Newcastle University

Introduction

I joined Newcastle University as Professor of French Studies in January 2010. My main research specialism is modern French and Algerian cinema: I am the author of 'Contemporary French Cinema' (recently expanded and updated), 'Stars in Modern French Film', and 'Claude Chabrol'. My most recent book, 'Algerian National Cinema', is due out in 2012 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Algerian independence. 
I am particularly interested in engagement activities via cinema; in October 2010 I curated a season of Algerian films at the Side Cinema in Newcastle, and I'm involved in a series of film-related events for the university's Societal Challenge Themes.

Background

On finishing my PhD I joined the French Department at the University of Sheffield, where I worked for seventeen years.

Roles and Responsibilities

Director, Research Centre in Film and Digital Media  

Director of Research, School of Modern Languages

Qualifications

PhD in French (Narrative strategies in Lautreamont) Leeds University 1993

BA (Hons) English and French, Oxford Uiversity (first class), 1988

Previous Positions

Head of French Department, University of Sheffield, September -December 2009
Subdean (Arts, UG affairs), University of Sheffield, 2006-2008
Reader in French, University of Sheffield, 2006-2009
Senior Lecturer in French, University of Sheffield, 2000-2006
Lecturer in French, University of Sheffield, 1992-2000

Research Interests

Algerian cinema

Modern French cinema (since 1960), especially fantasy and horror, stardom, the films of Claude Chabrol

Other Expertise

Modern Algerian politics, society and culture

The Algerian War in cinema

Surrealism

Current Work

'Algerian National Cinema', a monograph for MUP (due out spring 2012)

Filmic representations of Algerian national identity and space

Contemporary French horror cinema

Future Research

Bourdieu and cinema

Cinema and depression 

Research Roles

Director of Research, School of Modern Languages
Director of Research Centre in Film and Digital Media

NE Regional Film Seminar Series
Postcolonial Research Group

Postgraduate Supervision

I have supervised PhDs on French cinema and on French literature, and am currently co-supervising 2 PhDs: one on representations of the Algerian War in French and Algerian cinema, and one on representations of the Holocaust in recent Israeli, US and German cinema.

 Postgraduate Teaching

• MA Film: Theory and Practice
  FMS8357 Cinematic Others (co-taught with Dr Ann Davies and Dr Melanie Bell)
  
  Dissertation supervision

• Undergraduate Teaching

  FRE2008 Surrealism
  FRE4006 Contemporary French Cinema (co-taught with Dr Sarah Leahy)
  FRE4013 Images d'Algerie

• Publications

• Austin G. Against amnesia: representations of memory in Algerian cinema. Journal of African Cinemas 2010, 2(1), 27-35.
• Austin G. "Seeing and listening from the site of trauma": The Algerian War in Contemporary French Cinema. In:Austin, J., An, G., ed. New Spaces for French and Francophone Cinema.New Haven, Conneticut, USA:Yale University Press,2009, pp. 115-125.
• Austin G. Contemporary French Cinema. Manchester:Manchester University Press,2008.
• Austin G. Drawing trauma: visual testimony in Caché and J'ai 8 ans. Screen 2007,48 4 529-536.
• Austin G. Stars in Modern French Film. London; New York:Arnold; Oxford University Press,2003.

Undergraduate Teaching

SML1021 Introduction to Film Studies

SML1022 Introduction to Cultural Studies 

FRE2008 Surrealism

FRE4006 Contemporary French Cinema (co-taught with Dr Sarah Leahy)

FRE4013 Images d'Algerie

Postgraduate Teaching

MA Film: Theory and Practice
FMS8357 Cinematic Others (co-taught with Dr Ann Davies and Dr Melanie Bell)
Dissertation supervision

• Austin G. Algerian National Cinema. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2012.
• Austin G. Spaces of the Dispossessed in Algerian Cinema. Modern and Contemporary France 2011, 19(2), 195-208.
• Austin G. Against amnesia: representations of memory in Algerian cinema. Journal of African Cinemas 2010, 2(1), 27-35.
• Austin G. "Seeing and listening from the site of trauma": The Algerian War in Contemporary French Cinema. In: Austin, J., An, G, ed. New Spaces for French and Francophone Cinema. New Haven, Conneticut, USA: Yale University Press, 2009, pp.115-125.
• Austin G. Contemporary French Cinema. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2008.
• Austin G. Drawing trauma: visual testimony in Caché and J'ai 8 ans. Screen 2007, 48(4), 529-536.
• Austin G. Stars in Modern French Film. London; New York: Arnold; Oxford University Press, 2003.
• Austin G. Biological dystopias: genetics, the body, and birth in the contemporary French horror film. 2013. In Press.
• Austin G. Mohamed Chouikh: from anti-colonial commemoration to a cinema of contestation. In: Gugler, J, ed. Contemporary Arab Filmmakers. Bloomington, IA: Indiana University Press, 2013. Submitted.
• Austin G. Biological Dystopias: The Body in Contemporary French Horror Cinema. L' Esprit Createur 2012, 52(2), 99-113.