Kurt Sengul

I joined Macquarie University in 2024 as a Macquarie University Postdoctoral Research Fellow (MQRF). My three-year funded project Media populism, democracy, and the public sphere in Australia in the Department of Media, Communications, Creative Arts, Language and Literature explores the nexus between the media and the rise of far-right populism. The project aims to understand the implications of media populism for liberal democracy, pluralism, and a healthy and vibrant public sphere.

I was awarded a PhD in Media and Communications from the University of Newcastle in 2022. Prior to joining Macquarie University, I worked as a lecturer and tutor at the University of Newcastle and the University of Sydney. My teaching portfolio includes experience in both applied and theory-based courses in the areas of; political communication, social media, critical discourse studies, strategic communication, communication and media theory, and digital cultures.

I have published extensively on populism, media, and the far-right in international media and communications journals, including; Television & New Media, Critical Discourse Studies, The Journal of Language and Politics, Media and Communication, Communication Research and Practice, The Journal of Intercultural Studies, and Media International Australia.

My research has been featured in a range of international edited volumes, including; The Routledge Handbook of Populism in Asia Pacific, Histories of Fascism and Anti-Fascism in Australia, The Ethics of Researching The Far-Right, and When Politicians Talk: The Cultural Dynamics of Public Speaking.

Most recently, my research agenda has focused on far-right humour and the global far-right's antigender movement.

My forthcoming monograph 'Far-Right Populism in Australia: Communication, Discourse, Performance' will be published in Bloomsbury's Advances in Critical Discourse Studies series.