Projects per year
Personal profile
Research Focus
Profile
My research interests cover British cinema, controversies and censorship, archives, film and history. I have published on British film and cinema, cinemagoing and audiences, regulation and classification and the work of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). I have particular expertise in 1970s British cinema and film culture and on censorship of film in the UK. As well as work on film and cinema, I also work within audience studies using participatory methods, and collaborate with colleagues across a range of subject areas and disciplines, using film as a mechanism to engage audiences and users.
Publications
My publications include, Censoring the 1970s: The BBFC and the Decade that Taste Forgot, (Cambridge Scholars Press, 2011), Capital, Culture and Creativity: The British Film Industry in the 1970s (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) and Using Film as a Source (Manchester University Press, 2015).
My fourth monograph will be published with Manchester University Press in spring 2025 as Beyond the BBFC: Local and regional film censorship in the UK. This work draws on archival material from fifty regional and local archives from across the UK to explore how censorship of film was implemented at local level. It maps the period from the early days of cinema and the creation of the BBFC in 1913 to the middle of the 1980s when local concerns about video started to overtake those for film.
I have also published in the Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Media History, Historical Research, the Journal of British Cinema and Television, and Participations: The Journal of Audience and Reception Studies.
Memberships
I am a member of the EUscreen Foundation, a European consortium of archives, academics and technical partners which explores aspects of digital heritage, access and preservation, and a member of the Northern Ireland Moving Image Heritage & Archive working group. I am a member of the editorial board of the Journal of British Cinema and Television, and VIEW Journal of European Television History and Culture.
Teaching
I currently convene and teach the following modules:
- Introduction to Film Studies 1 (FLM1001) level 1
- British Cinema: Nation, Identity and Industry (FLM2026) level 2
- Film Cultures and Fandom (FLM3035) level 3
- Censorship, Regulation and Audiences (MA)
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 1 Finished
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R6436CRA: EUscreenXL, the pan-European audiovisual aggregator for Europeana
Barber, S. (PI)
25/02/2014 → 28/02/2016
Project: Research
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Beyond the BBFC: Local and regional film censorship in Britain
Barber, S., 21 Oct 2024, (Accepted) Manchester University Press. 276 p.Research output: Book/Report › Book
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Glossing over, normalizing or just a cliché?: The Craft (1996), Northern Irish girls and teen cinema
Barber, S., 01 Apr 2024, In: Participations: Journal of Audience and Reception Studies . 20, 1, p. 32-48Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile47 Downloads (Pure) -
‘Lewd, pornographic filth’: managing culture through local film censorship in Britain 1948-1968
Barber, S., 17 Jan 2024, In: Journal of British Cinema and Television . 21, 1, p. 53-74Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile85 Downloads (Pure) -
Experiencing cinema / Ephemeral cinema
Barber, S., 07 Jun 2023, In: NESCUS: European Journal of Media Studies. 12, 1, p. 684–699 17 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review › peer-review
Open AccessFile34 Downloads (Pure) -
Education & TV: histories of a vision
Barber, S. (Editor), Caoduro, E. (Editor) & Knörr, K. (Editor), 03 Aug 2022, In: VIEW Journal of European Television History and Culture. 11, 21Research output: Contribution to journal › Special issue › peer-review
Open Access
Activities
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SEX, SCANDAL, AND SENSATION CONFERENCE
Barber, S. (Participant)
02 Jul 2024 → 04 Jul 2024Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference
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‘Thinking through film - Barbie: The Movie (2023) Empowerment or Escapism?’
Barber, S. (Invited speaker)
19 Jan 2024Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
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'LGBTQ on the screen'
Barber, S. (Invited speaker)
01 Dec 2023Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
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FUTURE [of] ARCHIVES
Barber, S. (Participant)
20 Jun 2023 → 22 Jun 2023Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference
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‘Lewd, pornographic filth’: managing culture through local film censorship in Britain 1948-1968.
Barber, S. (Invited speaker)
15 Nov 2022Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
Press/Media
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The Batman: Belfast only city in UK to give new film a 15A rating
04/03/2022
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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Loathed by the left, feared by the right: How censor James Ferman changed cinema
28/08/2021
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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No sex please: how Northern Ireland was united by ‘evil’ films
30/06/2019
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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Sex, violence and religion: The films banned by councils
07/11/2015
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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Biblical epics: Why have they made a comeback?
11/06/2014
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Expert Comment
Impacts
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Being Human - a festival of the humanities (Northern Ireland Hub)
Schroeder, F. (Participant), Grant, D. (Participant), Taroff, K. (Participant), McLaughlin, C. (Participant), Lehner, S. (Participant), Murray, A. (Participant), Barber, S. (Participant) & Murphy, P. (Participant)
Impact: Cultural Impact, Societial Impact