Goldsmiths - University of London

Research

Departmental Research Profile

Research culture in the Department of Media and Communications at Goldsmiths is unique in that it draws on and brings together different disciplinary and intellectual traditions, approaches and perspectives rooted in the humanities and the social sciences, in theoretical analysis and practical creations, in critical readings and performance. Our work spans a wide range of topics and approaches -- from philosophical studies of technology and human life to sociological investigations of media production and use; from issues of identity, embodiment and becoming to post-feminism, queer theory and critical race studies; from global screen studies and transnational investigations of media and culture to news’ role in contemporary democracy. 80 per cent of our research has been described as ‘world leading or internationally excellent’ in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise.

The Department’s research falls into four main strands which make up our research groupings:

•    Contemporary Cultures: connecting the long tradition of work within the Department on culture and representation, embodiment and affect, to its specific strengths in gender, race, sexuality and cultures of work
•    Media and Democracy: building on the work of the Centre for Global Media and Democracy and the Leverhulme programme on media’s contribution to democracy -- including the changing nature of journalism and political communication
•    Media Futures: bringing together arts, humanities and social sciences approaches to understanding the changing role of media technologies in art, culture, economy and science and the changing relation between the virtual and the material
•    Film and Screen Cultures: consolidating the long-standing work on film and screen media within the Department, with an international focus -- including strengths in East Asia and the Arab world.

Many of the projects undertaken within the Department are collaborative in nature -- such as the work conducted under the umbrella of Goldsmiths Leverhulme Media Research Centre, funded with a 2006 Leverhulme grant to study the design and significance of various contemporary media spaces. Members of the Department have also received funding from AHRC, British Academy, British Council, Carnegie Trust UK, Council for British Research in the Levant, ESRC, EPSRC, Guggenheim Foundation, Higher Education Academy, Hong Kong Research Grants Council, JISC, London Centre for Arts and Cultural Exchange, Media Trust and Open Society Foundation.

As well as working on collaborative projects, we have published a number of books with high-impact international presses, on a diverse range of topics: affect and emotion, artificial intelligence, bioethics, the body and experience, branding, broadcasting, Chinese cinema, democracy, film history, the future of journalism, media geographies, the mediation of power, post-feminism, postcolonial politics, sound and voice.

Members of the Department edit leading academic journals, including Body and Society, Culture Machine, Global Media and Communication, International Journal of Cultural Studies, Subjectivity and photographies.

Recent Research Projects

Storycircle (Framework for Innovation and Research in MediaCityUK)