Research
Research in the Department of Media reflects the dynamic and exciting nature of the media itself. Through a broad research portfolio that encompasses significant contributions to contemporary cultural theory, substantive investigations of media output, an impressive record of participation in the creative and performing arts, and responses to the demands of the media industry itself, the Department seeks to demonstrate its commitment to an active engagement with community, professional and subject-oriented interests, at local, regional, national, and international levels. Alongside these activities, the Department is also developing enterprise opportunities for the commercial application of its work and the delivery of a supportive training framework that underpins the evolution and consolidation of a regional media base.
Research within the Department is organised around three clusters of interest and activity.
Media and Cultural Studies
This category includes a range of theoretical and substantive research, as demonstrated by a significant number of monographs, journal articles, editorships, book chapters, keynote conference presentations, exhibitions, and collaborations. Contemporary cultural theory, cultural politics, popular music, celebrity studies, fashion, gender and culture, advertising, film and photography, and the politics of sexuality are among the areas of staff expertise.
Journalism
Staff teaching on the BA (Hons) Journalism and related programmes have substantial experience in newspaper, TV and radio journalism, and their research interests draw significantly upon their professional experience. They include international journalism and the role of the foreign correspondent, the economic and occupational impacts of online news services, news coverage of war, conflict and the military, media education and pedagogy, and newsroom culture.
Media Production
In addition to teaching on the department’s programmes, many of the staff pursue parallel careers as directors, producers, screenwriters, dramatists, editors and animators. Their films, plays and TV productions have been screened at festivals around the world (including Cannes, Ottawa and Edinburgh), have won an impressive number of international awards, have been broadcast on BBC and ITV, and staged in theatres in the UK and abroad. Specific areas of research activity include the evolution of performance, the writing process, adaptation studies, digital media production, documentary production, social representation, and professional media training.
The Department hosts a seminar series in which (professional and academic) speakers from the three areas of research activity are invited to Northumbria University; these are attended by staff and postgraduate students in the School of Arts & Social Sciences and enhance the research carried on within the Department. In line with the university’s status a one of the leading providers of postgraduate education in the UK, the Department welcomes enquiries from prospective PhD students, particularly those who wish to continue their studies in the areas of expertise identified above.
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