Dr Jessica Ford
Senior Lecturer
School of Communication, Media and Journalism
College of Creative Arts, Design and Humanities
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.
Dr Jessica Ford is a feminist media studies scholar who specialises in how, when and why feminism happens on television. Prior to moving to Adelaide, Jessica was a Lecturer in Screen and Cultural Studies at The University of Newcastle (2019-2023) and completed her PhD in Film and Media Studies at the University of New South Wales in 2017.Jessica's research examines women and feminisms on screen, and she has published on Taylor Swift, Hallmark made-for-TV movies and TV shows aimed at women, such as Orange is the New Black, Girls and The Good Wife. She is a regular contributor to The Conversation and ABC Radio National. She is working on a monograph about how feminism operates a sensibility in contemporary television market.Jessica is a member of the Adelaide Education Academy and a AdvanceHE Fellow. She is currently the General Secretary of the Screen Studies Association of Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand (SSAAANZ), a Contributing Editor (Film and Television) for MAI: Feminism and Visual Culture and is on the Advisory Board for Punctum Book's 'MAI: Feminism and Culture' imprint.
My research interests include:
- Contemporary media feminisms
- Women and gender on screen
- Popular culture
- Gender and popular music
- Film and TV musicals
- Theorisations of labour
- Affect, aesthetics and politics
- Taste and value cultures
| Date | Position | Institution name |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 - ongoing | Senior Lecturer in Media | University of Adelaide |
| 2023 - 2024 | Lecturer in Media | The University of Adelaide |
| 2021 - 2023 | Education Focused Academic in Screen and Cultural Studies | University of Newcastle Australia |
| 2019 - 2021 | Lecturer (Teaching Only) in Film, Media and Cultural Studies | University of Newcastle Australia |
| 2017 - 2018 | Sessional Academic | University of Newcastle Australia |
| 2015 - 2015 | Postgraduate Teaching Fellow | UNSW Australia |
| 2012 - 2018 | Sessional Academic | UNSW Australia |
| Date | Institution name | Country | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 - 2017 | UNSW Australia | Australia | PhD |
| 2006 - 2010 | The University of Newcastle | Australia | Bachelor of Arts (Hons) |
| Date | Title | Institution name | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Fellow | Advance HE | United Kingdom |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Ford, J. (2025). Managing expression and hand holding in The Good Wife: how 'leaning in' demands emotional labour. Feminist Theory, 26(2), 410-425. |
| 2024 | Ford, J., & Macrossan, P. (2024). ‘I work hard and I’m nice to people’: Taylor Swift, Miss Americana and the limits of white neoliberal feminism. Continuum, 38(6), 934-946. Scopus2 WoS1 |
| 2024 | Ford, J. (2024). Televisual authorship and the affective feminism of HBO’s Sharp Objects adaptation. New Review of Film and Television Studies, 22(1), 277-295. |
| 2023 | Perkins, C., Brooks, J., Loreck, J., Tan, P., Ford, J., & Sheehan, R. J. (2023). Doing Film Feminisms in the Age of Popular Feminism: A Roundtable Convened by Claire Perkins and Jodi Brooks. Australian Feminist Studies, 38(117), 231-247. Scopus3 WoS3 |
| 2022 | Macrossan, P., & Ford, J. (2022). Duets and the Demands of Country Music: Contradictory Feminisms in Nashville. The Journal of Popular Culture, 55(2), 350-372. Scopus1 WoS1 |
| 2021 | Ford, J., & Boyle, A. (2021). The Emotional Detective: Gender, violence and the post-forensic TV crime drama. MAI: Feminism and Visual Culture, 7(Summer 21). |
| 2020 | Ford, J., Ison, J., McKenzie, L., Cannizzo, F., Mayhew, L. R., Osborne, N., & Cooke, B. (2020). What ongoing staff can do to support precariously employed colleagues. AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES REVIEW, 62(1), 57-62. WoS3 |
| 2019 | Ford, J. (2019). Women’s indie television: the intimate feminism of women-centric dramedies. Feminist Media Studies, 19(7), 928-943. Scopus12 WoS12 |
| 2019 | Ford, J., & Macrossan, P. (2019). The musical number as feminist intervention in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Australasian Journal of Popular Culture, 8(1), 55-69. Scopus7 |
| 2019 | Ford, J. (2019). BOOK REVIEW: The Netflix Effect: Technology and Entertainment in the 21st Century, Kevin McDonald and Daniel Smith-Rowsey (eds) (2016). Journal of Digital Media and Policy, 10(1), 127-129. |
| 2018 | Ford, J. (2018). Feminist cinematic television: Authorship, aesthetics and gender in Pamela Adlon’s Better Things. Fusion Journal, 14, 16. |
| 2016 | Ford, J. (2016). The “smart” body politics of Lena Dunham’s Girls. Feminist Media Studies, 16(6), 1029-1042. Scopus19 WoS12 |
| - | Ford, J. (2018). Rebooting Roseanne: Feminist Voice across Decades. M/C Journal, 21(5). |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Ford, J. (2025). Teaching challenging material: Technological affordances of staggered asynchronous online learning. In Moving Your University Course Online Case Studies on Design Development and Delivery (pp. 110-121). Routledge. DOI |
| 2024 | Ford, J., & Herb, A. (2024). The Quiet Violence of Denying Queerness in the Novel and Film, The Miseducation of Cameron Post. In Gay Conversion Practices in Memoir Film and Fiction Stories of Repentance and Defiance (pp. 211-236). Scopus1 |
| 2022 | Ford, J. (2022). Orange is the New Black, Wentworth and contemporary media feminisms: Systemic inequality and individual responsibility. In R. O'Meara, T. Dwyer, S. Taylor, & C. Batty (Eds.), TV Transformations and Transgressive Women: From Prisoner: Cell Block H to Wentworth (Vol. 4, pp. 193-209). Oxford: Peter Lang. DOI Scopus2 |
| 2022 | Ford, J., & Zeller-Jacques, M. (2022). You Can’t Go Home Again: The Recuperative Reboot and the Trump Era Sitcom. In K. McNally (Ed.), American Television During a Television Presidency (pp. 275-290). USA: Wayne State University Press. |
| 2022 | Ford, J. (2022). Gender, Violence and Empowerment: Reworking the Female Action Hero in Dollhouse. In S. Gerrard, & R. Middlemost (Eds.), Gender and Action Films: Road Warriors, Bombshells and Atomic Blondes. (pp. 47-57). UK; North America; Japan; India; Malaysia; China: Emerald Publishing. DOI |
| 2021 | Ford, J. (2021). Women’s indie television: the intimate feminism of women-centric dramedies. In C. Perkins, & M. Schreiber (Eds.), Independent Women: From Film to Television (pp. 10-25). London: Routledge. DOI |
| 2020 | Ford, J. (2020). Popular Feminism and Television Stardom in Hallmark’s Original Made-for-Television Movies. In E. L. Newman, & E. Witsell (Eds.), The Hallmark Channel: Essays on Faith, Race and Feminism (pp. 32-49). North Carolina: McFarland. |
| 2020 | Ford, J. (2020). Can prison be a feminist space?: Interrogating television representations of women’s prisons. In M. Harmes, M. Harmes, & B. Harmes (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Incarceration in Popular Culture (pp. 613-626). Springer. DOI Scopus2 |
| 2019 | Ford, J. (2019). At the fringes of TV: Liminality and privilege in Netflix’s original scripted dramedy series. In T. Plothe, & A. Buck (Eds.), Netflix at the Nexus: Content, Practice, and Production in the Age of Streaming Television (pp. 97-112). Peter Lang US. DOI Scopus1 |
| 2018 | Ford, J. (2018). Negotiating creative feminine labor on family television: Are Jane By Design and Bunheads riding a new feminist wave?. In E. L. Newman, & E. Witsell (Eds.), ABC Family to Freeform TV Essays on the Millennial-Focused Network and Its Programs (pp. 48-98). McFarland. |
| 2014 | Ford, J. (2014). Feminist and postfeminist discourses: Reading the Britta problem. In A. -G. Lee (Ed.), A Sense of Community Essays on the Television Series and Its Fandom (pp. 82-97). McFarland. |
| 2012 | Ford, J. (2012). Coming out of the broom closet: Willow’s sexuality and empowerment in Buffy. In M. A. Money (Ed.), Joss Whedon: The Complete Companion The TV Series, the Movies, the Comic Books, and More (pp. 93-102). National Geographic Books. |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Ford, J. (2025). Still talking, still negotiating: US women-centric TV’s feminist sensibility. In https://wfthn.com/dwfth-conference/. University of Lincoln, UK. |
| 2025 | Ford, J., & Macrossan, P. (2025). "I'm a drag queen – whether you like it or not": Chappell Roan, lesbian pop stardom and queer femininity through drag. In https://aanzca.org/aanzca-25-conference/. University of the Sunshine Coast. |
| 2024 | Ford, J. (2024). Kevin Can F*** Himself: Trauma, affect and the absence of represented violence. In https://www.icahdq.org/mpage/ica24. Gold Coast, Australia. |
| 2023 | Ford, J. (2023). Affect, feminism and television: HBO’s Sharp Objects. In Gender, Sex and Sexuality Conference. UniSA. |
| 2023 | Ford, J. (2023). Trauma, violence and the affective feminism of HBO’s Sharp Objects. In Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference. Denver, CO, United States. |
| 2019 | Ford, J. (2019). Tele-feminist authorship in the age of popular feminisms. In Cine-feminisms and the Academy Symposium. UNSW Sydney, Australia. |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Ford, J. (2025). Girl power and girl bosses might be ‘feminist’ – but we can’t consume our way to equality. DOI |
| 2024 | Rutherford, A., Altman, D., Harrington, E., Ford, J., Deller, M., & Hart, P. (2024). Black comedy, political drama and a documentary about a cult: what we’re streaming this February. The Conversation. |
| 2024 | Ford, J. (2024). The myth of feminist perfection. The Institute of Art and Ideas News. |
| 2023 | Harrington, E., Ford, J., Arrow, M., Richards, S., & Grant, Y. (2023). "Wartime hijinks, wilderness survivors and contemporary dance: what we're streaming this October". The Conversation. |
| 2023 | Altman, D., Mattes, A., Harrington, E., Ford, J., McAlister, J., Arrow, M., & Richards, S. (2023). Romantic comedies, Japanese reality television and New Zealand true crime: the best of streaming this September. The Conversation. |
| 2023 | Ford, J. (2023). More than mumblecore and bigger than Barbie – who is Greta Gerwig?. The Conversation. |
| 2023 | Ford, J. (2023). Trying to fix TV’s past: Beyond the ‘woke’ reboot. CST Online. |
| 2020 | Ford, J., & Macrossan, P. (2020). Friday Essay: Clueless at 25 – Like, a totally important teen film. |
| 2020 | Ford, J. (2020). My best worst film: She’s The Man – Amanda Bynes shines in a hilarious commentary on gender. The Conversation. |
| 2019 | Ford, J., & Macrossan, P. (2019). The Real Dirty Dancing reduces a political film to little more than coy dance numbers. The Conversation. |
- 2025: Bath Spa-Adelaide Collaborative Fellow ($10 000)
- 2025: School of Humanities Research Maintenance, University of Adelaide ($2656)
- 2024: Faculty of ABLE ECR Leadership Grant, University of Adelaide ($4757)
- 2024: School of Humanities Research Maintenance, University of Adelaide ($2333)
- 2023: School of Humanities Research Maintenance, University of Adelaide ($1752)
- 2022: College of Human and Social Futures New Start Award, University of Newcastle ($5000)
- 2020: Gender Research Network, City Lights for Social Change project, funded through City of Newcastle Special Business Rate scheme ($87 280)
- 2020: Program in Gender-Based Violence, funded through FEDUA Research Programs Pilot, University of Newcastle ($70 000)
- 2020: Gender Research Network, funded through FEDUA Strategic Networks and Pilot Projects, University of Newcastle ($2000)
- 2019:Finish that Output scheme, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Newcastle ($1500)
- 2018: Sydney Screen Studies Network: Screen Theory/Screen Practice, funded through School of the Arts & Media Research Culture Scheme, UNSW ($4000)
- 2017: Named CI, Sydney Screen Studies Network: Intersections in Film and Media Studies, funded through School of the Arts & Media Research Culture Scheme, UNSW ($2000)
- 2016: Sydney Screen Studies Network: Screen Studies: Politics, Ideology, Philosophy, funded through School of the Arts & Media Research Culture Scheme, UNSW ($2000)
- 2013-15: Australian Postgraduate Award, UNSW
- 2015: Sydney Screen Studies Network: Screen Studies: Form, Genre, Aesthetics, funded through School of the Arts & Media Research Culture Scheme, UNSW ($2000)
- 2014: International Student Travel Grant to attend Console-ing Passions International Conference on Television, Video, Audio, New Media (US$500)
- MDIA 3336 The Digital Image (formerly Photography)
- MDIA 1002 Key Concepts in Media (from 2024)
- MDIA 1014OL Key Concepts in Media (from 2024)
Prior to joing the University of Adelaide, Jessica designed, developed and taught course on:
- Communication and Culture
- Popular Culture and Society
- Social Media and Digital Culture
- Media Industries in Transition
- Media, Technology and Everyday Life
- Media, Society, Politics
- Music and Culture
- Peak TV: Texts, Industry, Culture
- Hollywood Cinema: Industry, Technology, Aesthetics
- Introduction to Film Studies
- Screening Sex and Gender
- Film, Media and Culture Capstone
- Honours: Theory & Practice in Screens, Languages, English & Writing
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Program | Degree Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Co-Supervisor | Power Relations in Digital Food Culture: Examining Gender, Class and Race in Instagram Clean Eating Content | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Ms Zhiqi Shao |
| 2024 | Co-Supervisor | Online Feminist Activism in Iran: The Case of MeToo Movement | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Ms Elmira Nouri |
| 2024 | Co-Supervisor | The Revolution Will Be Televised: Audio-visual content in the era of streaming and “peak TV”. An investigation of industry change, content trends, and globalisation post the digital revolution | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Part Time | Miss Philippa Elizabeth Violet Dore |
| 2023 | Principal Supervisor | Fact, Fiction, or Representation? An Exploration into the Portrayal of Historical Women in Historical Fiction. | Master of Philosophy | Master | Part Time | Miss Tielah-Jade Cannon |
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Location | Program | Supervision Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 - 2025 | External Supervisor | Reframing Menstruation: Exploring menstruation, feminism and activism on screen | University of New England, Australia | PhD | Doctorate | Full Time | Bridgette Glover |
| 2018 - 2022 | Co-Supervisor | Hella Queer: The Representation of Female Same-Sex Sexuality in Contemporary Anglophone Graphic Narratives | The University of Newcastle, Australia | PhD (Cultural Studies) | Doctorate | Part Time | Matilda Hope-Kirchen |
| Date | Role | Board name | Institution name | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 - ongoing | Secretary | Executive Committee | Screen Studies Association of Australia Aotearoa New Zealand (SSAAANZ) | Australia |
| Date | Role | Membership | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 - ongoing | Member | Society for Cinema and Media Studies | United States |
| 2016 - ongoing | Member | Screen Studies Association of Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand | Australia |
| 2012 - ongoing | Member | Australian Women and Gender Studies Association | Australia |
| Date | Role | Editorial Board Name | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 - ongoing | Member | MAI: Feminism and Culture Imprint | Punctum Books | United States |
| 2018 - ongoing | Board Member | MAI: Feminism and Visual Culture | MAI Collective | Sweden |
| Date | Topic | Presented at | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 - 2025 | Low-key Girls to spectacular Handmaids: Feminist aesthetics on US TV | Feminist Media Studies Group | Cardiff University, Wales | United Kingdom |
| 2025 - 2025 | Contemporary Television’s Feminist Sensibility | School of Film, Art and Media | Bath Spa University | United Kingdom |
| 2025 - 2025 | (Not) Televising Domestic Violence and Abuse: Affect and the absence of represented violence in Kevin Can F*** Himself | Cambridge School of Creative Industries | Anglia Ruskin University | United Kingdom |
| 2023 - 2023 | American Feminist TV: From The Good Wife to The Handmaid’s Tale | Media Department | University of British Columbia | Canada |
| 2023 - 2023 | Reproductive Rights on Screen | IU Cinema | Indiana University, Bloomington | United States |
| 2021 - 2021 | Can Prison be a Feminist Space? Interrogating TV Representations of Women in Prison | DEMOSERIES Seminar Series on Security TV (ECR Advanced Grant) | University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne | France |
| Date | Title | Type | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 - 2024 | Israel Science Foundation | Grant Assessment | Israel Science Foundation | Israel |
| 2023 - ongoing | Palgrave Macmillan | Peer Review | Palgrave Macmillan | United States |
| 2022 - ongoing | Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society | Peer Review | Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society | United States |
| 2021 - ongoing | New Review of Film and Television Studies | Peer Review | New Review of Film and Television Studies | United States |
| 2021 - ongoing | Popular Communication | Peer Review | Popular Communication | United States |
| 2020 - ongoing | Critical Studies in Television: The International Journal of Television Studies | Peer Review | Critical Studies in Television: The International Journal of Television Studies | United Kingdom |
| 2020 - ongoing | Edinburgh University Press | Peer Review | Edinburgh University Press | United Kingdom |
| 2019 - ongoing | Feminist Media Studies | Peer Review | Feminist Media Studies | - |
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