Dr Amy Chambers

Who am I?

I am a senior lecturer in film studies and joined Manchester Metropolitan University in 2018. I predominately work in the fields of science communication and screen studies and I am particularly interested in the relationship between entertainment media and the public understanding of science.

My research examines the intersection of science and cinema, the representation of women scientists, science-based fiction screen media, and gendered filmmaking practices. I have previously researched and taught in the fields of visual culture, film history and theory, science communication, and science fiction studies at Newcastle University, the University of Manchester, and Bangor University. I was awarded my PhD in History and Film from Bangor University in 2013 (‘Film & History: Planet of the Apes as History’).

I am particularly interested in promoting women’s participation in the creative industries from both scientific and media production perspectives. I am currently developing a major activist/research project exploring the representation and projected futures of women and minority groups within scientific cultures and imagined futures in science-based fictions.I also research and publish work on domestic medical horror, women filmmakers in horror and science fiction, narratives of women’s science expertise in the media, and transmedia storytelling.

I also contribute articles and posts to a number of different platforms including the Manchester-based Science and Entertainment Lab, The Guardian, B*tch Flicks, and The Conversation. I have contributed my research and expertise to events including British Science Festival, Bristol Science Film Festival, Silbersalz Science and Media Festival, and the Copenhagen Documentary Festival (CPH:DOX*). I also work with HOME, a local arts venue, introducing screenings and leading discussions, and I recently taught a course on Women in Science Fiction as part of their 2019 'Celebrating Women in Global Cinema' season.

Why do I teach?

I am research-led lecturer and enjoy sharing my enthusiasm and expertise in my chosen subject areas with students. Teaching also gives me the opportunity to also explore and develop interests and knowledge outside of my specific field of research and engage with the changing nature of global contemporary film and media production, reception, and dissemination.

I am the unit leader for the third year/level 6 units World Cinemas (1H6Z0107 & 1H6Z0116) and Science Fiction (1H6Z0104). I also teach on first year/level 3 units Introduction to Media and Questions of Cinema.

Words of wisdom

Always do the reading. 

Publications

• Featured Works

• Books (authored/edited/special issues)

  A. Chambers, M. Iossifidis, J. Verran, L. Garforth (2025). Reading Science Fiction: Sociality, Publics and Pleasures. Palgrave.

• Journal articles

  S. Robinson, M. Baumhammer, L. Beiermann, D. Belteki, AC. Chambers, et al. K. Gibbons, E. Guimont, K. Heffner, E-L. Hill, J. Houghton, D. McCahey, S. Qidwai, C. Sleigh, N. Sugden, J. Sumner. (2020). Innovation in a crisis: rethinking conferences and scholarship in a pandemic and climate emergency. The British Journal for the History of Science. 53(4), pp.575-590.

  AC. Chambers (2017). The Evolution of Planet of the Apes: Science, Religion, and 1960s Cinema. Journal of Religion and Popular Culture. 28(2-3), pp.107-122.

• Chapters in books

  AC. Chambers, S. Thompson (2020). Women, Science, and the Media. K. Ross. In: The International Encyclopedia of Gender, Media, and Communication. Wiley, pp.1-8.

  AC. Chambers, HJ. Elizabeth (2017). It’s Grimm Up North: Domestic Obscenity, Assimilation Anxiety and Medical Salvation in BBC Three’s In the Flesh. EH. Mazierska. In: Heading North. Springer International Publishing, pp.193-211.

  AC. Chambers (2016). Challenging Perceptions of Paedophilia in Contemporary US Cinema. J. Gwynne. In: Transgression in Anglo-American Cinema: Gender, Sex and the Deviant Body. Columbia University Press, pp.131-146.

• Conferences

  A. Chambers Gendered Vices and Women in STEMM: Towards New Complexities in Entertainment Media Representation. In: Scholarly Vices: Persistence, Transmission, and Circulation. Leiden Univeristy, Netherlands, 23/8/2023.

  A. Chambers Reincarnating, Removing, and Recovering Souls in Cargo (2020) and Cold Souls (2009). The Science Museum, London, 6/6/2023.

  A. Chambers The interface at the end of the world: posthuman care, mental health and memory in Aniara (2018). University of Lincoln, 3/4/2023.

  A. Chambers "I kept my fluids to myself": Bodies, babies, and bioethics in Claire Denis’ High Life. Univeristy of Glasgow, 2/12/2022.

  A. Chambers ‘Across the desolate waves of space-night’: VR Addiction, Sentient AI and Reciprocal Care in Aniara. Univeristy of Leeds, 8/4/2022.

  A. Chambers Short Story Science/Scientists: Reader Engagements with Science and Author Identities in The Girl Who Was Plugged In and Other Stories. Manchester, 7/4/2022.

  A. Chambers Star Trek as Interdisciplinary Practice, or how to put the A in STE(A)MM. Virtual, 15/11/2021.

  A. Chambers (2021). Stanisław Lem Shorts; Roly Poly + panel conversation. Leeds International Film Festival and Polish Cultural Institute,

  A. Chambers (2021). “You’re more likely to see an alien than an Asian woman”: Onscreen diversity versus intersectional systemic decolonisation in Science/Fiction Television. Virtual,

  A. Chambers (2021). "We're saving white guys history?": Women scientists, new and imagined pasts, and narratives of science on screen. University of Bournemouth,

  A. Chambers, L. Garforth, M. Iossifidis Sociology and fiction: on reading SF (in the Anthropocene). Virtual, 11/2020.

  A. Chambers, L. Garforth, M. Iossifidis Sociology and fiction: on reading SF (in the Anthropocene). Online, 11/9/2020.

  A. Chambers (2019). Women, Science, and Screens. University of Luxembourg,

  A. Chambers (2019). Entertaining Expertise: Science, Society, and Screen Media. University of Luxembourg,

  A. Chambers (2019). Entertaining Expertise. University of Bristol,

  A. Chambers, HJ. Elizabeth Inhuman caregiving, emotional labour, and the dehumanised public health service in Humans. University of Liverpool, 19/7/2019.

  A. Chambers Screening Women in STEMM since 2000. Cardiff University, Wales, 17/12/2018.

  A. Chambers ‘‘Somewhere between science and superstition’: Religious Outrage, Horrific Science, and The Exorcist’. Queen’s University Belfast, 19/10/2018.

  A. Chambers A Clockwork Orange (1971) and the public understanding of behavioural therapies. Science Museum, London, UK, 13/9/2018.

  A. Chambers (2018). Cyborgs Take Hollywood: Cultural Responses to Possilbe AI Futures. German Academy of Sciences, Halle (Saale),

  AC. Chambers Science Fiction Filmmakers as Archivists of Science’. Science Museum, London, 17/11/2017.

  AC. Chambers Nature Strikes Back: Popular Science, Environmental Science/fictions, and Eco-activism. Senate House, London, 8/11/2017.

  AC. Chambers, HJ. Elizabeth Inhuman care-giving, emotional labour, and the dehumanised public health service in Humans. Lincoln Theological Institute, University of Manchester, 20/10/2017.

  AC. Chambers, L. Garforth Unsettling Scientific Stories: Fictional Futures and Sociological Speculation. Toronto, Canada, 24/5/2017.

  A. Chambers (2017). The Science and Documentary Filmmaking Toolkit. Copenhagen,

  AC. Chambers ‘Somewhere between science and superstition’: Religious Outrage, Horrific Science, and The Exorcist. Milwaukee, WI, USA, 26/10/2016.