Research in media, languages and cultures
As convergence and digitalisation now form part of the much bigger multimedia industry, there is an increased need to make sense of the implications for society by conducting more research into the areas of communications and culture. Our research programmes provide you with an opportunity to explore contemporary cultural, media and communication theories, policy and practice in depth.
Research in the School of Media, Languages and Cultures is directed through the centre for the Study of Communications and Cultures (CSCC). The centre enables substantive, focused research of this nature to be carried out, yielding results which will be of great benefit and consequence to academia, policy makers, and the wider society.
The first of its kind in Malaysia, the centre aims to bring together local and international scholars to produce results that will inform wider policies. The centre was also established to fill a research void in the country and regionally in the area of communications and culture, especially at a time when the promises of information and communication technologies (ICTs), digitalisation and globalisation need to be addressed side-by-side with their inherent impacts on local cultural practices.
Researchers at the centre are dedicated to carrying out interdisciplinary research into the role and politics of communication and culture in this era of globalisation. The centre operates as an international, regional and national centre of expertise for high-quality research, and provides an intellectual network for researchers, postgraduate students and professionals in the fields of media, communication and culture. It is currently carrying out a range of collaborative research projects with scholars from a wide spectrum of countries in and around the region, including those from Australia, India, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.
Work within the centre addresses transformations in media and culture – as well as their transformational power in society. We seek to elucidate current developments and changes in the media and cultural industries as well as the changes in how individuals, groups, organisations and institutions use media and culture to express their identities and ideas and to advance their positions. We study these transformations in relation to ma range of wider societal forces and developments. These include: the rise of the internet and other new communication technologies; the shifting relations between the global, the national and the local; and increased social diversity and individualisation.