Our Department
Our department is ranked in the top 20 for research in Communications, Cultural and Media Studies in the Research Excellence Framework 2021. Additionally, 91% of our research is classed as internationally or world-leading. In terms of research outputs, we ranked 9th in the UK in Communications, Cultural and Media Studies. Media, Journalism and Film combines excellent facilities and internationally acclaimed research staff to prepare students for careers in the media industries. We have the most advanced facilities in a department of our kind. Our new virtual reality lab, TV studios, radio studio and industry placement opportunities are designed to prepare students for careers in the media industries, including film and television, journalism, advertising and promotional culture, the creative industries and sports and music journalism. Our postgraduate research degrees prepare students for academic careers as well as research-based careers in the media industries.
The most pressing issues of our time are connected to media industries. Researching media industries is connected to the impact of digital culture and technologies on society; the future of journalism and politics; and the vital significance of representing and giving voice to the marginalised in screen industries, platforms and politics.
Our department of world-leading researchers and industry specialists explore major political, cultural, economic and technological media issues through a very wide range of expertise: from heavy metal music to Disney animation, from Doctor Who fandom to the Labour Party, from digital pornography to football. We run funded research projects with institutions such as the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Heritage Lottery fund and the Screen Industries Growth Network. Our Yorkshire Film and Television School is ranked 7th in the UK.
Our department is also home to Europe’s first dedicated centre for the research of participatory culture (CenPaC) launched in 2017. The Centre showcases our expertise in the study of media audiences, with the department home to world-leading researchers in fandom Professor Matt Hills and Professor Cornel Sandvoss. The Centre investigates phenomena at the heart of digital culture and convergence media; digital labour; and the eroding boundaries between media users and media producers. The study of the changing boundaries between media industries and users is at the heart of our research into changing regimes of media production.
Learn more about our BA and MA courses here.
