Stuart Joy
Stuart Joy is a PhD student looking at the films of Christopher Nolan; his research topic title is “Reconfiguring the past and interpreting the future.”
What is your research topic?
It's about the representation of time, identity, memory and also narrative in the films of Christopher Nolan,
who has directed films such as the Dark Knight, Memento and Inception. Essentially the aim of the topic is to interrogate and clarify repeated themes across Christopher’s films in order to gain an improved understanding of time, memory and narrative in contemporary cinema and thought. I would also like to try and understand the unique relationship between cinema and the visual representation of time, as it’s one of the few mediums that can represent time fully.
How do you find studying at Southampton Solent?
I have been at Solent since 2005. I did my undergraduate degree here in 2005 in film studies, and then I went on to do my masters here in media, specialising in films from 2008-2009. I took a year out just to get some money together, then I came back to do my PhD. I love it here at Solent, and the lecturers have always been brilliant. They have extensive knowledge and are published academics.
The facilities here are great, you have the library which is great, and you can now watch films and old TV programs through the library e-resources. Solent is not too far away from the Film Institute in London and the British Library as well, you can just hop on the train to them. So in terms of its access to other things it’s pretty great.
What do you find particularly rewarding when studying?
I think ultimately for me it is the production of new material, it’s quite exciting! The accomplishment of having produced a new piece of work that can hopefully be read and admired by your peers, I think that is the most rewarding thing for me.