Executive Summary

The Media and Cultural Policy Laboratory will be a student-led start-up research space (based in a dedicated room in Millburn House for the duration of the project) focusing on student-centred and creative approaches to researching media and cultural policy. It will host workshops and events designed and organized by students who will then co-design content and learning activities for wider dissemination. By addressing the intersections of policy and business in an interdisciplinary framework, and evaluating how these factors impact practitioners and consumers, the lab provides a flexible, informal and intellectual space for students to develop their academic management skills.ecks and disseminate these widely to relevant academic programmes across the UK and internationally. To ensure maximum dissemination, the deck will also be made available as an online download.

The Laboratory will address two challenges faced by students in this complex area:

  1. The lack of a creative and intellectual space to test out ideas with the intention of contributing to debates in media and cultural policy, such as how technology reflects students’ cultural values, or what role do students envision the media to occupy in contemporary society. The Lab provides transferable knowledge for students entering professional roles in media, culture and communication industries by enabling them to analyse theoretical debates in the field, consider practicalities and address how to influence policymaking
  2. The need for student-generated content and learning activities to meet multiple needs. The Lab allow students to develop management skills, strategic thinking and interprofessional skills outside of the normative pedagogic environment of the classroom especially in contributing their knowledge to the digital media environment

The fellowship will facilitate the coordination of a series of research and development workshops organised throughout 2019 by the project PI. The participants will consist of students, Warwick tutors and academic technologists as well as invited cultural and media policy experts.

The inauguration of The Lab will take place in February 2020. The event will focus on interactions between students, academics and practitioners and will result in establishing collaborative networks and future models for students to participate in the development of policy briefings and assume leadership roles in critical interrogation of policy frameworks.