Kim Barbour

Dr Kim Barbour

Senior Lecturer

School of Humanities

Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics

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

Kim Barbour is a qualitative new media scholar. As a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Media, Kim’s work focuses on digital and online media, and storytelling. Kim’s research looks at online persona, the strategic production of identity through digital media, and particularly focuses on the use of social media. Kim’s research often focuses on artists or other creative practitioners.
Kim is the co-founding editor of the Persona Studies journal, an online, open access journal based at Deakin University. She has published chapters in the edited books Media, Margins and Popular Culture (Palgrave), Making Places, Making Publics (Adelaide University Press) and Digital Academics (Routledge), articles in Celebrity Studies, M/C Journal, First Monday, and Platform: Journal of Media and Communication, and her paper ‘Performing Professionalism | Validating Artistness’ won the Grant Noble award for best post-graduate paper at ANZCA 2014. Her co-authored book Persona Studies: An Introduction is to be published in 2019 by Wiley.
Kim's Google Scholar profile is available here: https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=4uWj5ukAAAAJ&hl=en

Kim Barbour is a qualitative new media scholar. As a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Media, Kim’s work focuses on digital and online media, and storytelling. Kim’s research looks at online persona, the strategic production of identity through digital media, and particularly focuses on the use of social media. Kim’s research often focuses on artists or other creative practitioners.

Kim is the co-founding editor of the Persona Studies journal, an online, open access journal based at Deakin University, and co-author of Persona Studies: An Introduction (2020, Wiley Blackwell). She has published articles in Celebrity Studies, M/C Journal, First Monday, and Media International Australia, and her paper ‘Performing Professionalism | Validating Artistness’ won the Grant Noble award for best post-graduate paper at ANZCA 2014.

Current research projects:

  • Online activism and intersectional feminism
  • Migrant personas
  • Scientific personas

2019/2020 - Summer Research Scholarship project - student Jacob Tyler

2019 - Special Studies Leave - supported research for first half of 2019 to complete funding application and work on book manuscript

2017/2018 - Summer Research Scholarship project - successfully completed by Maria Positano

2017 - AnglicareSA video project - supporting University of Adelaide production students to gain paid professional work experience creating promotional material for the Acorn Parent-Infant Attachment Groups program, run by AnglicareSA. The video project was funded by a grant from The Community and Philanthropy Partnerships Week.

2017 - Summer Research Scholarship project - successfully completed by Lydia Heise

2016 - Faculty Research Active Grants Scheme (FRAGS) award of $2850

Undergraduate Coursework

Kim Barbour teaches across all levels of the Bachelor of Media program:

2020

  • MDIA1002 Key Concepts in Media
  • MDIA1002OL Key Concepts in Media Online
  • MDIA1017 Image and Brand
  • MDIA2336 Digital Storytelling
  • MDIA3331 Popular Media: Text, Audience, Industry
  • ARTS2004/3007 Arts Masterclass

2019

  • MDIA2336 Digital Storytelling

2018

  • MDIA1002 Introduction to Media: Digital Revolutions
  • MDIA2336 Digital Storytelling
  • MDIA3331 Popular Media: Text, Audience, Industry

2017

  • MDIA1002 Introduction to Media: Digital Revolutions
  • MDIA2336 Digital Storytelling
  • MDIA3328 News in the Digital Age

2016

  • MDIA1002 Introduction to Media: Digital Revolutions 
  • MDIA1006 Story/Technology: Writing Techniques

2015

  • MDIA1006 Story/Technology: Writing Techniques

Kim's teaching practice aims to make use of the substantial opportunities offered by online learning when matched with appropriate pedagogical approaches, including blended learning and workshop based teaching. In 2017, she was awarded a Faculty of Arts Teaching Prize for her use of Small Group Discovery Experiences and ePortfolios in the classroom for learning and assessment.

Honours Supervisions:

2019

  • Caitlin Adams, Thesis title: Transitioning Texts: Exploring Transmedia Stories in Online Spaces

2018-2019

  • Aislinn Rossi (part time), Thesis title: Outsiders: Conservative Descriptions of the Mainstream Media

2016

  • Amy Nancarrow, Thesis title: Striving for Perfection: Postfeminism, Reality Television, and the Creation of the Postfeminist Ideal in The Real Housewives of Melbourne
  • Linh Nguyen, Thesis title: Analysing the authenticity of our social media persona through the selfie

  • Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2023 Principal Supervisor QUEER and WORLD MADE FLESH: queer representation within contemporary art museums in Australia Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Miss Brittany Sheree Pfeiffer
    2021 Principal Supervisor Capturing simultaneity: International students’ connectedness and identities during the Covid-19
    pandemic.    		 Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Ms Thanh Nguyen
    2020 Co-Supervisor The Evolution of Romance in Digital Games Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Amy Matilda Brierley
    2020 Co-Supervisor Oscar Bait: Exploring Links Between an Academy Awards Institutional Persona and Perceptions of Oscar-Worthiness Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Robert Penn Boucaut
    2020 Principal Supervisor Media Mimicry - How fictional videos emulate user-generated content in online stories. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Caitlin Anne Adams

  • Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2020 - 2023 Co-Supervisor The Evolution of the Body in Contemporary Art and Digital Media: Asger Carlsen, Julie Rrap, Leah Schrager, Juliana Huxtable Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Ms Alexandra Mowbray
    2017 - 2020 Co-Supervisor Remediation or Replacement: Masthead Stakeholders' Perception of News Digitalisation in Nigeria Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Ayodeji Boluwatife Aiyesimoju
    2017 - 2020 Co-Supervisor The Art of Selling Arts: Marketing Culture Using Digital Media at Fringe Arts Festivals Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Amy Elizabeth Nancarrow
    2017 - 2019 Co-Supervisor Contested Kingdom: The Role of Online Media in the Relationship between Disney and Fans over Disneyland Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr William McCarthy
    2017 - 2021 Co-Supervisor Representations of Women in Pakistani Cinema: Role, Image, and Characterisation Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Nazia Hussain
    2016 - 2019 Co-Supervisor Crafting true stories: an interpretation of four Australian journalists' nonfiction writing practices Master of Philosophy Master Part Time Mrs Varunika Sonani Hapuwatte Ruwanpura

  • Board Memberships
    Date Role Board name Institution name Country
    2017 - ongoing Board Member Chair of Ethic and Policy, Executive Board Fame and Persona Research Consortium Australia
    2013 - ongoing Member - Australia New Zealand Communication Association Australia

  • Committee Memberships
    Date Role Committee Institution Country
    2018 - ongoing Member Faculty of Arts Research Committee The University of Adelaide Australia
    2017 - ongoing Chair School of Humanities Learning and Teaching Committee The University of Adelaide Australia
    2017 - ongoing Member Faculty of Arts Teaching and Learning Committee The University of Adelaide Australia

  • Memberships
    Date Role Membership Country
    2014 - ongoing Member Cultural Studies Association of Australasia Australia

  • Editorial Boards
    Date Role Editorial Board Name Institution Country
    2014 - ongoing Editor-In-chief Persona Studies Deakin University Australia
  • Position: Senior Lecturer
  • Phone: 83133405
  • Email: kim.barbour@adelaide.edu.au
  • Fax: 83134341
  • Campus: North Terrace
  • Building: Napier, floor 9
  • Org Unit: School of Humanities
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