School of Creative Arts, Film and Media (SCAFM)

I came to University of Portsmouth in 2005, having previously taught English and Media Studies and at the universities of Lancaster and Glasgow and having worked outside of academia in the late 1990s. I take an interdisciplinary approach to Media Studies, combining interests in media, politics, critical theory andtextual analysis.

My research focuses on political and social issues in television and film. Major projects at the moment include a book about representations of war, social class and gender in contemporary British television drama and another on television and film images of the Bosnian war. More widely, I have published books and articles about media and mental distress, horror film, celebrity and ‘popular geopolitics’ (e.g. images of China in the Western media).

At Portsmouth I teach across the Media and Film curriculum at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. I am Year 3 tutor for Media Studies and am involved in a range of work outside the university, from external examining to editorial work for academic journals. I am book reviews editor for the journal Celebrity Studies. In addition to my academic writing, I like to write for publications aimed at a general readership and I maintain the media and politics blog Relative Autonomy.

Publications

Click here for publications since 2008 [IR]

Books^{[Back to top]}

Harper, S. (2003). Insanity, Individuals and Society in Late-Medieval English Literature. New York and Lampeter: Edwin Mellen Press. ISBN 978-0-7734-6752-1.

Co-Edited Books^{[Back to top]}

Franks, B., Harper, S., Murray, J., Stevenson, L. (Eds.). (2006). The Quest for The Wicker Man. Edinburgh: Luath Press. ISBN 978-1905222186.

Franks, B., Harper, S., Murray, J., Stevenson, L. (Eds.). (2005). Constructing 'The Wicker Man': Film and Cultural Studies Perspectives. Dumfries: University of Glasgow Crichton Publications. ISBN 978-0852618189.

Articles^{[Back to top]}

Harper, S. (2007, Spring). ‘I could kiss you, you bitch’: gender, race and sexuality in Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2: Apocalypse’. Jump Cut 49.

Franks, B., Harper, S. & Hanscomb, S. (2006). Interdisciplinarity and philosophy: the strengths and weaknesses of the Scottish Liberal Arts Institution. Discourse: Learning and Teaching in Philosophical and Religious Studies, 6 (1), 126-146.

Harper, S. (2005b). Media, madness and misrepresentation: critical reflections on anti-stigma discourse. European Journal of Communication, 20 (4), 460-483.

Harper, S. (2005a). Night of the Living Dead: reappraising an undead classic. Bright Lights 50. http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/50/night.htm

Harper, S. (2004). ‘Pleying with a yerd’: folly and madness in the Prologue and Tale of Beryn. Studies in Philology, 101 (3), 298-313.

Harper, S. (2003). ‘They’re us’: representations of women in George Romero’s ‘Living Dead’ series. Intensities: the Journal of Cult Media, 3 (Winter).
http://intensities.org/Essays/Harper.pdf

Harper, S. (2002). Zombies, malls and the consumerism debate: George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. Americana: the Journal of American Popular Culture 1900-Present, 1 (2, Autumn). http://www.americanpopularculture.com/journal/articles/fall_2002/harper.htm

Harper, S. (2000). Managing technostress in UK libraries: a realistic view. Ariadne, 25. http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue25/technostress/

Harper, S., and Newton, R. (1999). Instant access – or filter? Public Library Journal, 14. 46-47.

Harper, S. (1999). The Summoner’s Jankyn as an artificial fool. Notes and Queries, 244 (n.s.46) (1), 12-14.

Harper, S. (1997b). ‘So euyl to rewlyn’: madness and authority in The Book of Margery Kempe. Neuphilologische Mitteilungen. 98, 53-61.

Harper, S. (1997a). ‘By cowntynaunce it is not wist’: Thomas Hoccleve’s Complaint and the spectacularity of madness in the Middle Ages. History of Psychiatry, 8, 387-94.

Book Chapters^{[Back to top]}

Harper, S. (2006). Madly famous: narratives of mental illness in celebrity culture. In S. Holmes & S. Redmond (Eds.), Framing Celebrity: New Directions in Celebrity Culture (pp. 460-485). London: Routledge.

Harper, S. (2005). ‘The other coppers’: uncanniness, identity, and the Wicker Man audience. In B. Franks, S. Harper, J. Murray & L. Stevenson (Eds.), Constructing 'The Wicker Man': Film and Cultural Studies Perspectives (pp. 173-187). Dumfries: University of Glasgow Crichton Publications.

Franks, B., & Harper, S. (2005). Interdisciplinarity and the core courses. In C. Hill & S. J. Johnson (Eds.), Below the Belt: The Founding of a Higher Education Institution (pp. 31-44). Dumfries: University of Glasgow Crichton Publications.

Film Reviews^{[Back to top]}

Harper, S. (2008, June). Shoot the Messenger. [Review of the  motion picture Shoot the Messenger]. Scope: an online journal of film and TV studies, 11.

Book Reviews^{[Back to top]}

Harper, S. (2008). All cats are grey. Review of John Gray, Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia. The Hobgoblin.

Harper, S. (2003). Review of M. Stokes and R. Maltby, (Eds.). Hollywood Spectatorship: Changing Audience Perception of Films. Scope (May).

Harper, S. (2002). Review of S. Moores, Media and Everyday Life in Britain. Scope (November).

 Harper, S. (2000). Review of Margaret Elphinstone, The Sea Road. Scottish Studies Review, 1, 108-9.

Harper, S. (2000). The will of it all. Review of J. Steele, The Bird that Never Flew. Spike Magazine (January).

Professional Memberships^{[Back to top]}

I have been a member of ACS (Association of Cultural Studies) since 2002 and a member of MeCCSA (Media, Communications and Cultural Studies Association) since 2000.