Communications
research
Research Opportunities in the School of Communications.
Producing and spreading new knowledge is the lifeblood of a department like the School of Communications. Our staff does this in a wide variety of ways, through books, research papers, conferences, membership of commissions and advisory bodies, and through journalism and creative work.
Among the staff in the School are individuals with a high reputation nationally in media analysis and media policy, and with significant involvement in international networks and projects.
Our research interests are wide-ranging, but are concentrated in: media content analysis, media policy and history, social aspects of digital media, journalism practice, cultural change and cross-cultural communication.
Recent books by members of staff include:
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Pat Brereton: Hollywood Utopia - ecology in contemporary American cinema (Intellect Books, 2005) -
Colum Kenny: Moments that changed us (Gill and Macmillan, 2005)
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John Horgan: Broadcasting and Public Life – RTE News and Current Affairs, 1926-1997 (Four Courts Press, 2004)
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Farrel Corcoran: RTÉ and the Globalisation of Irish Television (Intellect Books, 2004)
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Helena Sheehan: The Continuing Story of Irish Television Drama: tracking the tiger (Four Courts Press, 2004)
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Colum Kenny: Fearing Sellafield (Gill and Macmillan, 2003)
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Barbara O'Connor (co-editor): Irish tourism - image, culture and identity (Channel View Press, 2003)
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Paschal Preston: Reshaping communications: technology, information and social change (Sage, 2001)
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John Horgan: Irish media - a critical history since 1922 (Routledge, 2001
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Pat Brereton: Continuum Guide to Media Education (Continuum, 2001)
School staff have been very successful in securing research grants and fellowships
from national and international sources such as the European Commission,
Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of
Education, Higher Education Authority, European Journalism Centre, National
Council for Technology in Education, and from DCU's Research Advisory Panel
and Teaching and Learning Committee.
The Centre for Society, Information and Media, based in the School, has undertaken major research projects on various aspects of media production, policy and reception.
In June 2005, the School of Communications co-hosted with School of Media, Dublin Institute of Technology, the first all-Ireland media research conference under the title, Power, Trust and Ethics. The conference heard presentations by academic staff and postgraduate students from DCU, DIT, University of Limerick, University of Ulster, Trinity College Dublin and Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art Design and Technology. Visitors from abroad included Professor Robert Savage, Boston College, and the keynote speaker, Professor James Curran, Goldsmiths College, London.
