Dr Caroline Wilson-Barnao

Lecturer

School of Communication and Arts

Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

c.wilsonbarnao@uq.edu.au

Overview

Caroline is the Director of Museum Studies at the University of Queensland. Formerly a communications professional with around 20 years of experience in the arts and not-for-profit sector, Caroline has a strong interest in exploring the impacts and possibilities of the use of digital and participatory media by the museum.

She is the author of ‘Museums as Platforms” which was released in 2022 and has written a range of related articles including “The quantified and customised museum: measuring, matching and aggregating audiences” (2020), “The logic of platforms: how on demand museums are adapting in the digital era” (2018) “How algorithmic cultural recommendation influence the marketing of cultural collections (2017) and “The personalisation of publicity in the museum” (2016).

Caroline is currently a member of the Digital Cultures and Society group, the Australian Research Node, the Museums Association of Critical Heritage Studies, and is an accredited HEA Fellow.

Research interests include

Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums (GLAMS)
Digital Humanities
Rapid Response and born-digital collecting
Museums and soft power
Museums and social change
Historic urban/cultural landscape: identity, memory, and heritage
Heritage and Cultural Tourism
Urban space and media cities
Gender and sexuality studies
Social media

Research Interests

GLAMS
Cultural policy
Museums
Social Media
Cultural access
Born digital collecting
Rapid responce collecting
Human in the loop
Gender studies
Culture industries
Cultural policy

Research Impacts

My work benefits museums and cultural institutions by helping them to incorporate new technologies into their exhibitions and operations.

Qualifications

Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
Masters (Coursework), Bond University
Bachelor of Arts, The University of Queensland

Publications

Journal Article: Art rocks: atmospheres of connection and everyday creativity in hybrid public space

Wilson-Barnao, Caroline and Collie, Natalie (2024). Art rocks: atmospheres of connection and everyday creativity in hybrid public space. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 27 (3), 405-427. doi: 10.1177/13678779231219016
Journal Article: Redefining crisis in museums: Insiders perspectives on digital engagement

Wilson‐Barnao, Caroline, Middleton, Craig and Enright, Lisa (2023). Redefining crisis in museums: Insiders perspectives on digital engagement. Curator: The Museum Journal, 66 (2), 351-365. doi: 10.1111/cura.12546
Conference Publication: Redefining Crisis in museums: The National Museum of Australia and its digital engagement throughout the 2019/2020 bushfire season and the Covid-19 pandemic

Wilson-Barnao, Caroline, Middleton, Craig and Enright, Lisa (2022). Redefining Crisis in museums: The National Museum of Australia and its digital engagement throughout the 2019/2020 bushfire season and the Covid-19 pandemic. AZNCA: Communicating through Chaos , Wollongong, NSW Australia, 22-25 November 2022.

View all Publications

Supervision

Vaccinating the future: Australian GLAM industry approaches to collecting COVID 19.

Doctor Philosophy
Sound as a material of the past

Doctor Philosophy
Research on the effects of the digital media visual context on artistic representation and art creation of professional artists across the Asia-Pacific region.

Doctor Philosophy

View all Supervision

Publications

Book

Digital access and museums as platforms

Wilson-Barnao, Caroline (2022). Digital access and museums as platforms. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429298691

Book Chapter

Artificial intelligence needs human intervention to combat online hate

Demartini, Gianluca and Wilson-Barnao, Caroline (2022). Artificial intelligence needs human intervention to combat online hate. Conflict in My Outlook. (pp. 1-30) edited by Anna Briers, Nicholas Carah and Holly Arden. Melbourne, VIC Australia: Perimiter.
Playing with TikTok: algorithmic culture and the future of creative work

Collie, Natalie and Wilson-Barnao, Caroline (2020). Playing with TikTok: algorithmic culture and the future of creative work. The Future of Creative Work: Creativity and Digital Disruption. (pp. 172-188) edited by Greg Hearn. Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Edward Elgar Publishing. doi: 10.4337/9781839101106.00020
New media challenges to the theory and practice of communication engagement

Hearn, Greg, Wilson-Barnao, Caroline and Collie, Natalie (2018). New media challenges to the theory and practice of communication engagement. The handbook of communication engagement. (pp. 515-527) edited by Kim A. Johnston and Maureen Taylor. Hoboken, NJ, United States: John Wiley & Sons. doi: 10.1002/9781119167600.ch35

Journal Article

Art rocks: atmospheres of connection and everyday creativity in hybrid public space

Wilson-Barnao, Caroline and Collie, Natalie (2024). Art rocks: atmospheres of connection and everyday creativity in hybrid public space. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 27 (3), 405-427. doi: 10.1177/13678779231219016
Redefining crisis in museums: Insiders perspectives on digital engagement

Wilson‐Barnao, Caroline, Middleton, Craig and Enright, Lisa (2023). Redefining crisis in museums: Insiders perspectives on digital engagement. Curator: The Museum Journal, 66 (2), 351-365. doi: 10.1111/cura.12546
Women’s bodies and the evolution of anti-rape technologies: from the hoop skirt to the smart frock

Wilson-Barnao, Caroline, Bevan, Alex and Lincoln, Robyn (2021). Women’s bodies and the evolution of anti-rape technologies: from the hoop skirt to the smart frock. Body and Society, 27 (4), 30-54. doi: 10.1177/1357034x211058782
The quantified and customised museum: measuring, matching, and aggregating audiences

Wilson-Barnao, Caroline (2020). The quantified and customised museum: measuring, matching, and aggregating audiences. Public-Art Culture Ideas, 30 (60), 208-219.
The droning of intimacy: bodies, data, and sensory devices

Wilson-Barnao, Caroline and Collie, Natalie (2018). The droning of intimacy: bodies, data, and sensory devices. Continuum, 32 (6), 1-12. doi: 10.1080/10304312.2018.1525922
The logic of platforms: how “on demand” museums are adapting in the digital era

Wilson-Barnao, Caroline (2018). The logic of platforms: how “on demand” museums are adapting in the digital era. Critical Arts, 32 (3), 1-16. doi: 10.1080/02560046.2018.1466903
How algorithmic cultural recommendation influence the marketing of cultural collections

Wilson-Barnao, Caroline (2017). How algorithmic cultural recommendation influence the marketing of cultural collections. Consumption, Markets & Culture, 20 (6), 559-574. doi: 10.1080/10253866.2017.1331910
The personalization of publicity in the museum

Wilson-Barnao, Caroline (2016). The personalization of publicity in the museum. Continuum, 30 (6), 688-696. doi: 10.1080/10304312.2016.1189649

Conference Publication

Redefining Crisis in museums: The National Museum of Australia and its digital engagement throughout the 2019/2020 bushfire season and the Covid-19 pandemic

Wilson-Barnao, Caroline, Middleton, Craig and Enright, Lisa (2022). Redefining Crisis in museums: The National Museum of Australia and its digital engagement throughout the 2019/2020 bushfire season and the Covid-19 pandemic. AZNCA: Communicating through Chaos , Wollongong, NSW Australia, 22-25 November 2022.
Momentous: redefining crisis through digital engagement at the National Museum of Australia

Middleton, Craig, Wilson-Barnao, Caroline and Enright, Lisa (2022). Momentous: redefining crisis through digital engagement at the National Museum of Australia. Museums+Tech 2022: Turning it off and on again, London, United Kingdom, 11 November 2022.
Museums as Platforms? Experiments in museum automation

Wilson-Barnao, Caroline (2022). Museums as Platforms? Experiments in museum automation. Life in the Age of Automation: Cultural and Creative Perspectives, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 26 September 2022.
Rapid response collecting: The National Museum Rapid Response Collecting: The National Museum of Australia and its digital engagement throughout the 2019/2020 bushfire season and the Covid-19 pandemic

Middleton, Craig, Wilson-Barnao, Caroline and Enright, Lisa (2021). Rapid response collecting: The National Museum Rapid Response Collecting: The National Museum of Australia and its digital engagement throughout the 2019/2020 bushfire season and the Covid-19 pandemic. Living Digital Heritage Conference, Macquarie Park, NSW Australia, 5-7 November 2021.
From chastity belts to smart frocks: The promise of rape-prevention technology

Wilson-Barnao, Caroline, Bevan, Alex and Lincoln, Robyn (2019). From chastity belts to smart frocks: The promise of rape-prevention technology. Association of Internet Researchers Conference, Brisbane, Australia, 3-5 October, 2019.
Intimate Infrastructures: Measuring sentiment from the inside out

Wilson-Barnao, Caroline, Collie, Natalie and Hearn, Greg (2017). Intimate Infrastructures: Measuring sentiment from the inside out. Digital Intimacies: Connection and disconnection, RMIT, Melbourne, 13 - 14 November 2017.
Intimate infrastructures: Data and desire in the digital bedroom

Wilson-Barnao, Caroline, Collie, Natalie and Hearn, Greg (2017). Intimate infrastructures: Data and desire in the digital bedroom. At home with digital media, QUT, Brisbane, 2-3 November 2017.
Intimate surveillance: Probing users from the inside out

Wilson-Barnao, Caroline and Collie, Natalie (2017). Intimate surveillance: Probing users from the inside out. Cultures of capitalism: Cultural Studies Association of Australasia Conference 2017, Massey University, Wellington Campus Aotearoa New Zealand, 6 - 8 December 2017.

Other Outputs

The personalisation of publicity in the museum: from visitors to users

Wilson-Barnao, Caroline Chloe (2017). The personalisation of publicity in the museum: from visitors to users. PhD Thesis, School of Communication and Arts, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/uql.2017.507

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision

Vaccinating the future: Australian GLAM industry approaches to collecting COVID 19.

Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
- Associate Professor Nicholas Carah
Sound as a material of the past

Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
- Dr Natalie Collie
Research on the effects of the digital media visual context on artistic representation and art creation of professional artists across the Asia-Pacific region.

Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
- Associate Professor Nicholas Carah
- Dr Katherine Guinness
Survival on the fringe: Investigating the cultural conditions affecting fringe festival production and reception

Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
- Associate Professor Sheranne Fairley
- Dr Bernadette Cochrane
Collaborative documentary photography: a relational and visual mode

Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
- Dr Natalie Collie
Value Perceptions of Queensland's Arts and Culture Sector: A Study of Sector Sustainability

Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
- Dr Monica Chien
- Dr Kate Power

This staff member is a UQ Expert for media in the following fields:

Museums, Technology, Public Relations

They are happy to lend their expertise to your articles or broadcasts and share their research discoveries and insights with the community via media channels.

For additional assistance with story ideas, general advice and information or help with seeking further experts, please email the UQ Media Team or telephone (07) 3365 1120.

The University of Queensland

UQ Researchers