FACULTY FOCUS
campusreview.com.au
Dr Heavy Metal
UON launches a scholarship
in heavy metal culture.
Simon Springer interviewed by Wade Zaglas
E
ven though the heavy metal music
industry is a money-making machine
and the fastest growing music genre
in the world, it’s never been seen as a topic
for serious academic inquiry in Australia.
Until now.
Recently, the University of Newcastle
announced it would offer a PhD
scholarship in Heavy Metal Geographies.
Worth just over $27,000, the scholarship
will allow either one international student
or two domestic students the opportunity
to research “the social geography of heavy
metal culture”. The scholarship can also be
used to study Homelessness and Mutual
8
Aid, Vegan Geographies, or Unschooling
and the Possibilities of Childhood.
The scholarship will be overseen by
Simon Springer, professor of human
geography at the University of Newcastle’s
School of Environmental and Life Sciences.
He is also the director of the Centre
for Urban and Regional Studies at the
university.
“Heavy metal is a global phenomenon,
representing a major cultural trend for the
past four decades. Numerous subgenres
exist within the general framework of
heavy metal, each representing unique
subcultures,” the course description reads,
which appears on the Anarchist Geography
website.
“Many of these subgenres, such as black
metal, death metal, thrash metal, and the
new wave of British heavy metal, evolved
in specific geographical settings, often
referred to as ‘scenes’. While unique scenes
have evolved across the globe, the bulk of
heavy metal’s bands have originated within
countries in the northern latitudes.
“Australia is uniquely positioned within
this global evolution, owing to its historical
connection to the United Kingdom and
shared cultural affinities with its colonial
originator. While remote from the
geographical heart of heavy metal culture,
Australia has developed its own unique
and passionate approach, producing a
number of high-profile bands.”
Themes relating to Australian heavy
metal’s relationship with colonialism,
gender-negotiation and whiteness are listed
as some of the possible areas of inquiry.
Campus Review spoke to Springer about
the uniqueness of the research degree in
Australia and why it’s an area worthy of
academic consideration.
CR: Is the University of Newcastle the
first Australian institution to offer a heavy
metal PhD scholarship, and has there been
something similar offered elsewhere?
SS: To my knowledge, this is the first time
an actual scholarship has been offered and
certainly within an Australian institution.
I know that the University of Helsinki in
Finland, just this past summer, offered
a summer school in Heavy Metal Music
in Contemporary History and Society.
I think that may have been one of the first
formalisations of bringing heavy metal
into an academic setting, at least as far as
universities go.
For a number of years there have
been Metal Studies conferences too.
For example, there’s something called
the International Society for Metal Music