Associate Professor Julia Erhart

Dean, People and Resources

College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

place Humanities
GPO Box 2100, ADELAIDE, SA, 5001

Julia Erhart is an internationally recognised feminist film scholar and expert in the fields of feminist and LGBTQ-themed media. She is author of three books, Gendering History on Screen: Women Filmmakers and Historical Films (IB Tauris/Bloomsbury 2018), Gillian Armstrong: popular, sensual & ethical cinema (Edinburgh UP 2020), and The Children’s Hour (McGill-Queens UP 2024).

Julia has a track record of data-driven research examining gender equity and the Australian screen industry. With collaborators she has produced a suite of articles on subjects including women and virtual production and women, ageing and the screen industries.

Julia has produced substantial research on LGBTQ-themed media. Her newest book on The Children’s Hour (1961) explores the production, exhibition, and reception of the first commercial American film to feature a lesbian character in a mainstream role.

Julia is the recipient of a grant from the Australian Academy of the Humanities (2016), a Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning from the Australian Office for Learning and Teaching (2014), and a Fulbright fellowship (2000).

Julia is a nationally recognised teacher. In addition the OLT Citation, she received the Vice-Chancellor's award and the Faculty award for Excellence in Teaching in 2012 and, as a co-recipient, in 2023. Institutions Julia has taught at include the University of California (Santa Cruz), San Francisco State University, New York University, and Technische Universität Chemnitz. Born and raised in New York City, Julia worked for New Line Cinema, Paperjacks , and as a freelance film editor before becoming an academic. She lives in the Adelaide Hills.

Qualifications

PhD, University of California, Santa Cruz
MA, New York University
BA, Brown University

Honours, awards and grants
  • 2023 Vice Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching (team award)
  • 2023 Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching (team award)
  • 2016 Australian Academy of the Humanities grant
  • 2016 Flinders Institute for Research in the Humanities annual research theme, co-leader
  • 2014 Australian Office for Learning and Teaching, Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning
  • 2013 Flinders Teaching and Learning Innovation Grant (co-recipient)
  • 2013 Flinders Embedding Transition Pedagogy Principles Grant
  • 2012 Vice Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching
  • 2012 Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching
  • 2012 and 2015 Flinders Medium Grant, Faculty Education, Humanities, Law
  • 2000 Senior Scholars Fellowship, American-German Fulbright Commission
Key responsibilities
Teaching interests

Non-fiction media (documentary, biographical film, historical film); women's media practice; gender and LGBTQ studies in film and television; cultural studies of media; contemporary pedagogies

Topic coordinator
SCME3000 Cross-Cultural Media
SCME3008 Media at the Margins
SCME2102 Media, Gender, and Technology
SCME2104 Popular Genres
SCME2003 Non-Fiction Form and Ethics
SCME3013 Researching and Curating Australian Screen Media
SCME1001 Media and Society
SCME8009 Non-fiction Form and Ethics
Expert for media contact
Cinema
Comedy
Entertainment
Film
Gender studies
Media
Television
Women
Australian film and television
Gender equity and film and media
LGBTQ-themed film and television
Women film directors
Available for contact via
Or contact the media team
Media expertise
  • Cinema
  • Comedy
  • Entertainment
  • Film
  • Gender studies
  • Media
  • Television
  • Women
Interests
  • Australian film and television
  • Gender equity and film and media
  • LGBTQ-themed film and television
  • Women film directors