Research Themes

Our research strategy is to pursue research innovation and excellence, in which impact is embedded as integral and vital, to sustain our strong commitment to interdisciplinarity, and to deepen and develop our five major research themes. These themes provide a shared sense of purpose within the department and a structure for sustaining and promoting cross-departmental collaboration. Interdisciplinarity is an important feature of much of our research, particularly with the subject areas of History, Philosophy and Cultural Studies. Our research adopts many approaches and perspectives, encompassing the historical, biographical, meta-critical and theoretical, as well as a multiplicity of methods and techniques, including: archival research, detailed textual analysis, practice-based research and community-based projects.

Cities, Places, Environments

Research within this theme is dedicated to the analysis of cities and/or landscapes, encompassing the ways in which these places are remembered, encountered and represented across different forms of visual culture. It explores the important role of place and space in the formation of identity within local and regional contexts. The internationalism of this theme is evident from the geographic range of the research projects thus far – from European cities to Asian cinema. The conceptualization of space within the broader terminology of environment facilitates engagement with global issues of sustainability, pollution and waste. Research often encompasses creative research methods, including projection mapping, guided walks and exhibitions, as well as traditional written outputs.

Memories, Histories, Futures

This theme focuses on key questions of history and historiography within Film and Television Studies, encompassing industrial histories of the development of particular national film industries and/or modalities of stardom as well as histories of television programming and patterns of audience consumption. It addresses neglected histories, paying attention to the key differentials of gender, class and race, for example, examining the roles played by women in the development of particular forms of cultural production, as well as considering the importance of oral and aural testimonies within the formation of industrial histories. Research within this strand thus challenges received notions of history and memory with a view to creating new paradigms of national and international reach. It takes many forms, including written scholarship, aural recordings and art works, community events and exhibitions.

Creative Industries and the Value of Culture

Our research investigates how participating in culture enriches lives and produces enormous personal, social and community benefits. It offers a broad engagement with the cultural and creative industries and their role in shaping and transforming economic and cultural life. Within Film and Television Studies, this strand of research is predominantly grounded in the local and regional, and is exemplified by the wide range of forms of engagement with Coventry City of Culture. Scholarship within this strand takes a great variety of differing forms, including community projects, workshops, and exhibitions.

Theory, Aesthetics and the Popular

Research within this strand is characterized by broadly meta-critical/theoretical approaches to diverse constructions of the popular, particularly film, television and new digital media, and thus addresses the distinctively aesthetic challenges presented by contemporary culture. It includes the theorization of specific aesthetic forms, from documentary to slow cinema, as well as issues of aesthetic periodization and classification, such as the postmodern. Our research raises key questions concerning the changing status and construction of visual spectacle; the impact of particular rhetorical devices, such as irony and parody; and differing conceptions of authorship, intentionality and audience address. This scholarship challenges received models to create new paradigms that help us to engage effectively with the aesthetic complexities of the contemporary cultural context. It takes a variety of forms including written scholarship, public screenings and engagement events.

Ethics, Politics, Praxis

Research within this theme takes the form of ethical and political theorizing that is crucially linked to activism and political action. It interrogates the limits and limitations of the normative, for example, highlighting the masculinist, Eurocentric and Imperialist conceptions of the kinds of lives that are granted meaning and value at the point of death; or challenging the heteronormative by exploring queer modalities of being in the world. Our research moves beyond the Eurocentric in considering specific intersections of multiple differences including race, gender, and sexuality within a wide range of national and international contexts. It draws on and comprises contemporary theorizing within LGBTQ Studies, Queer Studies and Death Studies. Our research addresses vital questions of human rights and social justice, drawing attention to the politics of representation and its links to embodied activism. Research within this strand takes a variety of forms from written scholarship to film festivals and practice-based research.