Weekly Research Seminar Series - A Study of Disney’s Star Wars: Theorizing Circuit of Culture

This week, we are delighted to start our Wednesday research seminar series for Term 2. This Wednesday, Dr. Ruta Vaidya will be presenting her research on “A Study of Disney’s Star Wars: Theorizing Circuit of Culture”.  

Wednesday Research Seminar Series       

We are pleased to invite you to our Wednesday Research Seminar. It will be held online on 26 January from 4pm via Microsoft team platform. Wednesday Research Seminar Series was launched in 2008 and has featured more than 310 presentations to date. The seminars provide a forum for researchers to share their work. Presenters include faculty from Middlesex University Dubai and other universities in the United Arab Emirates, as well as researchers from other global institutions. Dr. Ruta will deliver seminar on:       

“A Study of Disney’s Star Wars: Theorizing Circuit of Culture”   

Ruta Vaidya           

Abstract       

Effects of cultural texts on society such as films, television shows, music have received overwhelming attention in academia (Fiske 2010; Hall 1997; Jenkins 1992). However, there is a gap in scholarship in explaining how certain films and television content enable meaning-making and moral understandings such as the dichotomy between good vs evil, and right vs wrong. Using Star Wars as a case, this study examines the cultural circulation of morality through discourses related to the Star Wars films and a range of the transmedia storytelling universe. The aim is to examine the social and cultural significance of some mutually reinforcing morals before and after Star Wars’ acquisitions by Disney. This study explores the similarities and differences in the ways that Lucasfilm (under the leadership of George Lucas) and Disney, separately perceive and circulate moral meanings through Star Wars films, toys and other merchandize and the processes and practices involved in the construction of morals. The study adopts the theoretical and methodological framework of the circuit of culture (Du gay et al 1997) to analyze two out of the five distinct yet overlapping and non-linear moments of representation and production. The study adds to a deeper understanding of the meaning-making processes of a cultural text when handled by two different media industries. Considering the acquisitions of Star Wars by Disney as a relatively recent phenomenon, the study contributes empirically to an understanding of the memoir of Star Wars as a moral narrative, analyzed through the various cultural processes that enable multiple and varied meanings for a text. 

Biography    

Dr Ruta is a doctoral degree holder from the division of sociology with a specialisation in media and cultural studies at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. Prior to pursuing a PhD in Singapore, she has received a double MA in Journalism and Media Studies from Erasmus Mundus- Europe from the University of Aarhus, Denmark; University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands; and the University of Hamburg, Germany. Dr Ruta is currently a lecturer in Journalism and Digital Media at Middlesex University, Dubai. She has worked as an associate lecturer at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS), Singapore. Ruta has the expertise of designing and developing new courses and curriculum at the University. She has taught a range of courses including Social Science Research Methods, Contemporary Society, Digital Media and Journalism, Culture, Self and Identity and Social Psychology. In addition, she has over eight years of work experience as a media professional in communications, broadcast industry pertaining to content production, media convergence and content acquisitions in some of the top media organizations such as Turner International, Star Group and Fox International     

Look forward to seeing you at the seminar!