Dr Colette Balmain
Faculties, deparments and locations
- Kingston School of Art
- Department of Journalism, Publishing and Media
- School of Creative and Cultural Industries
- Penrhyn Road
Senior lecturer in Media & Communication
- Email:
- c.balmain@kingston.ac.uk
About
I have had over 20 years of teaching experience in Higher Education. Originally a film specialist, my current work is best thought of as interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary. I am interested in the intersections and cominglings of disciplines in the 21st century.
I am currently a senior lecturer in Media & Communication. I teach on core Media & Communication modules at Level 4, Level 5 and Level 7. I have taught at Kingston University for over ten years now.
I am the PG Admissions for the MA Media & Communication
Modules
- MD4002 - Media@Work (teaching team)
- MD5005 - Identity and Difference (Module leader)
- MD5008: Digital Storytelling (Module Leader)
- MD6011: Issues in Contemporary Media Environments (teaching team)
- MD6002 - Media Research Project (teaming team)
- MD7003 - Freedom, censorship and subversion (Module leader)
I am also a PhD supervisor across film and media. I am currently the first supervisor for three students and the second supervisor for one.
Qualifications
- PhD Film
- MA Literature, Art and Culture (First Class)
- PGCE (FE)
- BSc 2.2 (Hons) Literature and the History of Ideas/History
Domains
Courses taught
My work is interdisciplinary and in particular focuses on identity politics and the representation of race, gender, sexuality and disability in cinema. I am particularly interested in East Asian cinemas and cultures, with special interest in horror and gothic modes of discourse.
My first monograph was on Japanese horror cinema and was published in 2008. Since then, I have written numerous articles and given conference papers on a range of subjects. Last year, I was invited to deliver guest lectures in Taiwan and Indonesia on East Asian gothic cinemas. My second monograph is on East Asian gothic cinema and will be published in 2024.
In 2020, just before multiple lockdowns as a result of the pandemic, I launched the BTS Global Interdisciplinary Conference Project, which is now in its fourth year with subsequent conferences in Los Angeles (online), Seoul and Kuala Lumpur. I have given keynotes addresses at the last three conferences. I am editing a book on BTS which has been delayed as a result of the pandemic as well as writing a monograph on BTS and Emotional Masculinity. I have written for Sight and Sound, and currently write for View of the Arts and easternKicks. I am a member of the Association for Asian Studies and the International Gothic Association.
Specialisms
- East Asian Cinema and Cultures
- The gothic
- Korean Popular Culture including K-dramas and K-Pop
- Videogames
- Popular Music
Scholarly affiliations
- Association of Asian Studies
- International Gothic Association
- IASPM
I am often asked to give guest lectures and/or keynote addresses. Recently I was invited to Seoul and Taiwan in relation to my work on East Asian popular culture.
Publications
Korean screen cultures: interrogating cinema, TV, music and online games
(2016). Bern, Switzerland: (Peter Lang)
Directory of World Cinema : South Korea
(2013). Bristol, U.K.: (Intellect)
Uneasy humanity : perpetual wrestling with evil
(2009). Freeland, U.K.: (Inter-disciplinary Press)
Introduction to Japanese horror film
Balmain, Colette (2008). Edinburgh, U.K.: (Edinburgh University Press)
Repetition and difference in East Asian gothic cinema : the 'Bunshinsaba' film series
Balmain, Colette, 2020, Transnational Screens (11), 3, pp 187-201
East Asian Gothic : a definition
Balmain, Colette, 2018, Palgrave Communications (3), 31
Crypto-cannibalism : Meat, murder and monstrosity in Tiwa Moeithasong’s The Meat Grinder
Balmain, Colette, 2014, Horror Studies (5), 2, pp 249-264
Bangtan universe (BTS, 2017-Present) : South Korean transmedia universe
Balmain, Colette (2021). In: Bacon, Simon, (ed.), Transmedia cultures : a companion. Oxford, U.K.: Peter Lang Ltd, pp 201-210
Pan-Asian gothic
Balmain, Colette (2016). In: Byron, Glennis, (ed.), Globalgothic. Manchester, U.K.: Manchester University Press, pp 119-132
Pop goes Korean Popular Culture : an investigation into the popularity of Hallyu culture in the UK
Balmain, Colette (2014). In: Marinescu, Valentina, (ed.), The global impact of South Korean popular culture : Hallyu unbound. Maryland, U.S.: Lexington Books, pp 81-88
Southeast Asian Gothic cinema
Balmain, Colette (2014). In: Byron, Glennis, (eds.) and Townshend, Dale, (eds.), The Gothic world. Abingdon, U.K.: Routledge, pp 399-411
Unnatural appetites and the case of the cannibal in Korean cinema
Balmain, Colette (2012). In: Norris, Nanette, (ed.), Words for a small planet : ecocritical Views. Lanham, U.S.: Lexington Books, pp 167-182
10 years of evil
Balmain, Colette (2009). In: Balmain, Colette, (eds.) and Norris, Nanette, (eds.), Uneasy humanity : perpetual wrestling with evil. Freeland, U.K.: Inter-disciplinary Press, pp ix-xi
And WHAT's on the menu today? Greed and gluttony in Sato's 'Naked blood'
Balmain, Colette (2009). In: Balmain, Colette, (eds.) and Norris, Nanette, (eds.), Uneasy humanity : perpetual wrestling with evil. Freeland, U.K.: Inter-disciplinary Press, pp 121-130
Ghosts and not ghouls in contemporary East Asian gothic cinema
Balmain, Colette J.(2017). In: Games, Gothic and Gore: Horror beyond Hollywood, 25th Jan 2017 :Salford, U.K.
Through the eyes of a child : hybridity and morbidity in Jo Sung-hee's 'A werewolf boy'
Balmain, Colette(2015). In: Open graves, open minds : The company of wolves : Sociality, animality, and subjectivity in literary and cultural narratives - werewolves, shapeshifters, and feral humans, 03 - 05 Sep 2015 :Hatfield, U.K.