PhD Media and communications

Media and communication studies is a multi-faceted research area that examines the ways in which the media represent and influence our social, cultural and political lives. Research in media and communications critically analyses the role of media institutions, as well as the changing landscape of media industries and cultural production.

The University of Brighton’s School of Media fosters a thriving community of theorists and practitioners in the development of new knowledge around media cultures, technologies and practices. Our research examines audiences and reception, television and screen studies, digital media, gender and communication, communication and democracy, as well as media history, policy and law. We are ideally placed to offer supervisory support in this diverse and complex area, drawing on the methodologies from both the research staff at the school and related disciplines university wide.

Through these specialist centers and groups, research expertise covers a wide range of topics that engage with critical issues around media and communication. Critical investigations of media phenomena or practice-based work through digital arts and sciences, photography and film can also be aligned to cross-disciplinary work with, for example, arts practices, architecture, heritage technologies, cultural studies, human geography, politics and philosophy.

The School of Media supports PhD students to research their area of interest across a wide spectrum of media and communication research, drawing on the expertise of cutting-edge research at the School of Media.