---
title: "Popsicule"
chunk: 2/3
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popsicule"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:17:04.529121+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

== Research and publications ==
Popsicule contributes to research on science communication and popular culture, with a focus on the cultural dimensions of how science is communicated and experienced. Its work addresses areas including humour and comic performance in science, portrayals of scientists and scientific knowledge in film and television, visual and artistic approaches to communicating science, and environmental communication and aesthetics. The hub’s research also examines the role of narrative, metaphor, and genre in shaping public perceptions of science, as well as the ways in which popular culture influences trust, authority, and engagement in science–society relations. Through interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches, Popsicule contributes to scholarship in science communication, pop culture studies and related fields through journal articles, edited volumes, and public-facing publications.

=== Notable publications ===

==== Books ====
Judd, K.; Gaul, B.; Jürgens, A.-S. (2025). Women Scientists in American Television Comedy: Beakers, Big Bangs and Broken Hearts. Palgrave Macmillan.
Hemkendreis, A.; Jürgens, A.-S. (eds.) (2024). Communicating Ice through Popular Art and Aesthetics. Palgrave Macmillan.
Jürgens, A.-S.; Hildbrand, M. (eds.) (2022). Circus and the Avant-Gardes: History, Imaginary, Innovation. Routledge.
Jürgens, A.-S. (ed.) (2020). Circus, Science and Technology: Dramatising Innovation. Palgrave Macmillan.

==== Selected articles and book chapters ====
Walsh, L.; Jürgens, A.-S. (2025). “The creation of superheroes and supervillains through alchemy, science accidents, and violent scientific delights”, in The Routledge Companion to Superhero Studies, ed. by Lorna Piatti-Farnell and Carl Wilson. Routledge, pp. 30–39.
Kinsella, A.; Jürgens, A.-S. (2024). “Gender and terror tangled in the weeds: Poison Ivy between eco-feminism and eco-terrorism”. Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics.
Jürgens, A.-S.; Fiadotava, A.; Clitheroe, C.-L. (2024). “Vaude-villain and violent funster: Harley Quinn and humour”. Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics.
Jürgens, A.-S. (2023). “‘Human or Machine?’ Performing Androids, ‘Elektro-Homos,’ and the ‘Phroso’ and ‘Moto Phoso’ Manias on the Popular Stage around 1900”. Journal of Popular Culture.
Santos, D.; Jürgens, A.-S. (2023). “From Harleen Quinzel to Harley Quinn: Science, Symmetry and Transformation”. Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics.
Jürgens, A.-S.; Raman, S.; Hendershott, R.; Roberson, T.; Viaña, J. N.; Leach, J. (2023). “He Who Gets Slapped: How can clowning in film interrogate technoscientific culture and help enact the ideals of responsible innovation?”. Journal of Responsible Innovation.
Jürgens, A.-S. (2020). “Batman and the World of Tomorrow: Yesterday’s Technological Future in the Animated Film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm”. Animation, 15(3), 246–259.
Jürgens, A.-S.; Tscharke, D. C.; Brocks, J. (2021). “From Caligari to Joker: The Clown Prince of Crime’s Psychopathic Science”. Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics.

== Teaching and learning ==
Teaching is a central component of Popsicule’s activities, integrating research-led education with creative and practice-based approaches to science communication. The hub contributes to teaching in science communication and popular culture across the Australian National University and delivers Science, Humour and Pop Culture, an online course developed by its founder that serves as a central teaching platform for Popsicule’s approach. This course, together with the associated Science in Fiction and Film, examines how science is shaped and communicated through popular media such as film, television, comics, and fiction, and explores their influence on public perceptions of science. A distinctive feature of Popsicule’s teaching is its emphasis on creativity as a mode of inquiry and learning. Students are encouraged to work across conceptual and disciplinary boundaries, engaging with multiple perspectives and experimenting with different forms of analysis and communication. Popsicule’s teaching model places particular emphasis on experiential and practice-based learning. Students develop original projects, including research outputs and creative science communication formats such as video, visual media, and narrative-based work. The hub’s approach foregrounds co-learning, co-creation, and collaborative practice, with students working alongside researchers, artists, and cultural practitioners.

== Creative science engagement and communication ==
Popsicule develops and supports a range of creative science communication formats that combine research, storytelling, and public engagement. These projects – including Science Goes Pop, which was supported by Inspiring Australia ACT (Inspiring the ACT), the ACT Government and international collaborators – are often created in collaboration with artists, designers, and media practitioners, and function both as research outputs and as platforms for public engagement and teaching. Among these initiatives is Popsicule’s long-standing support of the Sci_Burst podcast. Founded in 2022 by science communicators Isabel Richards and Ella McCarthy, the podcast has been hosted on the Popsicule platform since its inception and has since developed into an independent science communication start-up. Popsicule and Sci_Burst continue to collaborate on projects and public engagement activities. Another strand of Popsicule’s work is the development of experimental formats that integrate art, design, and emerging technologies, including Ultra-Perception: Science goes pop, a project exploring interactive and immersive approaches such as augmented reality.

== Media coverage ==
Popsicule and its associated activities have received media coverage in national and international outlets, particularly in relation to its work on science communication through visual fiction, humour and science, and creative public engagement. Coverage has focused on topics such as mad scientists and violent clowns in comics and film, cinematic representations of science, and strategies for engaging the public imagination through programmes such as the Science. Art. Film. series. The hub’s work has been featured in outlets including Chemistry World, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, SBS German, and Wissenschaftskommunikation.de, as well as in university-based publications such as ANU Reporter. Popsicule-related research and projects have also been discussed in podcasts and media platforms focused on science communication and cultural analysis.
Selected examples include: