The Postgraduate Networking Project

Rayna Denison School of American and Canadian Studies, University of Nottingham Nationality: British/American Funded Full-Time Registration: 2001 Completion: August 2005 Director of Studies: Prof. Mark Jancovich The aim of the PhD To explore the routes through international film cultures taken by Japanese film Princess Mononoke, studying its promotion, exhibition and reception Experience in stages towards the PhD I did a taught MA in Film Studies at Nottingham before progressing onto the PhD there, with AHRC funding. As well as performing research in the English language into Japanese and American film cultures, I also undertook a research trip to Tokyo, Japan. There I was able to uncover primary and secondary sources that enabled me to form the first three chapters of my thesis around Japanese marketing, reception and exhibition practices. I wrote continuously throughout my PhD, producing about 2-4 chapters per year. This practice was enormously helpful to me in my writing up year, as I was working full time as a lecturer while trying to finish the PhD. Having a full, completed draft made my life much easier. Support Nottingham had, and presumably still has, a vibrant PhD research culture. Students share their research with one another at Work in Progress sessions, which are certainly very useful in terms of testing out theories and ideas with your peers. In addition, my supervisor has gone above and beyond the call of duty on a regular basis, supporting me in the completion of my thesis, but also helping me get teaching experience, spurring me to be involved in conference organising and journal editing and in advising me when it came time to find a job. The School of American and Canadian Studies at Nottingham was a great place to have these experiences, as their support and academic staff are all approachable and are all committed to helping students. Having AHRC funding also made it possible for me to explore areas of my thesis that I could not otherwise have done, for example, in helping fund my research trip to Tokyo. What you would suggest to a new PhD student... not provided Abstract of the Thesis: see http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/film/journal Publications and Papers 'Disembodied Stars and the Cultural Meanings of Princess Mononoke's Soundscape.' Scope: An Online Journal of Film Studies. Forthcoming November 2005. '(Trans)National X-Factor: Patrick Stewart, Britishness and the Promotion of X-Men.' Critical Survey: Special Issue. Summer 2006. 'The Global Markets for Japanese Film: Transforming Miyazaki Hayao's Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi into Spirited Away.'  in Japanese Cinema: Texts and Contexts. Alastair Phillips and Julian Stringer, eds. Routledge. March 2006. 'Is it a Bird? Is it a Plane? No, it's DVD!: Genre and Production Narratives in Superman and Smallville.' in Film and Comic Books. Ian Gordon, Mark Jancovich and Matthew P. McAllister, eds. 2006. 'Star-spangled Ghibli: Star Voices in American Versions of Miyazaki Hayao's Films.' in Japanese Animation: Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and Studio Ghibli. Wendy Goldberg, ed. University of Mississippi Press. 2006. Current Job I am a lecturer in Media and Film Studies at the University of Sussex in Brighton. Currently I teach Film Analysis to first years, Japanese Cinema to second year students and Animation to third years. I am currently editing a collection with Mark Jancovich titled Mysterious Bodies, about the body on television. Contact details not provided