Responsible Science and Innovation in Popular Culture in Popular Culture

Background

Promoting responsible science and innovation is crucial for our planet's sustainability and our societal well-being. However, it is often met with challenges such as defining responsibility and addressing the complexity of innovation in a responsible way.

The recent advancements in artificial intelligence and biotechnology highlight in particular our vulnerability to transformative technologies when deployed without reflection, public participation, or anticipation of unintended consequences. The history of technology in our contemporary time has shown us that even minor design flaws or misuse of technology can lead to significant and irreversible consequences. This is particularly significant now, as we are living in an increasingly interconnected world.

The fields of Science Communication and Science and Technology Studies (STS) are rich with examples illustrating the pivotal role of narratives and storytelling in comprehending the status quo and, more importantly, in opening up possibilities and untraveled pathways. Pop culture—in blockbuster films, animated films, arthouse cinema, comics, and street art, to name a few formats—serves as a platform where these possibilities are visualized, envisioned, reflected upon, and taken to further extremes. Films like Elysium (2013) or Interstellar (2014) are powerful examples that explore speculative techno-futures and their potentialities for (ir)responsible life and societies on our planet and beyond. What can we learn about responsibility from these stories and the way they are told? What visual and narrative strategies are used to frame science and innovation (ir)responsibly? How can we define and understand the cultural imaginary of (ir)responsible innovation?

The Project

Popular cultural products, including fictional films and narratives and comic book stories, shape the public understanding of science and innovation. They are vehicles for science communication – they reflect ideas about science and “construct perceptions” for the public, scientists and innovators “in a mutual shaping of science and culture” (Kirby 2008, 44). This project will focus on studying how (ir)responsible innovation is framed, communicated and imagined through the medium of pop culture, (in science fiction movies, science-focused comics and/or street art, for example). It will explore how the depiction of transformative innovation in these media shape cultural meanings and perceptions of responsibility, and whether this portrayal has influenced specific cultural or professional shifts in innovation ecosystems and practices.

Moreover, this project will offer exciting collaboration opportunities to work with other PhD projects in the ANU Responsible Innovation Lab (RI Lab) and ANU’s Science in Popular Culture and Entertainment Hub (Popsicule).  At the RI Lab, PhD students investigate the framing of responsible innovation in other sectors, including industry, government, and academia, covering topics ranging from AI and Agri-tech to PFAS. At the Popsicule, PhD students explore the cultural meanings of science in different media 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.

The project will support an interdisciplinary work to deepen our understanding of the facets, dynamics and meanings of responsible innovation in our cultural imagination. It will contribute to clarifying the intangible aspects of science and the cultural power of innovation.

Eligibility

Admission to a Doctor of Philosophy degree at ANU requires:

1. An Australian Bachelor degree with at least Second Class or its international equivalent, or
2. Another degree with a significant research/thesis component that may be assessed as equivalent to paragraph (1), or
3. A combination of qualifications, research publications and/or professional experience related to the field of study that may be assessed as equivalent to paragraph (1).

Further information relating to eligibility can be found on the ANUs website: http://www.anu.edu.au/study/apply/anu-postgraduate-research-domestic-and-international-applications

The Candidate

The successful applicant will have a passion for science in popular culture, transformative innovations in societal and cultural contexts, and interdisciplinary research – because this project will require bridging the Humanities, Science Communication and responsible innovation. They will have a background in a relevant discipline – ideally in Science and Technology Studies, Science Communication or Cultural Studies (e.g. Film or Comics Studies) – and an advanced awareness/knowledge of Humanities and Social Science research methods (textual analysis). They will also possess strong interpersonal skills, curiosity, strong writing skills, and be able to work effectively – as part of an interdisciplinary team and independently.

Supervisors

Dr Ehsan Nabavi, Responsible Innovation Lab, Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, ANU

Dr Anna-Sophie Jürgens, Science in Popular Culture and Entertainment Hub (Popsicule), Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, ANU

Funding

The successful applicant with be based in the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science (CPAS) at the ANU. Scholarships are available for both domestic and international applicants, and CPAS will work with the successful applicant to guide them through the scholarship process.

To Apply

To be considered for this position, in the first instance please forward a current CV (2-page max.) and short cover letter (1-page max.) to Dr Ehsan Nabavi (ehsan.nabavi@anu.edu.au) and Dr Anna-Sophie Jürgens (anna-sophie.jurgens@anu.edu.au).  In the cover letter, be sure to let us know why you are the perfect candidate based on the skills outlined above. Shortlisted candidates will then be invited to Zoom to discuss their applications further. 

Applications will be assessed on a rolling basis as they are received, and this position will remain open until filled.    

Further Reading

Maynard, A. (2018). Films from the future: the technology and morality of Sci-Fi movies. Mango Media Inc.

Michaud, T., & Appio, F. P. (2022). Envisioning innovation opportunities through science fiction. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 39(2), 121-131.

Kirby, D (2008): “Cinematic Science”, in Bucchi, M, Trench, B (eds.), Handbook of Public Communication of Science and Technology, New York: Routledge, 41-57.

Jürgens, A. S., Raman, S., Hendershott, R., Roberson, T., Viaña, J. N., & Leach, J. (2023). He who gets slapped: how can clowning in film interrogate technoscientific culture and help enact the ideals of responsible innovation?. Journal of Responsible Innovation, 10(1), 2233231.

Owen, R., Stilgoe, J., Macnaghten, P., Gorman, M., Fisher, E., & Guston, D. (2013). A framework for responsible innovation. Responsible innovation: managing the responsible emergence of science and innovation in society, 27-50.

Stilgoe, J., Owen, R., & Macnaghten, P. (2020). Developing a framework for responsible innovation. In The Ethics of Nanotechnology, Geoengineering, and Clean Energy (pp. 347-359). Routledge