Ms Danica Giles

Research

My PhD research aims to develop a psychological model of character change in (fictional) film characters and investigates the relationship between film characters’ and audiences’ personal values and film popularity. I use an interdisciplinary theoretical and empirical approach that draws from the social sciences and humanities, including social psychology, film and screenwriting research, narratology, and media psychology. Based on the research findings, I am developing character and story development tools for (screen)writers. The PhD is funded by a full-time college scholarship.

Teaching

In the psychology department, I teach 2^nd-year seminars across different disciplines, which aim at fostering students’ critical thinking skills. In the media arts department, I give guest lectures for the MA Screenwriting for TV & Film about my research and how it can be applied to students’ film and TV scripts.