BA(Hons) PhD(Murd) 
Senior Lecturer
Contact
Office: 3N2, 3rd floor, Arts (Burns) Building
Tel: +64 3 4798819
Email: brett.nicholls@otago.ac.nz
@minorpolitics
Google scholar — Research gate
Editor
Baudrillard Now
Borderlands: Culture, Politics, Law and Earth
Research Interests
I have recently been working on how communication produces social reality and makes the real seem real. This work involves looking at a range of media forms, such as documentary film, wearable fitness devices, social media, and television. My basic position is that contemporary social and political life is shaped by technological forms that attempt to hide the processes of mediation. As a consequence, media and social life become inseparable. Media doesn't mediate a social reality outside media, in many instances media is social reality itself, or, in other instances, it promises direct, unmediated access to the real. This lack of mediation produces strange effects, from fake news to the emptiness of social values, and from the quantified self to the disappearance of the political. The coordinates for this work have been thinkers such as Baudrillard, Zizek, Berardi, and Deleuze and the debates that have emerged in relation to their work. This work, for me at least, seems to provide the most critical insight on the problem of communication and social life today.
2023 teaching
Semester One:
MFCO303 Critical problems in communication studies
MFCO401 Advanced Media, Film and Communication Theory
MFCO414 Discourse Theory and Practice
Semester Two:
Brett will be on Sabbatical
Supervisions Successfully Completed
11 PhDs
Anita Brady, Constituting queer: Performativity and commodity culture (completed 2007).
Garth Cartright, We live inside a dream: Ideology and utopia in the films of David Lynch (completed 2011).
Anne Begg, Brand New Zealand: Media governmentality and affective biopower (completed 2012).
Ma Weijun, Fruitful land and national cadres: Mainstreaming resistance and critical realism in contemporary Chinese TV drama (completed 2012).
Florian Deffner, Communicative mobility and networked mediation in transnational lifeworlds: A case study of European expatriates in Australia (completed 2013).
Donald Reid, Solid to liquid culture: The institutional, political and economic transformation of New Zealand state broadcasting (completed 2014).
Chris Hacon, The algorithmic subject: the neo-liberal apparatus and the social media technology of power (completed 2017).
Massimiliana Urbano, Becoming-common: Affective technologies and grassroots activism in contemporary Italy (completed 2017).
Paul Kirkham, Mimesis and power (completed 2019 and added to the Humanities Divisional List of Exceptional Doctoral theses).
Thaera Yousef, Women and Islam in Malaysia: Narrative and myth in the qualitative analysis of two controversial online news stories between 2014 and 2018 (completed 2020).
Ryan Tippet, Constituitive surveillance and social media (completed 2021).
4 MAs
Donald Reid, Cultural citizenship and the TVNZ charter: the possibility for multicultural representation in the commercial television environment (completed 2005).
Logan Valentine, The subject of the cell phone (completed 2009).
Alison Blair, Children of the revolution: Bolan, Bowie and the carnivalesque (completed 2017).
George Elliott, Deterrence and disappearance: A Baudrillardian analysis of war and spaceflight (completed 2021).
16 Honours Dissertations - the most recent include:
Rosa Marden, “Spaces of information: an analysis of surveillance, the supermarket and self-scan” (completed 2012).
Alastair Lynn, “News or infotainment? an analysis of the shifting ideology in New Zealand current affairs programming” (completed 2013).
Siala Farini-Tomlin, “Poster girls: an exploration of post-fordist labour practices in the HBO show, Girls” (completed 2013).
George Elliott, "Obscene & fatal transparency: War porn, Baudrillard’s hyperreal & plobal post-9/11 war" (completed 2017).
Grace Fogavai, "Trust the process: Tik Tok and its transformative impact on young social media users" (completed 2021).
Publications
Nicholls, B. (2022, November-December). A Satanic master signifier: The prosperity preacher, the President, and the disobedient virus. Verbal presentation at the Performing Global Crises Conference, [Hybrid].
Nicholls, B. (2022, June). It's RAT time: The rapid antigen test as (new) object of the everyday. Verbal presentation at the Cultural Studies Association of Australasia (CSAA) Conference: Bodies in Flux, Perth, Australia.
Nicholls, B. (2021). [Review of the book Universality and identity politics]. Continental Thought & Theory, 3(3), 400-403. doi: 10.26021/12246
Nicholls, B. (2021). Do we really want a return to normal? [Introduction]. borderlands, 20(2), 1-3. doi: 10.21307/borderlands-2021-010
Millar, I., Tutt, D., Nicholls, B., & Overell, R. (2021, March). Can't get you out of my head: Power, politics and the films of Adam Curtis. Panel discussion hosted by the Media, Film and Communication Programme, University of Otago, [Online]. [Public Discussion].
Pearson, E., Taffel, S., Nicholls, B., Wengermeir, M., Chen, K.-W., Phillips, H., … Madill, B., Ross, J., Gallagher, S., Fisher, T., Kabir, S. N. J., Ceuterick, M., & Urbano, M. (2014). Media Studies 101: A Creative Commons textbook. Media Texthack Group. Retrieved from https://mediatexthack.wordpress.com/
Authored Book - Other
Overell, R., & Nicholls, B. (Eds.). (2019). Post-truth and the mediation of reality: New conjectures. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-25670-8
Edited Book - Research
Nicholls, B. (2019). Postmodernism in the twenty-first century: Jordan Peterson, Jean Baudrillard and the problem of chaos. In R. Overell & B. Nicholls (Eds.), Post-truth and the mediation of reality: New conjectures. (pp. 57-77). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-25670-8_4
Chapter in Book - Research
Overell, R., & Nicholls, B. (2019). Introduction: Post-truth and the mediation of reality. In R. Overell & B. Nicholls (Eds.), Post-truth and the mediation of reality: New conjectures. (pp. 1-12). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-25670-8_1
Chapter in Book - Research
Nicholls, B. (2017). Mediation. In G. Ritzer, J. M. Ryan & B. Thorn (Eds.), The Blackwell encyclopedia of sociology. Wiley. doi: 10.1002/9781405165518.wbeosm072.pub2
Chapter in Book - Research
Nicholls, B. (2016). Everyday modulation: Dataism, health apps and the production of self-knowledge. In H. Randell-Moon & R. Tippet (Eds.), Security, race, biopower: Essays on technology and corporeality. (pp. 101-120). London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/978-1-137-55408-6_6
Chapter in Book - Research
Nicholls, B. (2010). Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm Von (1646-1716). In A. Parr (Ed.), The Deleuze dictionary. (Revised ed.) (pp. 145-147). Edinburgh, Scotland: Edinburgh University Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
Nicholls, B., & Barratt, A. (2010). The Kumars at No. 42: The dynamics of hyphenation, or did Sanjeev take Parkie down? In C. Prentice, V. Devadas & H. Johnson (Eds.), Cultural transformations: Perspectives on translocation in a global age. (pp. 275-306). Amsterdam: Rodopi.
Chapter in Book - Research
Nicholls, B. (2009). The ludic integration of the game and film industries: The Lord of the Rings computer games as entertainment meritocracies. In H. Margolis, S. Cubitt, B. King & T. Jutel (Eds.), Studying the event film: The Lord of the Rings. (pp. 280-290). Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
Nicholls, B., & Ryan, S. (2008). Gameplay as thirdspace. In M. Swalwell & J. Wilson (Eds.), The pleasures of computer gaming: Essays on cultural history, theory and aesthetics. (pp. 167-190). Jefferson, NC: McFarland.
Chapter in Book - Research
Nicholls, B. (2007). Mediation. In G. Ritzer (Ed.), Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology (Vol. VI). (pp. 2923-2928). Malden, MA: Blackwell. doi: 10.1111/b.9781405124331.2007.x
Chapter in Book - Research
Nicholls, B. (2020). The fate of energy: Wyrmwood: Road of the dead, ecology and Baudrillard's zombie. Baudrillard Now, 1(1), 22-28.
Journal - Research Article
Devadas, V., & Nicholls, B. (2017). The misplaced public of New Zealand media: Notes toward a future media scene. MEDIANZ, 17(1), 116-134. Retrieved from https://medianz.otago.ac.nz/medianz/article/view/183
Journal - Research Article
Nicholls, B. (2017). Adam Curtis's compelling logic: The tortuous corridor to the hypernormal. borderlands, 16(1).
Journal - Research Article
Nicholls, B. (2016). Baudrillard in a ‘post-truth’ world: Groundwork for a critique of the rise of Trump. MEDIANZ, 16(2), 6-30. Retrieved from https://medianz.otago.ac.nz/medianz/article/view/206
Journal - Research Article
Nicholls, B. (2014). Edward W. Said: Cultural critic, activist, public intellectual. Critical Race & Whiteness Studies, 10(1). Retrieved from http://www.acrawsa.org.au/files/ejournalfiles/223Nicholls20141_2.pdf
Journal - Research Article
Devadas, V., & Nicholls, B. (2012). The meaning of John Key. New Zealand Journal of Media Studies, 13(2), 18-31. doi: 10.11157/medianz-vol13iss2id13
Journal - Research Article
Nicholls, B. (2011). East West 101 as edgy text: Television police drama and Australian multiculturalism. Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, 25(4), 573-582. doi: 10.1080/10304312.2011.578732
Journal - Research Article
Nicholls, B. (2011). Documenting conspiracy: The Loose Change series and truth-telling in the state of exception. borderlands, 10(3). Retrieved from http://www.borderlands.net.au/vol10no3_2011/nicholls_documenting.htm
Journal - Research Article
Nicholls, B. (2011). Hardt, Negri, and antagonism: Media and communication studies in the context of Empire. Journal of Communication Inquiry, 35(4), 322-327. doi: 10.1177/0196859911415674
Journal - Research Article
Nicholls, B., & Ryan, S. (2004). Playing in the zone: Thirdspace in Jet Set Radio Future and Shenmue II. Scan, 1(1). Retrieved from www.scan.net.au/scan/journal/display_article.php?recordID=22
Journal - Research Article
Nicholls, B., & Ryan, S. C. (2003). Game, space and the politics of cyberplay. FineArt Forum, 17(8). Retrieved from http://www.msstate.edu/Fineart_Online/Backissues/Vol_17/faf_v17_n08/reviews/nicholls.html
Journal - Research Article
Devadas, V., & Nicholls, B. (2002). Postcolonial interventions: Gayatri Spivak, three wise men and the native informat. Critical Horizons, 3(1), 73-101.
Journal - Research Article
Devadas, V., & Nicholls, B. (2000). A contaminated critique. Third Text, 52, 86-88.
Journal - Research Article
Nicholls, B. (2000). Disrupting the Kantian sublime: Gordon Bennett's painting for a new republic (the inland sea) and the rule of reason. Balayi, 1(1), 129-148.
Journal - Research Article
Nicholls, B. (1997). Disrupting time: Post colonial politics in Homi Bhabha's. The location of culture. Southern Review, 30(1), 4-25.
Journal - Research Article
Nicholls, B. (2021). [Review of the book Universality and identity politics]. Continental Thought & Theory, 3(3), 400-403. doi: 10.26021/12246
Journal - Research Other
Nicholls, B. (2021). Do we really want a return to normal? [Introduction]. borderlands, 20(2), 1-3. doi: 10.21307/borderlands-2021-010
Journal - Research Other
Nicholls, B. (2015). Neoliberalism, media and the political. MEDIANZ, 15(2), 96-103. doi: 10.11157/medianz-vol15iss2id156
Journal - Research Other
Nicholls, B., & Devadas, V. (2012). Introduction: New Zealand/Aotearoa 2011: Politics, disaster, spectacle. New Zealand Journal of Media Studies, 13(2), 1-3. [Editorial].
Journal - Research Other
Nicholls, B., Rowe, D., Barker, C., Scriven, M., & Lecomte, M. (2000). Sport, culture and the media. Television globalisation and cultural identities. Television broadcasting in contemporary France and Britain. Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, 14(1), 110-112.
Journal - Research Other
Nicholls, B., & Ryan, S. C. (2003). Playing in the zone: Thirdspace in Jet Set Radio Future and Shenmue II. In P. Crogan (Ed.), Ludic moments, computer games for the time being. Sydney: Artspace. [Full Paper]
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper
Nicholls, B. (2019). In catastrophic times: Jean Baudrillard's impossible exchange with science. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy (ASCP). (pp. 77). Retrieved from https://www.ascp.org.au
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Nicholls, B. (2016). The fate of energy in the zombie film: Wyrmwood and the struggle for power in the post-apocalyptic Australian bush. Proceedings of the New Research on Horror Conference. Retrieved from http://www.otago.ac.nz/horror2016/index.html
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Nicholls, B. (2014). Surveillance and simulation: Baudrillard, Deluze and control. Proceedings of the Surveillance, Copyright, Privacy: The End of the Open Internet Conference. Retrieved from https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/scpconf/
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Nicholls, B. (2010). Documenting conspiracy: The Loose Change series as truth telling tactic in the state of exception. Proceedings of the Association for Cultural Studies (ACS) Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference. Retrieved from http://cultstud.org/xr2010/crossroad/individual_paper.html
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Nicholls, B. (2008). Contesting Islamophobia: East West 101 and the imperative of liberal tolerance in Australia. In C. Fowler & R. Simmons (Eds.), Proceedings of the XIVth Biennial Conference of the Film and History Association of Australia and New Zealand (Vol. 1: Refereed Abstracts). (pp. 58-59). Dunedin, New Zealand: Department of Film, Media and Communication, University of Otago. [Abstract]
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Nicholls, B. (2022, June). It's RAT time: The rapid antigen test as (new) object of the everyday. Verbal presentation at the Cultural Studies Association of Australasia (CSAA) Conference: Bodies in Flux, Perth, Australia.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Nicholls, B. (2022, November-December). A Satanic master signifier: The prosperity preacher, the President, and the disobedient virus. Verbal presentation at the Performing Global Crises Conference, [Hybrid].
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Nicholls, B. (2018, July). The return of the object: Baudrillard in the anthropocene. Verbal presentation at the On the Anthropocene: A Symposium, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Nicholls, B., Begg, A., Williams, J., Hayden, L., & Stutchbury, S. (2018, August). The changing face of advertising and effect it's having on business, particularly media. Panel discussion at the University of Otago Winter Symposium Series, Auckland, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Nicholls, B. (2017, November). Baudrillard and science: Objectivity, uncertainty, and the vital illusion. Verbal presentation at the Mediating the Real 2 Conference: Mediations in a Post-Truth Era, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Nicholls, B. (2016, August-September). The ambivalent object: Baudrillard, sign systems, and the mediation of the real. Verbal presentation at the Mediating the Real Conference, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Nicholls, B. (2014, August). Fixing the odds: Mobile self-management technology and the ethical constitution of neoliberal subjectivity. Verbal presentation at the Competing Responsibilities Conference: The Ethics and Politics of Responsibility in Contemporary Life, Wellington, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Nicholls, B. (2014, December). Counting selves: Mobile self-management technology, the every day, and the rise of a new ethics. Verbal presentation at the Space, Race, Bodies Conference: Geocorpographies of City, Nation, Empire, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Nicholls, B. (2014, October). The counting self: mobile self-management technology, data and ethics. Verbal presentation at the Media Ubiquity Symposium: Spaces, Places and Networks, Auckland, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Nicholls, B. (2013, November). The problematic practico-inert: Critiques of disaster narratives in Adam Curtis's documentary films. Verbal presentation at the Disaster! A Symposium, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Nicholls, B. (2012, June). Forms of social critique in the TV documentaries of Adam Curtis. Verbal presentation at the London Symposium: Film and Media: Second Annual London Film and Media Conference: The End of Representation? London, UK.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Nicholls, B. (2012, October). Two Spinozas: Reading Deleuze back against Negri. Verbal presentation at the Affecting Deleuze Conference: A Conference on the Ethics of Gilles Deleuze, Auckland, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Nicholls, B. (2011, November). Global citizenship and the multitude in the context of Empire. Verbal presentation at the Postcolonial Studies Research Network Conference: Citizenship in an Era of Global Crisis, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
