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Research in media and communication studies |
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Skrivet av Christer Clerwall
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Who are we?
At the Department of Media and Communication Studies at Karlstad
University we conduct internationally competitive research within three
profile areas:
(1) Communication, Citizenship and Social Change
(2) Digital Media and Cultural Circulation
(3) Global Media Studies
Our research is at the same time critically autonomous and socially
oriented, and marked by theoretical and methodological inventiveness.
The research profiles and the epistemological approach saturate the
educational programmes of the department. Media and Communication
Studies at Karlstad University is an internationally oriented
intellectual environment which involves researchers with diverse
backgrounds, and stimulate doctoral students to cosmopolitan modes of
thinking.
Profile 1: Communication, Citizenship and Social Change
Communication is by its very nature the foundation of community making.
In democratic societies the media provide both a material basis and a
cultural form for the expression of identity and citizenship, as well
as for the implementation and deliberation of political visions and
decision processes. In other words, (mediated) communication bridges
the distance between everyday life and institutional power, and thus
also mediates social change in many different sectors of society.
Communication both responds to and produces social change, and at
Karlstad University we scrutinize these dynamics with a particular eye
on the construction of citizenship. This involves an interest in the
role of alternative media and transnational public spheres; media
literacy and social learning, and the mediated construction of centres
and peripheries in society (e g digital divides, urban/rural).
Profile 2: Digital Media and Cultural Circulation
The digitization of old and new media forms involves features such as
interactivity, convergence and increased mobility. These features alter
the modes of production and consumption in a variety of cultural
branches, such as journalism, music production, and art. Ultimately,
older distinctions between production and consumption, between culture
industries, artists, journalists, audiences, etc, can no longer be
taken for granted. One can in some areas more significantly speak of
“cultural circulation”, which is also a way of highlighting the
intersection of economic and cultural processes. At Karlstad University
research within this field is marked by great sensitivity to the mutual
interplay between technological, cultural and economic dynamics. Our
projects are thematically oriented towards areas where media
convergence and interactivity are most clearly spelled out, such as in
audio-visual culture, online social media, news making, surveillance,
and consumer culture, and try to explain their logics and consequences.
Profile 3: Global Media Studies
Information and communication technologies are at the core of the
globalization process. While they generate global relationships, they
also sustain local identities and development. Global Media Studies are
a matter of understanding, explaining and evaluating these dual
implications. Our research in this field focuses on how the media
(re)shapes social relations, power structures and cultural
representations in a global context, and how these patterns are
experienced and enacted at the local level across the globe. Global
Media Studies at Karlstad University unite political economic analyses
of media ownership and policy-making with ethnographic accounts of
social agency and expressivity. The profile is linked to the Master’s
programme (MSSc) in Global Media Studies at Karlstad University. From
fall 2009 there is also a visiting professorship in Global Media
Studies, funded by the Ander Foundation in Karlstad.
Within these profiles Media and Communication Studies is involved in the following faculty based research platforms:
• HumanIT: The Human Values of Information Technology
• DigiCom
Media and Communication Studies is one of a number of prioritized subjects at Karlstad University.
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Senast uppdaterad ( 2010-02-14 )
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Karlstads universitet