written by Karina Judd:
"In our book, we found that much of the humour surrounding women scientists relied on ironic sexism, laugh tracks, and the tired trope that women must choose between career and personal life. Underpinning all this was a subtle messaging that women would have a better life if they didn’t pursue STEM ...
Representation doesn’t just entertain; it shapes aspirations, workplace cultures, and public perceptions of who deserves to be in STEM."
Science goes Pop was held at Smith's Alternative, with the support of Inspiring the ACT. The event invited 6 Canberra-based artists and 6 comics scholars from Canberra, Sydney and Japan in exploring the power of science through the medium of comics and illustration. The presentations by the academics in the first event were turned into and visually activated in novel artworks by the artists, that were presented in the second event.
The event also provided a space for people all across the city to chat about sci fi pop culture and science media, and for local artists to display and sell their works.
