Dr Lisa Trahair
BA (Honours Class 1, University Medal)Syd, PhD Syd.
Lisa Trahair is Senior Lecturer in Film Studies.
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Shortly before completing my PhD at the University of Sydney, I was appointed Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland (1996) and one year later took the position of (interdisciplinary) Co-ordinator of Film Studies for the Faculty of Arts. In 1999, I returned to Sydney to UNSW where I currently teach and research.
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My primary research focus is on how popular and avant-garde artefacts make use of the image both as a source of aesthetic pleasure and to contemplate, and thus formulate ideas about, reality. My area of expertise is film studies and within that film comedy and film and philosophy. My book The Comedy of Philosophy: Sense and Nonsense in Early Cinematic Slapstick was published by SUNY in 2007. I continue to publish in the areas of comic performance, contemporary European cinema, and film and philosophy. Forthcoming projects include Understanding Cinematic Thinking: Film-Philosophy in Bresson, von Trier and Haneke, co-written with Gregory Flaxman and Robert Sinnerbrink, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, (expected publication in 2019) and Second Nature: Comic Performance and Philosophy, co-edited with Josephine Gray, Rowman & Littlefield, 2020. In the latter part of 2019 I will be visiting scholar at the University of Amsterdam.
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As well as being the recipient of many Faculty research grants, I have been the first chief investigator on two interdisciplinary ARC Discovery projects. The first of these grants (DP0450596) was with Professor Jim Davis, now in Theatre Studies at Warwick University, for the project 鈥淭he Framing and Staging of Comic Performance in the Nineteenth and Early 20th Centuries鈥. The second (DP1092889) was an interdisciplinary collaboration with Assoc. Professor Robert Sinnerbrink (Philosophy, Macquarie University) and Associate Professor Gregory Flaxman (Comparative Literature, University of North Carolina) entitled 鈥淔ilm as Philosophy: Understanding Cinematic Thinking鈥. In 2009 I was awarded a UNSW Vice-Chancellor鈥檚 Goldstar Award ($30,000) for this project. I have also received grants in the past from the University of Sydney and the NSW Film and Television Office.
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With the second ARC Grant I co-founded the Cinematic Thinking Network (currently over 100 members) and hosted 5 workshops on related topics at UNSW. These involved contributions from both Australian and international scholars from post-graduate level to eminent professors. Two of these workshops resulted in special issues of international journals co-edited by me and Robert Sinnerbrink: Cinema and/as Ethics, Substance 45:3, 2016; Special Dossier: Cinematic Thinking, Screening the Past, 38, 2013. In addition, I co-edited with Lisabeth During Belief in Cinema: Themes after Andr茅 Bazin, a special issue of Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities 17:4, 2012.
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At UNSW I have held numerous administrative positions, from being the Dean鈥檚 delegate on the then COFA Faculty Board, to contributing to appointment committees and promotion committees (for both the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Science). I have been the school representative on the FASS Standing Committee and the FASS Honours Working Party. I have held the positions of Film Studies Convenor, School Honours Convenor and School Research Convenor.
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
GRANTS AND PRIZES AWARDED
School Research Grant 2022 ($2800): Project title: Second Nature: Comic Performance and Philosophy.
School Research Grant 2016 ($1810), Project title: Understanding Cinematic Thinking.
School Research Grant 2015 ($850), Project title: Cinematic Thinking Network Symposium: Deleuze and Cinema.
School Research Grant 2014 ($3127), Project title: Cinematic Thinking Network Symposium: Cinema鈥檚 Realisms.
School Research Grant 2011($2000), Project title: Cinematic Thinking and Carl Theodor Dreyer鈥檚 Ordet.
Australian Research Council Discovery Project Grant (DP 1092889), 鈥楩ilm as Philosophy: Understanding Cinematic Thinking, 2010-2013 ($147,000). 听First Chief investigator with CI Dr Robert Sinnerbrink (Macquarie University) and PI Dr Gregory Flaxman (University of North Carolina).
UNSW Vice-Chancellor鈥檚 Goldstar Award ($30,000), 鈥楩ilm as Philosophy: An Investigation of a New Interdisciplinary Field鈥, 2009.
UNSW Travel Grant for Society for Media Studies Conference, Vancouver, 2006.
UNSW Travel Grant for Screen Studies Conference, Glasgow, 2005.
Humanities Research Program Teaching Release Fellowship ($30,000), University of New South Wales, 2005.
Residency (and $5000 travel grant) at Cit茅 Internationale des Arts, Paris, France.听 University of Sydney, 2004.
Australian Research Council Discovery Project Grant (DP0450596) 鈥楾he Staging and Framing of Comic Performance in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries鈥, 2004-2006 ($80,000).听 With Professor Jim Davis.
UNSW Travel Grant for Philosophy and Aesthetics Conference, University of Essex, 2003.
UNSW Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Research Grant 鈥楥omic Performance in Sennett Slapstick鈥 ($2000), 2003.
UNSW Humanities Research Program Teaching Release Fellowship ($23,000), 2002.听
UNSW Travel Grant for What鈥檚 Left of Theory? Conference (Cultural Studies Association of Australia), Hobart, 2001.
Residency at Cit茅 Internationale des Arts, Paris, France.听 University of Sydney, 2004. ($5000 stipend)
UNSW Travel Grant for the International Association for Philosophy and Literature Conference in Vico Equense and Naples, Italy, 1999.
UNSW Travel Grant for the International Association for Philosophy and Literature Conference at University of California, Irvine, 1998.
Sponsorship from the New South Wales Film and Television Office to present paper at the 1995 Society for Cinema Studies Conference in New York.
University of Sydney Travel Grant to present paper at the Society for Cinema Studies Conference in New York.听 1995.
Commonwealth Post-Graduate Scholarship holder, 1989-1992.
Awards
- University Medal 1987.
- Mary Makinson Prize, Fourth Year Fine Arts, University of Sydney, 1987.
PUBLICATIONS
Books and Edited Collections
Second Nature: Comic Performance and Philosophy, co-edited with Josephine Gray, London: Rowman & Littlefield, 2022. 246pp.
Cinema and/as Ethics, Special issue co-edited with Robert Sinnerbrink, SubStance, vol. 45, no. 3, Fall 2016, 191pp.
Special Dossier: Cinematic Thinking, co-edited with Robert Sinnerbrink, Screening the Past, Issue 38, 2013.
Belief in Cinema: Themes after Andr茅 Bazin,听Special Issue co-edited with Lisabeth During,听Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities,听17: 4, 2012. 210pp.听
The Comedy of Philosophy: Sense and Nonsense in Early Cinematic Slapstick, Albany: SUNY Press, 2007.听 264pp.
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Refereed Journal Essays and Book Chapters
'Introduction', with Josephine Gray,听Second Nature: Comic Performance and Philosophy, co-edited with Josephine Gray, London: Rowman & Littlefield, 2022, pp. ix-xxiii.
鈥楲iving in the Doll House: Cavell, Comedy and听The Ladies Man', in听Second Nature: Comic Performance and Philosophy, co-edited with Josephine Gray, London: Rowman & Littlefield, 2022. pp. 133-165.
'Stoicism, Causality, Divine Providence and Comedy in Buster Keaton鈥檚 The General鈥, Object of Comedy, edited by Gregor Moder and Jamila Mascat, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019, pp. 163-189.
鈥楽ilent Cinematic Slapstick and Aberrant Movement: The Remarkable films of Rom茅o Bosetti鈥, 础肠颈苍茅尘补蝉: Lyotard鈥檚 Philosophy of Film, edited by Ashley Woodward and Graham Jones, Edinburgh University Press, 2017, pp. 180-193.
鈥業ntroduction: Film and/as Ethics鈥, co-written with Robert Sinnerbrink, SubStance, vol. 45, no. 3, Fall 2016, pp. 3-15.
鈥楤elief in this World: The Dardenne Brothers鈥 The Son and Soren Kierkegaard鈥檚 Fear and Trembling鈥, SubStance, vol. 45, no. 3, Fall 2016, pp. 98-119.
鈥楤eing on the Outside: Cinematic Automatism in Stanley Cavell鈥檚 The World Viewed鈥, Film-Philosophy, vol. 18, 2014.
鈥楽erious Film: Cavell, Automatism and Michael Haneke鈥檚 颁补肠丑茅鈥, Screening the Past, Issue 38, 2013.
鈥楤elief in Cinema: Revisiting Themes from Bazin鈥, Editorial Introduction听co-written with Lisabeth During,听Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities,听17: 4, 2012, pp. 1-7.
鈥Belief in Cinema: Jean-Luc Godard's听Je vous salue, Marie听and the Pedagogy of Images鈥,听Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities,听17: 4, 2012, pp. 193-207.
鈥楪odard and Ranci猫re: Automatism, Montage, Thinking鈥, The Philosophy of Radical Equality: Jacques Ranci猫re and the Contemporary Scene, edited by Alison Ross and Jean-Philippe Deranty, Continuum, 2012.
鈥The General (C. Bruckman, B. Keaton, 1926)鈥 in Il cinema americano attraverso i film, edited by Leonardo Gandini, Roma: Carocci editore, 2011, pp. 25-39.
鈥楯ean-Fran莽ois Lyotard鈥 in Film, Theory and Philosophy: The Key Thinkers, ed. by Felicity Colman, Durham: Acumen, 2009, pp. 222-232.
鈥楧ialektika r枚vidre z谩rva: elbesz茅l茅s 茅s burleszk Buster Keaton mozij谩ban鈥, 础辫别谤迟煤谤补, Summer 2009, Special Issue on Genres of Visual Comedy (This essay is a revised version of the 2002 essay for Narrative.)
鈥楩ilm Theory鈥, co-written with Lisabeth During, in The Year鈥檚 Work in Critical and Cultural Theory 2006, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008, pp.166-195.
鈥楩ilm Theory鈥, in The Year鈥檚 Work in Critical and Cultural Theory 2005, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007, pp.听 165-185.
鈥楩ilm Theory鈥 co-written with Roger Dawkins and Hamish Ford, in The Year鈥檚 Work in Critical and Cultural Theory 2004, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006, pp. 311-335.
鈥楲yotard, Freud and Early Cinematic Comedy鈥, Screen, vol.听 43, no.听 3, 2005, pp.听 175-193.
鈥楲ights, Camera, Editing: Understanding Film鈥, Creativity and Transformation, ed.听 by Richard Madelaine, Sydney: The English Association, 2005.
鈥楾he Narrative Machine: Buster Keaton鈥檚 Cinematic Comedy, Deleuze鈥檚 Recursion Function and the Operational Aesthetic鈥, Senses of Cinema, no.听 33, October-December 2004.
鈥楽enses of Visuality: Sardines, Surveillance and Cinema鈥, Theory and Event, vol.听 7, no.听 1, 2003.
鈥楾he Ghost in the Machine: The Comedy of Technology in the Cinema of Buster Keaton鈥, South Atlantic Quarterly, vol.听 101, no.听 3, Summer 2002, pp 573-588.
鈥楢 Taste for Murder: Aesthetic Practice in The Silence of the Lambs鈥, New Formations, no.听 47, Summer 2002, pp.听 133-148.
鈥楽hort-Circuiting the Dialectic: Narrative and Slapstick in the Cinema of Buster Keaton鈥, Narrative, vol.听 10, no.听 3, October 2002, pp.听 307-325.
鈥楾he Comedy of Philosophy: Hegel, Bataille, Derrida鈥, Angelaki, vol. 6 no. 3, 2001, pp.听 155-169.
鈥楩ool鈥檚 Gold: The Metamorphoses of Buster Keaton鈥 in George Kouvaros and Lesley Stern (eds), Falling For You, Sydney: Power Publications, 1999, pp.听 209-244.
鈥楩or the Noise of a Fly鈥, Alan Cholodenko (ed.), The Illusion of Life, Power Publications, Sydney, 1991, pp.听 182-208.
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Other Publications
Review of Peter Osborne鈥檚 Anywhere or Not at All: Philosophy of Contemporary Art in Critical Inquiry, vol.听 42, no. 2, Winter 2016; online edition 2015.
鈥楾hinking Cinematically before Deleuze鈥, Editorial Introduction co-written with Robert Sinnerbrink, Special Dossier: Cinematic Thinking, Screening the Past, Issue 38, 2013.
鈥楥omedy and Beyond鈥, Review of Geoff King鈥檚 Film Comedy, Film-Philosophy Journal, vol. 8, no. 15, May 2004.
Review of Helen Nicholson鈥檚 exhibition of painting, Eyeline, no. 24, Autumn/Winter 1994, p. 40.
Review of Virginia Ross鈥 photography exhibition 鈥楽ome鈥, Photofile, no. 41, March 1994, p. 42.
Review of John Young鈥檚 art, Eyeline, no. 听7, December 1988, p.听 43.
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Conference Papers
鈥楤elief in this World: The Dardenne Brothers鈥 The Son and Soren Kierkegaard鈥檚 Fear and Trembling鈥, Cinematic Thinking Workshop, UNSW, Nov. 2015.
鈥楥avell, Comedy and The Ladies Man鈥, Pratt Cinematic Thinking Workshop, Pratt Institute, November 2013.
鈥楥inematic Comedy and Aberrant Movement: The Remarkable films of Rom茅o Bosetti鈥, Psychoanalysis and Laughter Conference, Fordham University, April 2013 (invited speaker).
鈥楧辞驳惫颈濒濒别听and the Philosophical Thought Experiment鈥, Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference, Chicago, USA, March, 2013 (invited Panelist on Film and Philosophy panel).
鈥楤eing on the outside: Stanley Cavell鈥檚 world viewed, cinematic automatism and Michael Haneke鈥檚 颁补肠丑茅鈥, 2nd Cinematic Thinking Workshop: Thinking Cinematically before Deleuze, UNSW, December 2012.
鈥榃omen, Masochism and the Spiritual Automaton in the Cinema of Lars von Trier鈥, Panel on Affect, Thought, Time: What is Cinematic Thinking?鈥, Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy Conference: The Times of Our Lives, La Trobe University, Dec, 2011.
鈥楤elief and the Spiritual Automaton in Breaking the Waves鈥, Cinematic Thinking Workshop, UNSW, 2011.
鈥楥inema and Politics: Ranci猫re and Godard鈥, Film and History Association of Australia and New Zealand (FHAANZ) Conference, UNSW in Nov/Dec, 2010.
鈥楤elief in Cinema鈥, Panel on Philosophy and the Cinematic Work of Art, Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy Conference: Philosophy and the Work of Art, Monash University, November-December 2009.
鈥Cinematic figuration, Gilles Deleuze and Jean-Luc Godard鈥檚 Je vous salue, Marie鈥, Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference, Vancouver, Canada, March 2006.
鈥楪illes Deleuze, cinematic figuration and Jean-Luc Godard鈥檚 Je vous salue, Marie鈥, Screen Studies Conference, University of Glasgow, June 2005.
鈥楶reposterous Figurality: Freud, Lyotard and cinematic comedy鈥, Sensorium: Philosophy and Aesthetics Conference, University of Melbourne, June 2005; University of Essex, July 2003; Humor Symposium, University of New South Wales, 2002; Interpretation of Dreams, Dreams of Interpretation Conference, University of Minnesota, 2000; Vico Equense and Naples, Italy, 1999.
鈥楾he Ghost in the Machine: The Comedy of Technology in the Cinema of Buster Keaton鈥, What鈥檚 Left of Theory? Conference (Cultural Studies Association of Australia), Hobart, Australia, 2001; Medium Cool: Recent Developments in Aesthetics, Cultural Studies and Critical Theory Conference, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, 1998.
鈥楢 taste for Murder: Aesthetic Practice in the Silence of the Lambs鈥, Keynote address, Anatomies of Violence Conference, University of Sydney, 1999; Cinema and the Senses Conference, University of New South Wales, 1998; International Association for Literature and Philosophy Conference, University of California, Irvine, 1998.
鈥楢esthetic Practice in Serial Killer Films鈥, Screen Conference, University of Glasgow, 1997.
鈥楩ool鈥檚 Gold: The Metamorphoses of Buster Keaton鈥檚 Sherlock, Jr.鈥, Society for Cinema Studies Conference, New York, United States of America, 1995.
鈥楤uster Keaton鈥檚 Comic Metamorphoses鈥, Caught In the Act: Cinema and Performance Conference at University of New South Wales, 1995.
鈥楩or the Noise of a Fly鈥, The Illusion of Life Animation Conference, University of Sydney, 1988.
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Guest Lectures/Seminars/Book Launches/Responses
'From the affection-image to the spiritual automaton in Lars von Trier's听Breaking the Waves', University of Lancaster, December 2019.
'Philosophy and Comic Performance', with Josephine Gray, GBH Mime Festival, Gothenberg, Sweden, November 2019.
'Gilles Deleuze's conception of cinematic affect', Research Masters Core Course, University of Amsterdam, November 2019.
'Comic Cinema and Bad Metaphor鈥.听 Seminar at Humanities Center, University of California, Irvine, 2007.
鈥Bodies not Brains: Physicality and Primitive Desire in Sennett Films of the Keystone period鈥.听 Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York, 2007.
鈥楥omic Cinema and Bad Metaphor鈥, School Seminar Series, Media, Film and Theatre, University of New South Wales, 2006.
Book Launch: David Wills, Matchbook: Essays in Deconstruction (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2005) at Australian Society for Continental Philosophy 鈥楶olitics of Being鈥 Conference, UNSW, 2005.
鈥楾he Iterability of the Image鈥, Sydney Film Festival Forum 鈥業s it possible to think in images?鈥, 2005.
鈥The Figurality of Vision in City Lights鈥, Department of English, University of Sussex, 2005; Power Institute of Fine Arts, University of Sydney, 2004; Department of Film, University of Lancaster: 2004.听
Panel Respondent 鈥榃hat鈥檚 Left of Film Theory?鈥 What鈥檚 Left of Theory? Conference (Cultural Studies Association of Australia), Hobart, Australia, 2001.
John Logie Baird Seminar, University of Glasgow.听 鈥楾he Ghost in the Machine: Buster Keaton, Martin Heidegger and the Comedy of Technology鈥, 1997.
Sydney College of the Arts, 鈥楾he Machine in Marcel Duchamp鈥檚 The Bride Stripped Bare by her Bachelors, Even and Buster Keaton鈥檚 The Navigator鈥, 1991.
School of Philosophy, University of New South Wales, 鈥楩or the Noise of a Fly鈥, 1988.听
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Visiting Scholar and Residencies
Visiting Scholar, Department of Media Studies, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, July-December 2019.
Cit茅 Internationale des Arts, Paris France, University of Sydney Residency and Grant. January-April 2004.
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- 2019 Guest Speaker, GBH Mime Festival, Gothenberg, Sweden,
- Founding member of Cinematic Thinking Network
- Member of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies
- 2011-2023 Cinematic Thinking Network Director听
- 2010-2023 ARC Assessor
- 2018-Review Panel for Bachelor of Art Theory Program, Art & Design, UNSW
- 2018-Referee for听Hegel Studies
- 2018-Book proposal reviewer for Palgrave
- 2016-Manuscript Reader for SUNY
- 2016-Research referee for tenure application, University of Toronto
- 2015-Convener of film stream for the Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy Conference, UNSW, December
- 2015-Referee for Empedocles鈥擡uropean Journal for the Philosophy of Communication
- 2011-2015 Conference Organiser for 5 Cinematic Thinking Workshops (2011 Cinematic Thinking, 2012 Thinking Cinematically before Deleuze, 2013 Cinema and/as Ethics, 2014 Cinema鈥檚 Realisms,听2015 Deleuze and Cinema)
- 2009-2010 School representative, Honours Working Party, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
- 2009 Honours Convenor for Media, Film and Theatre and Performance Studies.
- 2009 School Representative, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Standing Committee
- 2006 Invited speaker: Australia Research Council Discovery Project Workshop, Faculty of 听Arts and Social Sciences
- 2005-2006 Promotions Committee (Level A to Level B) Faculty of Science
- 2005-2007 School Representative, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Research Committee
- 2004 Invited participant: University Level B to Level C Promotion Workshop
- 2000-2004 Representative for the Presiding Member of the Academic Board at the College of 听Fine Arts, Faculty Board Meetings
- 2003 听Film Studies Convenor
- 2001-2003 School Representative, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Standing Committee
- 2001-2003 Promotions Committee (Level A to Level B) Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
- 2001 Appointment Committee, Lecturer in Film Studies
- 2000 Appointment Committee, Lecturer in Film Studies
- 1999-2002 School of Theatre, Film and Dance Honours Convenor
- 1998 Appointment Committee, 3 Lecturing positions in Media, UNSW
- Referee for the following journals Screening the Past, Fibreculture, Screen, M/C Journal, Cultural Studies Review, Deleuze Studies, Australian Feminist Studies,听Bulletin de la Soci茅t茅 Am茅ricaine de听Philosophie de Langue Fran莽aise, Angelaki, Convergence, Form/Work
- Thesis examiner, University of Melbourne, La Trobe University, UNSW, University of Canterbury, University of Western Sydney, University of Sydney
My Research Supervision
Gabrielle Lowe, 鈥Gilles Deleuze, 鈥楳odern Cinema, Belief and Virtual Reality鈥.
My Teaching
ARTS1060 Introduction to Film
ARTS1062 Hollywood Cinema: Industry, Aesthetics, Technology (Convenor)
ARTS2063 National Cinemas (Convenor)
ARTS2064 Film Genres (Convenor)
ARTS3062 Aspects of Film History: Film as Philosophy (Convenor)
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