Name Card
rp02058 picture

Dr Martin, Sylvia Janet

Title:
Assistant Professor

Contact Information
rp02058 picture
Office:

Dr Martin, Sylvia Janet

Title:
Assistant Professor

Short Biography:

Sylvia J Martin received her PhD in anthropology from the University of California, Irvine. Prior to joining the University of Hong Kong, she was a Visiting Assistant Professor in Anthropology at Pomona College in California. She was also the recipient of a Postdoctoral Fulbright Fellowship at The University of Hong Kong in 2010-2011.

Sylvia’s forthcoming book, Haunted: An Ethnography of the Hollywood and Hong Kong Media Industries(Oxford University Press), is based on multi-sited fieldwork she conducted in the Hollywood and Hong Kong film and television industries. Through participant observation on film and television sets, she examined how media professionals in both sites were impacted by the various risks involved in filming spectacular images and dramatic storylines. She also explores how job insecurity and industrial decline were experienced in both sites. Not just a study in contrasts, the book lays out some of the commonalities and transnational connections between the two commercial production centers.

She has also taught and published on the construction of cultural icons through myth, media, and transnational markets. She is interested in ethnographic encounters and ethnographic writing.

Professional Qualifications
YearAwarding InstitutionQualification
University of California, IrvinePhD Anthropology
University of California, Santa BarbaraBA Religious Studies
Brandeis University (Boston, USA)Joint MA Anthropology and Women’s Studies
Biography

Sylvia Martin received her PhD in anthropology from the University of California, Irvine. Prior to joining the University of Hong Kong, Sylvia was a Visiting Assistant Professor in Anthropology at Pomona College in California. Sylvia was also the recipient of a Postdoctoral Fulbright Fellowship at the University of Hong Kong in 2010-2011.

Sylvia conducted a multi-sited ethnographic study of the Hollywood and Hong Kong film and television industries, examining the labor involved in creating spectacle on film and television sets in both sites amid the uncertainties and risks of industrial production and globalizing processes. This research explores the thematic commonalities and transnational connections between the two commercial production centers, as well as the contrasts, attending to localized practices and the cultural logics that shape them. Sylvia has also recently taught and published on the construction of cultural icons through media, memory, migration, and transnational markets.

 
Honours, Awards & Prizes
AwardeesAward DateHonours / Awards / PrizesCategory
2017-01-01Outstanding Paper Award: Critical Studies in Media Communication
ISSN: 1529-5036 ; eISSN: 1479-5809
Research Achievement
Professional Societies
Term PeriodPositionProfessional Societies
08/2005 - presentMemberAmerican Anthropological Association
08/2008 - presentMemberSociety of Cinema and Media Studies
12/2015 - 08/2016MemberSociety for Applied Anthropology
03/2021-presentFellowRoyal Anthropological Institute
Media Contact Directory
Area of Expertise:
Area of Expertise (EN)Area of Expertise (ZH)
Performance
Media industries
Globalization
Cultural anthropology
Anthropology of media
Spoken Languages:
Spoken Language(s) (EN)Spoken Language(s) (ZH)
English英語
Written Languages:
Written Language(s) (EN)Written Language(s) (ZH)
English英文
Loading Content...Please Wait!
Loading Content...Please Wait!
Loading Content...Please Wait!
Loading Content...Please Wait!
Loading Content...Please Wait!
Loading Content...Please Wait!
Loading Content...Please Wait!