Professor Stephanie Dennison

Profile

I'm originally from Northern Ireland but have lived between England and Brazil for most of my post-teenage years. After a brief stint teaching Portuguese and Spanish at the University of Liverpool, I joined the University of Leeds in 1994 where I currently hold a Chair in Brazilian Studies. I held a Leverhulme-funded International Academic Fellowship at the Multimeios Dept of UNICAMP, Brazil in 2015 and a Macpesquisa-funded Visiting Professorship on the Cultural History programme of Mackenzie Presbyterian University, also in Brazil. I was President of ABIL, the Association of Lusitanists of Great Britain and Ireland, from 2018-2021 (I now act as Past President member of the Executive) and I am a founding member of REBRAC, a European network of Brazilianists working in Cultural Studies. I was a member of the Modern Languages and Linguistics sub-panel for REF2021.

I have published a number of books on Brazilian, Latin American and World Cinema. My latest  single-authored book, Remapping Brazilian Film Culture in the 21st Century, was published by Routledge in 2020. I was Primary Investigator and Co-investigator respectively on AHRC-funded projects Soft Power, Cinema and the BRICS and Voicing Hidden Histories, and I have published articles and book chapters and produced short films related to these projects. I am currently working on a BA-funded project with Vlad Strukov on streaming media and (inter)national film cultures, with a focus on South Korea, Turkey and Mexico. My most recent sabbatical period was spent developing a new project entitled Critical Lusofonia. A research film based on my initial findings is forthcoming

I am currently Head of the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies (until 31 July 2023)

Responsibilities

  • Interim Head of School
  • Director of Centre for World Cinemas and Digital Cultures

Research interests

I am interested in film culture as it is broadly understood, particularly, though not exclusively, in the contemporary period, and particularly as it is manifested in Brazil. I am also interested in new approaches to cultural studies, and especially popular culture and the soft power of film.

I currently supervise, or have recently supervised pg research projects on a much wider range of topics:

  • Critical Discourse Analysis of Jair Bolsonaro’s tweets and facebook lives in relation to Brazil’s indigenous populations (Ben Simonsen)
  • History of Independent Film Exhibition in Leeds (Alice Miller)
  • Female Migration in European Cinema (Bengisu Kepsutlu)
  • Masculinity in recent James Bond films (Itsna Dinurriyah)
  • Japanese consumption of Korean Cultural Diplomacy (Stefania Pozzi)
  • The Role of Media in the Revitalisation of the Jibbali Language (Kamela al Barami)
<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Any research projects I'm currently working on will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>

Qualifications

  • BA Hons Portuguese and Brazilian Studies, King's College, London
  • PhD Hispanic Studies, University of Liverpool

Professional memberships

  • ABIL (Association of Lusitanists of Great Britain and Ireland). President of the Association.
  • REBRAC (Rede Europeia de Brasilianistas de Analise Cultural). Founding member.
  • LASA (Latin American Studies Association)
  • BAFTSS (British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies)

Research groups and institutes

  • Cinema and Television
  • Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American
  • Digital cultures
  • The Camões Centre for Portuguese Language
  • Fusão
  • Cultural studies
  • Network for Hispanic and Lusophone Cultural Studies
  • Centre for World Cinemas and Digital Cultures

Current postgraduate researchers

<h4>Postgraduate research opportunities</h4> <p>We welcome enquiries from motivated and qualified applicants from all around the world who are interested in PhD study. Our <a href="https://phd.leeds.ac.uk">research opportunities</a> allow you to search for projects and scholarships.</p>