It was a “crucible of coincidence” that lead Dr Fincina Hopgood from studying Law to Screen Studies. In her own words she “did not set out to become a lecturer in Screen Studies after high school”. In fact, she headed to Law School, only to discover her love for writing about cinema. This wasn’t surprising, considering the film industry was in her DNA, with an actor and screen-writer father.
Fincina was able to attend the Toronto Film Festival as a member of the press, while studying in Montreal through a university exchange program. Through this experience, Fincina discovered her passion for writing about film, and once she returned home she decided to study a Postgraduate Diploma in Cinema Studies at Melbourne University.
“At the same time as I was studying full-time I was invited to be a Tutor-in-residence at Ormond College at Melbourne Uni. I loved it and what I loved about it was teaching in small groups and sharing my passion for cinema. I have to say the opportunity that was given to me to test the waters of teaching was a really valuable one because at the same time that I was studying cinema I was thinking this is a way to marry my two loves, my passion for cinema and, what was emerging as, my passion for teaching into one.
“It was that crucible of coincidence, being in the right place at the right time, and taking opportunities when they were offered to me that led me to, first of all, enrol in my Masters degree and then of course I converted my Masters degree into a PhD in Cinema Studies.”
Fincina is now a Lecturer in Screen Studies at UNE. Her role involves both teaching and research, which allows her to bring her research knowledge into the classroom.
“Wherever possible, I bring my research into the classroom. Because I’m researching in the Australian film industry, and I’m teaching a unit like ‘Australian Screens’, I can obviously bring all my industry knowledge into the classroom. Similarly with a unit like ‘Human Rights on Screen’, which is a unit that I developed for UNE when I came to the university, I drew upon my research expertise, around portrayals of mental health on screen and the history of human rights.
UNE is all about supporting adults to study flexibly how they want, and I really like that they are applying that in my case too, as one of their employees. They recognise that I am committed to the job and also committed to my family. The way to reconcile those two commitments is for me to be able to work flexibly and work remotely when I need to support my family.”