The Department of Media and Communications draws on a multidisciplinary, multi-method approach to study a diverse range of media and communication uses, institutions, practices, and technologies, to unpack and address their power in shaping culture, the economy, society, and democracy.
Generativity
Research that confronts and challenges routines, habits and common-sense understandings of mediated lives creates space to generate new practices, new institutions, and new ways of knowing and engaging in the world. Common sense is a moving target, and we support research that drives curiosity as much as it promotes best practices and pathways for social change.
Independence
Research that stays free from external influence broadens what is defined as a problem worth studying, and what counts as solutions to those problems. Making power visible, questioning that power, and transforming that power requires a measure of proper distance, a concept foregrounded by our founder Roger Silverstone.
Comprehensiveness
Research that is situated in diverse regions of the world enables sensitised comparison and facilitates understanding of unique contexts and histories. Since its founding, the Department has pursued research in places and spaces outside conventional sites of inquiry.
Reciprocity
Research that practices equity expands the horizon of how and for whom knowledge is generated. Rethinking conventional research processes and outcomes creates opportunities for mutuality, justice and equity.