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Doctor

Chris Comerford

(he/him)

Senior Lecturer, Communication and Media

School of Creative Arts and Humanities

Orcid identifier0000-0001-5000-7807
  • Senior Lecturer, Communication and Media
    School of Creative Arts and Humanities
  • Associate Head of School (Communication and Media)
    School of Creative Arts and Humanities

BIO

Dr. Chris Comerford is a Senior Lecturer in Communication and Media at the University of Wollongong. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from Western Sydney University in 2012, and completed a PhD on Batman and post-9/11 American culture at the University of Technology Sydney in 2016.

Chris researches digital and screen media developments, fan cultures, serious leisure and digital pedagogies. His current project is an analysis of television's shifting cultural, social and industrial boundaries in the streaming era. He is the author of Cinematic Digital Television: Negotiating the Nexus of Production, Reception and Aesthetics (Routledge, 2022) and an upcoming volume on Babylon 5 as part of the TV Matters series (Intellect, 2027). Additionally, Chris has published on topics such as superheroes and the law, gaming during COVID-19, and the creation, exploitation and archival use of fan-made wikis. 

 

Chris is a member of the executive committee of the Screen Studies Association of Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand (SSAAANZ), an editorial board member of the Heroism Science journal, and a research director for the Australian Popular Culture Research Network (PopCRN).

In addition to his research and teaching, Chris is Associate Head of School (Communication and Media) for the School of Creative Arts and Humanities, and Honours Coordinator for the Bachelor of Communication and Media (BCM) program.

UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG APPOINTMENTS

  • Senior Lecturer, Communication and Media
    University of Wollongong, School of Creative Arts and Humanities, Wollongong, Australia1 Jan 2026 - present
  • Associate Head of School (Communication and Media)
    University of Wollongong, School of Creative Arts and Humanities, Australia2 Mar 2026 - present

ACADEMIC POSITIONS

  • Lecturer, Communication and Media
    University of Wollongong, School of The Arts, English and Media, Wollongong, Australia10 Feb 2020 - 31 Dec 2025
  • Casual Tutor/Subject Coordinator/Research Assistant
    University of Technology Sydney, School of Communication, Sydney, Australia2014 - 2020

DEGREES

  • Ph.D. Doctor of Philosophy, Communications and Cultural Studies
    University of Technology Sydney, School of Communications2013 - 2016
  • B.A. Bachelor of Arts, (Honours), English and Cultural Studies
    University of Western Sydney, School of Humanities and the Arts2009 - 2012

AVAILABILITY

  • Masters Research or PhD student supervision

SDGS

  • 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
  • 12 Responsible Consumption and Production
  • 4 Quality Education

FIELDS OF RESEARCH (FOR)