Media and Communication
Exploring the rapidly evolving, media-driven world and its impact on our identities, relationships and communities
Media and Communication at The University of Western Australia provides critical insights into our everyday, political, social, cultural and professional encounters with contemporary media cultures and communication practices.
This discipline area is one of the most exciting and rapidly evolving areas of study in today's media-driven world. What we know about the world, and how we act in it, is critically related to the use of communication technologies, from language to screen, and from text to image in digital settings.
Research areas
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Critical Approaches to Media and Communication
Our research strength, Critical Approaches to Media and Communication, focuses on interpretivist and philosophical approaches to communication. Staff and postgraduates undertake research on the historical and theoretical aspects of contemporary communication and media, tackling a broad set of issues.
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Media and Culture Technologies
Our research uses a range of methodological and analytical approaches to explore digital, screen, gaming and networked technologies, and investigate their role in re-imagining the political, social and educational spheres.
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Politics of Public Communication/Communication and Media Ethics
Representation, surveillance and control, sexuality and gender, social activism, political rhetoric and participation are just some of the topics explored by staff and postgraduate students in this research strength. This includes research into social movements, strategic communication and the use of new and emerging technologies in public relations and governance strategies. Research also includes professional media ethics as articulated by media workers, different visions of media power and responsibility, and contemporary forms of ethical critique.
Project highlights
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Communicating Good Health and Wellbeing: Promotion, Advocacy, Resilience
With partner universities in Cape Town, Hong Kong, Sheffield, Auckland, Alberta and Ghana, this UWA-led Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) funded project brings together scholars and practitioners from around the globe. Researchers will address how changing media and communication methods (digital networks) and new social attitudes (i.e. populism) foster an anti-expert, anti-medical and anti-vaccination discourse that has negative health impacts on individuals and communities.
Contact
Assoc/Prof Rob Cover
Media and Communication
rob.cover@uwa.edu.au
+61 8 6488 4305 -
Digital Stereotypes: Combatting Minority Stereotypes of Sexual and Gender Diverse Persons in Digital Search Images Online
Partnered with universities in Singapore, New South Wales, Durham, Queensland, Salford, Tasmania and Amsterdam, as well as Deakin and Monash University, this Australia Research Council (ARC) funded project brings together digital culture and sociology scholars, practitioner and public relations representatives. This research aims to build a collaborative network, investigating the ways in which digital communication environments both foster and challenge visual stereotypes of gender, sexual, ethnic, racial and migrant minorities.
Contact
Assoc/Prof Rob Cover
Media and Communication
rob.cover@uwa.edu.au
+61 8 6488 4305 -
Representation of Gender and Sexual Diversity in Australian Film and Television, 1990-2010
This Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project will generate new knowledge by providing the first comprehensive account of Australian media production’s contribution to sexual minority representation. Research in this area will foster healthy identities and acceptance of minorities to mainstream audiences in a digital media era.
Contact
Assoc/Prof Rob Cover
Media and Communication
rob.cover@uwa.edu.au
+61 8 6488 4305 -
CEMORE Visiting Fellowship
Dr Katarina Damjanov has received a Visiting Fellowship Grant from the Centre for Mobilities Research (CEMORE) to spend a month at Lancaster University. Dr Damjanov will be extending her work on mobilities in outer space. She will collaborate with colleagues at Lancaster’s CEMORE in organising an event to reveal her findings that focuses on the exploration of human mobilities and belonging in their space age.
Contact
Dr Katarina Damjanov
Lecturer, Media and Communication
katarina.damjanov@uwa.edu.au
+61 8 64882104


Related disciplines
Political Sciences and International Relations
Exploring a range of contemporary issues and challenges facing governments, peoples and international organisations, we examine and compare political systems and politics and relations in a range of countries and regions.
Linguistics
Linguistics at UWA aims to grow language understanding and skills, as well as complement other areas of study where language plays a role.
Anthropology and Sociology
Understanding people and the societies in which they live and work
Contact Associate Professor Steven Maras
Discipline Chair, Media and Communication