Transfer:  The transfer process was particularly useful, as through the advice given I sharpened my focus to exclusively examine American texts. 

Fieldwork:  Also useful has been my connection to numerous American academics, authors and media practitioners - through the internet.  This has been very helpful for obtaining valuable visual material (videos of TV shows not available in the UK), and for questioning media producers and participants.  In many ways it has been the input of practitioners which as helped me form my ideas.

Writing:  I set an agenda to write up the thesis over 12 months, taking 6 weeks to write each segment (chapter/intro/conclusion).


Support
The university supported my PhD with a bursary over 2 years (I funded myself for the first year). David Gauntlett (1^sr supervisor) particularly gave me confidence, and encouraged me to develop my own voice.
My ideas were also progressed through participating in university research seminars, conferences, and submitting work for publication (in edited books based on my PhD). 


What you would suggest to a new PhD student...
- Work to timetables from the outset, especially when writing up.
- Write as much as possible at all times, it's the editing down where finer points are focused upon, and less appealing material is rejected. 
- Don't be restrained by established ideas, just because a specific theory is normally connected to a certain perspective does not mean you cannot widen theory perspectives with imagination.  Here's where you define your own methodology.
- Don't be cautious when selecting external examiners.  A celebrated author may not only be interested in your work, but also they are less likely to prove they know how to examine a PhD.
- Use any ideas you have during the research period for writing journal articles, reader chapters and conference papers.  This helps you experiment with ideas, and allows you to make publishing contacts.


Abstract of the Thesis:
Gay Male Performances in American Confessional Documentary and Reality Television: Representation, Discourse and Agency
This thesis examines the performance of gay males presented in American confessional documentary and reality television, and relates this to the construction of homosexual identity.  It specifically focuses on the representation of social actors involved in performance, as well as contextualising the contribution of producers.  Although it does not present an historical analysis, it examines a timescale: between 1971 and 2004.  A central context is the hypothesis that confessional documentary and reality television offer discursive and performative spaces to social actors, who may engage with the idea of 'performativity': the ability to influence ideas in society. 

The context of individual agency is examined in relation to the potential of 'capillary' power: power which may exist outside dominant forces.  In this way Michel Foucault's ideas on power and discourse are foregrounded in relation to theorists who suggest the potential for cultural and social resistance.  At the same time sociological contexts, and specifically the idea of social construction are examined.  Anthony Giddens' ideas on 'experiments in living' are discussed alongside social theorists who suggest that new forms of social identity may be offered by homosexuals.

A central finding is the observation that models of homosexual identification have progressed towards 'the domestic'.  This not only involves gay males represented in stable romantic relationships and (non-traditional) 'family' roles, but also that through connecting themselves with domestic production they potentially influence dominant ideas.

This thesis extends previous ideas of homosexual identity examined in the media (those historically formulated within the context of film and drama studies).  In this way it offers new discursive ideas surrounding gay identity, making new connections in confessional documentary and reality television.


Publications and Papers
Documenting Gay Men: Identity and Performance in Reality Television and Documentary Film (McFarland, Forthcoming in 2006)
'The Household, the Basement and The Real World: Gay Identity in the Constructed Reality Environment' in Holmes, Su and Jermyn, Deborah (editors) Understanding Reality Television (Routledge, 2004).
'Gay Performativity and Reality Television:  Alliances, Competition and Discourse'  in James Keller and Leslie Strayner (editors) The New Queer Aesthetic on Television: Essays on Recent Programming (McFarland, 2005)
'The Films of Ducastel and Martineau: Gay Identity, Family and Autobiographical Self' in Griffiths, Robin (editor) Queer Cinema in Europe (Intellect, forthcoming in April 2006).
'Non heterosexual characters in post-war television drama: From Covert Identity and Stereotyping towards Reflexivity and Social Change'  in Godiwala, Dimple (editor) Queer Theatre (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming in 2006)
'Contemporary Music Video Culture in Television and Film Drama: Narrative, Performance and (Post)Modernity' in G. E. Harper (editor) Continuum Companion to Sound and Film and the Visual Media (Continuum, forthcoming in 2005)
'AIDS Orphans, Parents and Children in Documentary:  Disclosure, Performance and Sacrifice' in Chris Bell (editor) Remember AIDS (Forthcoming in 2006).
(Cited in) 'Street Crimes: What is Going Down on Coronation Street? by Daniel Martin. Gay Times 311 August 2004. 24-27.
(Cited in) 'Keep the Gay Flag Flying?' by Daniel Martin. Gay Times 321 June 2005. 26-28.
'Gay Performances and Contemporary Factual Television: Bakhtinian Carnival, Hybridity and Agency', Paper read at University of Sussex, Department of English, Queory Seminar, 14 January 2004.
'Children of the Third World and AIDS Representation in Documentary: Agency, Performance and Ethics' Forthcoming paper for Screen Studies Conference, July 2004.
'Echoes of the Sad Young Man and the Mirror of the Reflexive Self: French Queer Cinema, Social Performance and Gay Teen Identity '.  Forthcoming paper for the 'Transversalities: Crossing Disciplines, Cultures and Identities' conference at Reading University, September 2005.
'Gay Identity, Documentary and Reality TV: The Move to the Domestic', forthcoming paper for the panel: 'Queer Eyes: Reading the "Must See" Queer Television Phenomenon', at the NEMLA convention in Philadelphia, USA, 2-5 March 2006.


Current Job
Lecturer in Media Studies at Bournemouth Media School. 
Continuing teaching at the Media School- now full time – previously part time.


Contact details
Christopher Pullen,
Lecturer in Media and Performance,
Bournemouth Media School,
Bournemouth University,
Talbot Campus, Fern Barrow,
Poole, Dorset,
BH12 5BB.
E-mail: cpullen@bournemouth.ac.uk