Katarina Damjanov

Dr Katarina Damjanov is a Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication at the University of Western Australia. Katarina's research engages with the changing relationship between technology, society and environment, focusing on emerging infrastructures on and off the Earth. She is one of the key researchers leading the development of media and cultural studies of outer space and has widely published, presented and collaborated on a range of space-related academic, industry and community projects and events. She also has keen interest in Earth-based media and communication issues and is currently collaborating on a project on Digital Nomads.

Katarina's research features in top ranked (Q1) international journals and edited collections such as Science, Technology & Human Values, Journal of Cultural Economy and Routlege Handbook of Social Futures. Some of her recent work includes a keynote on more-than-planetary futures at the Global Mobility Humanities Conference in Seoul (2024) and a paper on  satellite infrastructure at the 2024 Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand Communication Association (AANZCA) Conference. In 2025, she is visiting the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information & Technology at the University of Toronto.

Katarina joined UWA in 2013, having previously taught at The University of Melbourne where she also completed her PhD. At UWA, she was Discipline Chair of Media and Communication between 2020-2023 and also coordinated the Major in Communication and Media Studies and the Postgraduate programs in Strategic Communication and International Journalism.

Prior to commencing her academic career, Katarina gained extensive professional experience working in key creative and executive roles across media and creative industries, including TV, film, radio, advertising and theatre. Katarina's portfolio also includes media arts; she was a co-director of the Centre for the Contemporary Art and New Media - MUST:Re and collaborated on a series of projects, including exhibitions, screenings and performances at the Zagreb Film Festival, RAF Festival and Exit Music Festival. Katarina translates this industry expertise and practice into her teaching.

Katarina’s research addresses a range of issues in:  

• digital media and cultures
• media infrastructures, platforms and practices
• media and communication governance and policy
• automation, robotics and AI
• XR/VR
• communication design and strategies
• technology, environment and society
• protest, advocacy and social change
• commons and communities
• human-computer interactions
• outer space

Katarina is available for the supervision of MA and PhD projects engaging with her research areas.

At UWA, Katarina has designed and delivered innovative and award-winning curricula. She teaches across undergraduate, honours and postgraduate levels of study, including:

• COMM2002 Digital Media
• COMM3002 Media Production Project
• COMM4103 iGeneration
• COMM4105 Research Methods in Media and Communication
• COMM5200 Digital Advocacy
• COMM5604 Media Governance