Keynote Speakers
Interpreting and Translation, School of Media, Language and Communication StudiesMember, Area Studies
Topic: Advancing Audience Reception Research in Audiovisual Translation and Media Accessibility
Abstract: Audience reception research in audiovisual translation (AVT) and media accessibility (MA) has been developing and expanding in recent years due to factors such as a heightened awareness of the need to understand and cater to the needs and preferences of audiences and the growing use of more advanced, diverse and user-centred methods and approaches (Di Giovanni, 2020; Greco, 2018).
While the experimental turn in AVT and MA reception research is still in the early stages (Greco, Jankowska and Szarkowska, 2022), scholars are using increasingly sophisticated experimental methods and are working collaboratively on international studies with larger participant numbers (see the WATCH ME project). Moreover, initiatives such as the UK Subtitling Audiences Network are bringing together researchers and industry collaborators to pool expertise and develop innovative methods for AVT and MA reception research. Researchers are also adopting participatory approaches and are increasingly understanding audiences as active produsers and prosumers (Di Giovanni, 2018a; 2018b).
However, while progress has been made in recent years, many gaps, challenges and deficiencies remain to be tackled, such as the imperative for a wider adoption of user-centred, participatory approaches, the need for greater methodological rigour in experimental research, and the importance of conducting reception research with diverse audiences.
Taking the above as a starting point, in this talk I will critically examine the recent and current landscape of audience reception research in AVT and MA. With the aim of addressing one of the notable gaps in the existing research, that of the paucity of reception studies focusing on different age groups, this talk will present findings of two eye tracking experiments performed with L1 English speakers aged 9-13 years (n = 44) which sought to investigate the impact of subtitle speed and the presence and absence of sound on children’s gaze patterns and comprehension when viewing subtitled videos. The implications of the findings will be discussed in relation to the new insights offered in this important and under-researched area. I will conclude by identifying key directions and challenges for the future advancement of reception research in AVT and MA beyond the state of the art.
Dr. Sharon Black is the President of the European Association of Studies in Screen Translation and a member of the International Association for Translation and Intercultural Studies and the European Society for Translation Studies. She has been a Lecturer in Interpreting and Translation (with Spanish) at the University of East Anglia (UEA) since 2018, having completed her PhD in Translation at Queen's University Belfast in 2017.
Dr. Black has also contributed to several significant projects, including the Erasmus+ funded "Digital Accessibility for You" initiative (2019-2021), which focused on empowering young people with communication difficulties to engage with digital media for democratic participation. Additionally, she worked on the Accessible Culture and Training (ACT) project (2017-2018), which aimed to enhance arts accessibility through defining managerial roles, creating an online course, and fostering international connections.
Her review work includes contributions to journals and publishers such as Íkala, inTRAlinea, Journal of Audiovisual Translation, Parallèles, Perspectives: Studies in Translation Theory and Practice, Routledge, Target, Translation & Interpreting, Translation Spaces, UCL Press, and Universal Access in the Information Society.
Digital Communication and Culture, Media and Communications, School of Art
Communication & English, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow (2024-2028)
University of Sydney
Topic: Generative AI and Cultural Policies: Will AI Kill Local Creative Industries?
Abstract: This paper examines how artificial intelligence, especially Generative AI, affects creative workers and industries. Professor Flew will discuss how AI challenges traditional views of human creativity, explore various AI tools used in creative work, and review different perspectives on the relationship between creativity and technology. The paper will conclude with a discussion of how governments, labour unions, artists, activists and others have been responding to these challenges, with particular reference to local cultural policies.
Dr. Terry Flew is Professor of Digital Communication and Culture and Australian Research Council (ARC) Laureate Fellow at the University of Sydney. His books include The Creative Industries, Culture and Policy (SAGE, 2012), Global Creative Industries (Polity, 2013), Media Economics (Palgrave, 2015), Understanding Global Media (Palgrave, 2018), Regulating Platforms (Polity, 2021), and Digital Platform Regulation: Global Perspectives on Internet Governance (Springer, 2022). He was President of the International Communications Association (ICA) from 2019 to 2020, and is an ICA Fellow, elected in 2019. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (FAHA). In 2011-12 he chaired a review of the Australian media classification system for the Australian Law Reform Commission. Organisations he has advised include the OECD, Australian Communication and Media Authority, Cisco Systems, Special Broadcasting Service, Meta and Telstra. His Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship is a five-year study (2024-2028) of Mediated Trust: Ideas, Interests, Institutions, Futures. He also leads an ARC Discovery Project on Valuing News: Aligning Individual, Institutional and Societal Perspectives and the International Digital Policy Observatory (idpo.org.au) also funded through the ARC.