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Johannes Sjoberg

Dr

 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2817-1034

Personal profile

Biography

I was appointed Lecturer in Screen Studies in Drama at the University of Manchester in 2008. I specialise in screen practice as research and my interests also revolve around the boundaries between artistic and academic forms of representation. My approach is based on the practice and critical study of qualitative research methods, such as extended fieldwork and participant observation, using collaborative and improvisational art forms to mediate complex cultural understanding to the popular audience. 

 
This approach has developed as a research interest through film and theatre education, freelance work as an actor and director in Sweden, Guatemala and Brazil, during my work as a documentary filmmaker in the UK and as a guest lecturer at various universities. In 1997 I graduated in Social Anthropology at the University of Stockholm and I completed my MA in Visual Anthropology at the University of Manchester in 2001. I was awarded a PhD in Drama in 2009 for my practice-based research on the ethnofictions of Jean Rouch, focusing on the use of projective improvisation in ethnographic filmmaking and applied on identity, performance and discrimination among transgendered Brazilians.

Research interests

My teaching and research interests focus on the development of the documentary film genre and its challenges, and I am especially interested in screen practice as research, exploring how film and video production could be applied as a part of the academic research and representation. My own practice has developed in line with the general aim of the practice at the Subject Area of Drama, to investigate how cultural values are expressed through film and performance, in dialogue with different ideas and communities. My research interests include:

  • Screen practice as research
  • Practice-based and interdisciplinary research projectsin the social sciences, the humanities, and the audio visual and performing arts
  • Authenticity and subjectivity in documentary films
  • Ethnographic film and visual anthropology
  • Crossovers between applied theatre and participatory video
  • Combinations of improvisational cinema and improvised acting
  • Docufiction - dramas produced with documentary film techniques in the borderland between fact and fiction (such as drama documentary, documentary drama, ethnofiction, mock-documentary, hand-held horror and docuscience fiction)
  • Current research focuses on the use of fiction and projective improvisation in ethnographic filmmaking

Opportunities

AMP PhD

Anthropology, Media and Performance PhD (AMP)  is delivered jointly by Centres for Applied Theatre Research and Screen Studies in the Subject Area of Drama and by the Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology in the Social Anthropology Discipline Area. The programme is a practice-based PhD that draws on the expertise and facilities available in social anthropology, visual and media anthropology as well as screen and performance studies to provide students with a unique opportunity to pursue projects that combine different aspects of these fields.

Further information

As a Lecturer in Screen Studies at Drama I seek to support all aspects of networking with other subject areas at the Faculty of Humanities that might be interested in an interdisciplinary development of screen practice as research, including Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology and Institute for Cultural Practices. Drawing on earlier experienceas a lecturer, director and performer, I also aim to link research initiatives at The University of Manchester with external contacts in screen and theatre practice.

Teaching

  • DRAM70121 Screen Research Methodologies
  • DRAM70062 MAVideo Project: Docufiction
  • DRAM30062 Video Project 2: Docufiction
  • DRAM31011 From Documentary to Mockumentary
  • DRAM21091 Video Project 1: Documentary
  • DRAM10031 The Art of Film: Introduction to Film
  • DRAM10111 Project A: Theatre Practice (Workshops)
  • DRAM10011 Introduction to Drama Studies

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):

  • SDG 4 - Quality Education
  • SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals

Research Beacons, Institutes and Platforms

  • Digital Futures
  • Creative Manchester

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