Associate Professor Benjamin McCann

Associate Professor

School of Humanities

Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.

I completed my PhD in 1930s French Cinema at the University of Bristol. I am particularly interested in French 'Poetic Realist' cinema, the films of Marcel Carné and Julien Duvivier, set design and film decor, film adaptation, French horror films, and the audience reception of French films.

I held the position of Head of French Studies from January 2016 to September 2021.

I was the French Film editor for the Year's Work in Modern Language Studies from 2014 to 2017.

I have been awarded five 'teaching excellence' prizes: the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Prize for Excellence in Teaching (2008), a Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning from the Australian Learning and Teaching Council: 'For using language immersion, along with joie de vivre, to motivate students and inspire engagement in French grammar, literature and culture' (2010), the Stephen Cole the Elder Award for Excellence in Teaching (in 2011 and 2022), and a Commendation for the Enhancement and Innovation of Student Learning (2021).

In 2009, I was part of a team awarded a $219,000 grant from the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) entitled "A collaborative multi-faceted approach to address the gaps between student expectation and experience at university" and in 2014, I was part of a team awarded a $60,000 grant from the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE) to explore the experiences of first-in-family students at the University of Adelaide.

Career
Publications
Supervision
Contact

Appointments

Date	Position	Institution name
2016 - 2020	Head of French Studies	University of Adelaide
2012 - 2018	Director, Student Experience, Faculty of Arts	University of Adelaide
2006 - ongoing	Associate Professor of French Studies	University of Adelaide

Language Competencies

Language Competency
French Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review
Education

Date Institution name Country Title
University of Bristol United Kingdom PhD
University of Oxford United Kingdom BA / MA
Certifications

Date Title Institution name Country
— Graduate Certificate in Higher Education University of Adelaide -

Language	Competency
French	Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review

Date	Institution name	Country	Title
	University of Bristol	United Kingdom	PhD
	University of Oxford	United Kingdom	BA / MA

Date	Title	Institution name	Country
—	Graduate Certificate in Higher Education	University of Adelaide	-

Journals

Year	Citation
2024	McCann, B. (2024). Special issue: French television then and now. French Screen Studies, 24(1), 1-16. DOI
2023	McCann, B. (2023). Editorial - Special dossier: French film studies in Australia. French Screen Studies, 23(1), 46-51. DOI
2022	McCann, B., & Sitbon, C. (2022). Voicing Resilience: Emerging Voices in French and Francophone Studies Introduction. Australian Journal of French Studies, 59(3), 219-224. DOI
2021	McCann, B. (2021). “Une force qui va”: Reflections on Gérard Depardieu in Danton. Australian Journal of French Studies, 58(1), 88-99. DOI
2019	McCann, B. (2019). Cédric Klapisch and 'pop art' cinema. Senses of Cinema.
2019	McCann, B. E. (2019). History, truth and (mis)representation in Versailles (2015-2018). Australian Journal of French Studies, 56(2), 141-155. DOI
2019	McCann, B. E. (2019). 'On ne sait pas grand-chose de nos enfants': Grief and Mourning in Guillaume Nicloux's Valley of Love (2015). Irish Journal of French Studies, 19(1), 123-143. DOI
2018	Edwards, N., Hogarth, C., & Mccann, B. (2018). Mobility and migration in France and the francophone world. Australian Journal of French Studies, 55(1), 3-5. DOI Scopus1
2018	McCann, B. (2018). ‘Ici, une immense usine perfectionnée; là, une chambre meublée de faubourg’: Julien Duvivier, mobility and migration. French Cultural Studies, 29(1), 59-69. DOI Scopus1
2017	McCann, B. (2017). Julien Duvivier. Senses of Cinema, (82).
2017	Luzeckyj, A., McCann, B., Graham, C., King, S., & McCann, J. (2017). Being First in Family: motivations and metaphors. Higher Education Research and Development, 36(6), 1237-1250. DOI Scopus17 WoS12
2016	Pugsley, P., & McCann, B. (2016). Female protagonists and the role of smoking in Chinese and French cinema. Asian Cinema, 27(1), 59-83. DOI
2016	Pugsley, P., McCann, B., & Pongiyannan, D. (2016). Rajinikanth and Brando: carnivalesque performances of two aging superstars. Studies in South Asian Film and Media, 8(1), 27-45. DOI
2015	McCann, B., & Andreo, B. (2015). Introduction. Australian Journal of French Studies, 52(2), 107-111. DOI
2013	McCann, B. (2013). Jean Dujardin, OSS 117, and the art of the spoof. Essays in French Literature and Culture, 50, 69-85.
2011	McCann, B. (2011). Marcel Carne. Senses of Cinema, 58, 1-17.
2011	McCann, B. (2011). 'Je disais tout haut ce que beaucoup pensaient tout bas!': Marcel Carné, film critic. French Studies Bulletin, 32(120), 57-62. DOI
2009	McCann, B. (2009). What Trauner Did Next: The Continuation of a French Design Aesthetic in an American Context. French Cultural Studies, 20(1), 65-81. DOI
2009	McCann, B. (2009). '(Under)scoring poetic realism' - Maurice Jaubert and 1930s' French cinema. Studies in French Cinema, 9(1), 37-48. DOI Scopus6
2009	Brinkworth, R., McCann, B., Matthews, C., & Nordstrom, K. (2009). First year expectations and experiences: student and teacher perspectives. Higher Education, 58(2), 157-173. DOI Scopus139 WoS126
2008	McCann, B. (2008). Pierced Borders, Punctured Bodies: the Contemporary French Horror Film. Australian Journal of French Studies, 45(3), 225-237. DOI Scopus4
2008	McCann, B. (2008). 'If it's not Disney, what is it?': Traditional animation techniques in Les Triplettes de Belleville. French Studies Bulletin, 29(108), 59-62. DOI Scopus1
2004	McCann, B. (2004). 'A discreet character?' Action spaces and architectural specificity in French poetic realist cinema. Screen, 45(4), 375-382. DOI Scopus10

Books

Year	Citation
2022	Pugsley, P. C., & McCann, B. (2022). The Cinematic Influence Interaction and Exchange Between the Cinemas of France and Japan (USA ed.). Bloomsbury Academic.
2019	King, S., Luzeckyj, A., & McCann, B. (2019). The Experience of Being First in Family at University Pioneers in Higher Education. Singapore: Springer Nature.
2018	McCann, B. (2018). L' Auberge Espagnole European Youth on Film. Oxford; United Kingdom: Routledge. DOI Scopus2
2017	McCann, B. (2017). Julien Duvivier. Manchester, United Kingdom: Manchester University Press. Scopus2
2015	Edwards, N. J., McCann, B., & Poiana, P. (Eds.) (2015). Framing French Culture. Adelaide: University of Adelaide Press. DOI
2014	McCann, B. (2014). Le Jour Se Lève: French film guide. United Kingdom: IB Tauris.
2013	McCann, B. (2013). Ripping open the set : French film design, 1930-1939. Switzerland: Peter Lang Publishing.
2011	McCann, B., & Sorfa, D. (Eds.) (2011). The Cinema of Michael Haneke: Europe Utopia. United States: Columbia University Press.

Book Chapters

Year	Citation
2019	McCann, B. E. (2019). ‘Je veux promouvoir le vivre ensemble’: Youth and Friendship in L’Auberge espagnole, Les Poupées russes and Casse-tête chinois. In R. Chareyron, & G. Viennot (Eds.), Screening Youth: Contemporary French and Francophone Cinema (pp. 206-221). Edinburgh, Scotland; United Kingdom: Edinburgh University Press.
2015	Edwards, N., McCann, B., & Poiana, P. (2015). The doubling of the frame - Visual art and discourse. In N. Edwards, B. McCann, & P. Poiana (Eds.), Framing French Culture (1 ed., pp. 3-25). Adelaide: University of Adelaide Press. DOI
2015	McCann, B. (2015). The return of Trauner: Late style in 1970s and 1980s French film design. In N. Edwards, B. McCann, & P. Poiana (Eds.), Framing French Culture (1 ed., pp. 157-173). Adelaide: University of Adelaide Press. DOI
2014	McCann, B. E. (2014). A nous la liberté/Freedom is ours (1931). In S. Haenni, S. Barrow, & J. White (Eds.), The Routledge Encyclopedia of Film (pp. 11-14). London: Routledge.
2014	McCann, B. E. (2014). Boudu sauvé des eaux/Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932). In S. Haeni, S. Barrow, & J. White (Eds.), The Routledge Encyclopedia of Films (pp. 115-118). London: Routledge.
2014	McCann, B. E. (2014). Les enfants du Paradis/Children of Paradise (1945). In S. Haenni, S. Barrow, & L. White (Eds.), The Routledge Encyclopedia of Films (pp. 220-222). London: Routledge.
2014	McCann, B. E. (2014). Mon oncle/My Uncle (1958). In S. Haenni, S. Barrow, & J. White (Eds.), Routledge Encyclopedia of Film (pp. 353-356). London: Routledge.
2013	McCann, B. (2013). Body horror. In J. Ashton, & J. Walliss (Eds.), To see the Saw movies: essays on torture porn and post-9-11 horror (1 ed., pp. 30-44). United States: McFarland & Company, Inc.
2013	McCann, B. (2013). Horror. In T. Palmer, & C. Michael (Eds.), Directory of world cinema: France (1 ed., pp. 277-283). United States: University of Chicago Press.
2013	McCann, B. (2013). Directors: Julien Duvivier. In T. Palmer, & C. Michael (Eds.), Directory of world cinema: France (1 ed., pp. 17-20). Unted States: University of Chicago Press.
2011	McCann, B. (2011). A Many Splendoured Thing?: Plural Visions of the City in Paris, je t'aime. In J. McCormack, M. Pratt, & A. Rolls (Eds.), Hexagonal Variations: Diversity, Plurality and Reinvention in Contemporary France (Vol. 359, 1 ed., pp. 339-354). Netherlands: Rodopi. DOI
2011	McCann, B., & Sorfa, D. (2011). Introduction. In B. McCann, & D. Sorfa (Eds.), The Cinema of Michael Haneke: Europe Utopia (1 ed., pp. 1-9). New York: Wallflower Press. DOI
2011	McCann, B. (2011). Acting, Performance and the Bressonian Impulse in Haneke's Films. In B. McCann, & D. Sorfa (Eds.), The Cinema of Michael Haneke: Europe Utopia (1 ed., pp. 24-37). United States: Columbia University Press.
2008	McCann, B. (2008). "Du verre, rien que de verre": negotiating utopia in Playtime. In John West Sooby (Ed.), Nowhere is perfect: French and francophone utopias/dystopias (pp. 195-210). Australia: University of Delaware Press.
2007	McCann, B. (2007). Bliss in blueness: Colour strategies in the films of Michael Mann. In Wendy Everett (Ed.), Questions of Colour in Cinema (pp. 141-160). UK: Peter Lang Publishing.
2006	McCann, B. (2006). Les Enfants du Paradis [Children of Paradise]. In The Cinema of France (pp. 51-59). Wallflower Press.
2003	McCann, B. (2003). "Enjoying the Scenery": Landscape and the Fetishisation of Nature in 'Badlands' and 'Days of Heaven'. In The Cinema of Terrence Malick: Poetic Visions of America (pp. 75-85). London: Wallflower Press.

Conference Papers

Year	Citation
2014	West-Sooby, J., & McCann, B. (2014). “I love how the content stimulates and encourages me to want to continue to learn French” or How teaching literary adaptations makes for better French students. In C. Travis, J. Hajek, C. Nettelbeck, E. Beckmann, & A. Lloyd-Smith (Eds.), Practices and policies: current research in languages and cultures education, selected proceedings of the Second National LCNAU Colloquium, Canberra, 3-5 July 2013 (pp. 457-468). Canberra: LCNAU.
2010	Scutter, S., Palmer, E., Luzeckyj, A., Brinkworth, R., & McCann, B. (2010). What a strange idea! Student expectations of the first year university experience. In Proceedings of the 5th ERGA Conference (pp. 76-77). Adelaide: University of Adelaide.

Year

Citation

2014

West-Sooby, J., & McCann, B. (2014). “I love how the content stimulates and encourages me to want to continue to learn French” or How teaching literary adaptations makes for better French students. In C. Travis, J. Hajek, C. Nettelbeck, E. Beckmann, & A. Lloyd-Smith (Eds.), Practices and policies: current research in languages and cultures education, selected proceedings of the Second National LCNAU Colloquium, Canberra, 3-5 July 2013 (pp. 457-468). Canberra: LCNAU.

2010

Scutter, S., Palmer, E., Luzeckyj, A., Brinkworth, R., & McCann, B. (2010). What a strange idea! Student expectations of the first year university experience. In Proceedings of the 5th ERGA Conference (pp. 76-77). Adelaide: University of Adelaide.

Report for External Bodies

Year	Citation
2014	Brinkworth, R., McCann, B., King, S., Burke da Silva, K., Luzeckyj, A., Scutter, S., . . . McCann, J. (2014). Student and staff expectations and experiences: Office for Learning and Teaching Final Report. OLT web site: OLT.

Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)

Date	Role	Research Topic	Program	Degree Type	Student Load	Student Name
2023	Principal Supervisor	The use of three-dimensionality and flatness in the films of Isao Takahata	Doctor of Philosophy	Doctorate	Full Time	Mr Idris Matthaeus Kellermann Williams
2022	Co-Supervisor	The Power of 'Bollywood': How Indian Cinema Bridges the Cultural and Socio-political Divide between India and China	Doctor of Philosophy	Doctorate	Full Time	Ms Yanyan Hong
2022	Co-Supervisor	"Satie, Cocteau, Picasso and the circus: the collaboration of "Parade" (1917)"	Master of Philosophy	Master	Part Time	Cathy Lynette Duncan

Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)

Date	Role	Research Topic	Program	Degree Type	Student Load	Student Name
2015 - 2018	Co-Supervisor	Western China on Screen: Cinema and Urban Exploration as Thirdspace	Doctor of Philosophy	Doctorate	Full Time	Miss Hongyan Zou
2014 - 2017	Principal Supervisor	Les Instants De Recueillement Et De Souvenir: La Deuxieme Guerre Mondiale Et Le Cinema Francais De 1995 A Nos Jours	Doctor of Philosophy	Doctorate	Full Time	Ms Lisa Harper Campbell
2011 - 2015	Co-Supervisor	L'EXCLUSION DES FEMMES DE LA VIE POLITIQUE : LA REPRESENTATION DES FEMMES POLITIQUES EN TANT QUE CANDIDATES A LA MAGISTRATURE SUPREME DANS LA CINQUIEME REPUBLIQUE. The Exclusion of Women from the World of Politics: The Representation of Female Politicians Running for the Highest Office in the Fifth French Republic.	Doctor of Philosophy	Doctorate	Full Time	Mr Robert John Armstrong
2010 - 2013	Co-Supervisor	Cinematic Charisma as a political gateway in South India: The case of Tamil Nadu	Doctor of Philosophy	Doctorate	Full Time	Mr Dhamu Pongiyannan
2009 - 2011	Co-Supervisor	La Politique de la Diversité: la Nomination aux Postes de Gouvernement des Personnes de Couleur Sous la Présidence de Jacques Chirac et de Nicolas Sarkozy	Master of Arts	Master	Full Time	Mr Robert John Armstrong
2008 - 2014	Co-Supervisor	Histoire(s) of Art and the Commodity: Love, Death, and the Search for Community in William Gaddis and Jean-Luc Godard	Doctor of Philosophy	Doctorate	Full Time	Mr Damien Marwood

Position: Associate Professor
Phone: 83135149
Email: benjamin.mccann@adelaide.edu.au
Fax: 83134341
Campus: North Terrace
Building: Napier, floor 8
Org Unit: School of Humanities

Associate Professor Benjamin McCann

Appointments

Language Competencies

Education

Certifications