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  • Study
    • Arts
    • English
    • Languages
    • MLib Arts
    • Funding/Scholarships
    • Enriching Our Student Experience
  • Research
    • Research in Arts
    • Research in English
    • Research in Languages
    • Postdoctoral Research Projects
    • Our Postgraduate Research Community
    • Conferences and Symposia
    • Facilities and Infrastructure
    • Engaged Research in Arts, English and Languages
    • Inaugural Lecture Series
  • International
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    • Graduate Testimonials | ARTS
    • Graduate Testimonials | ENGLISH
    • Graduate Testimonials | LANGUAGES
    • Work Placement
  • Discover
    • SWAN and Gender Equality
    • Facilities
    • Junior Academy of Music at QUB
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    • Events Archive
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  • Research in Arts
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  • Find a PhD Supervisor

Find a PhD Supervisor

Dr Derek Johnston

School of Arts, English and Languages
Derek Johnston

Dr Derek Johnston

School of Arts, English and Languages

My research focuses on fantastic genres in the media, particularly science fiction, Gothic, folk horror and horror in television and film. Also the representation and uses of the past in the media, particularly historical drama.

Contact info

  • derek.johnston@qub.ac.uk
  • +44 (0) 28 9097 3814

Research Interests

Open to PhD applications in:

  • Gothic / horror, science fiction, fantasy in and across media
  • Representations of history in media.
  • History of media, particularly in the UK

Make a PhD enquiry


Public outreach & key achievements

Miskatonic Institute, , 14 December 2017, Horse Hospital, London, UK, invited speaker.

 blog entry for the QUB Centre for Public History blog 

“Why the Ghost Story at Christmas”, in Paul Corupe and Kier-La Janisse, eds., Yuletide Terror: Christmas Horror on Film and Television, Toronto: Spectacular Optical, 2017

, 27 November 2017, Lincoln, UK, invited speaker - 

Telling Stories of Hope and Fear at Year’s End, Being Human Festival 2016 event, Queen’s University Belfast, 23 November 2016 – with Dr Darran McCann

‘Being Human event on Seasonal Ghost Stories’, with Darren McCann, Vanessa Hynes, Belfast 89FM, 11 November 2016

‘Seasonal Horror discussion’, Amber Hammill, Belfast 89FM, 15 December 2015

The Christmas Ghost Story: Tradition, Time and Television, 3 December 2015, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK, invited speaker

‘Why Ghosts Haunt England at Christmas but Steer Clear of America’, The Conversation, 15 December 2014 - https://theconversation.com/why-ghosts-haunt-england-at-christmas-but-steer-clear-of-america-34629

Introduction to screening of Logan’s Run, 10 November 2014, Queen’s Film Theatre, Belfast, UK

Introduction to screening of Westworld, 27 October 2014, Queen’s Film Theatre, Belfast, UK

The History of the Blockbuster, public panel debate at the World Science Fiction Convention 2014, London, UK -  

Introduction to screening of The Innocents, 16 December 2013, Queen’s Film Theatre, Belfast, UK

Introduction to screening of Pan’s Labyrinth, 11 November 2010, Cinema City, Norwich, UK

Discussion of Sad Pralad (Tropical Malady), 3 May 2010, The Forum, Norwich, UK

Introduction to screening of Notorious, 28 March 2009, Cinema City, Norwich, UK

Introduction to screening of Them!, 18 November 2007, Sainsbury Centre, Norwich, UK


Research students

PhD area Fade in Mirror: Analysis of Characteristics of Hong Kong Horror Films from the 1980s to 2000s and Their Reflection on the Construction and Loss of Hong Kong Identity
Name Ma Xiaoxiang
Years of study 2024 - present (primary supervisor)
   
PhD area The Representation of Zen in Audio-Visual Media 
Name Yao Tianpeng
Years of study 2022 - present (PhD by practice-based research, secondary supervisor)

 


Alumni: Where are they now

PhD area Crouching at the door: The Devil's Doorway and firsts in Northern Irish and female horror filmmaking
Name Dr Aislinn Clarke
Years of study 2022-23 (PhD by prior publication, second supervisor)
Current position Film writer / director; lecturer in Creative Writing, Áù¾ÅÉ«Ìà Belfast
   
PhD area BBC Northern Ireland Drama and Features Programming 1924-1956: Development, Identity, and Cultural History
Name Dr Portia Ellis-Woods
Years of study 2014-2018
Current position Business Engagement Officer, Áù¾ÅÉ«Ìà Belfast

Discover More

  • Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
  • School of Arts, English and Languages
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  • Knowledge Commons profile:  

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School Of Arts, English and Languages
2 University Square
Belfast
Northern Ireland
BT7 1NN

Email: ael@qub.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)28 9097 3238

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