The Centre for Media Research at the University of Ulster announces the
Autumn Seminar series, below. The first seminar will be a discussion on
public service broadcasting, including regional and consumer issues, led
by Robert Beveridge of Napier University and the Voice of the Listener and
Viewer. THis seminar will also launch the CMR series of Media Policy
Briefing Papers, with the first two titles:

The Future of the BBC
Media Literacy in Northern Ireland.

All welcome. For copies of the papers and further information about the
series, please contact Barbara Butcher at [log in to unmask]

THE PROGRAMME, AUTUMN 2005

The seminars run on Wednesdays from 1.00 – 3.00 pm in the Link Lounge,
Coleraine Campus, University of Ulster, except where otherwise indicated
on the programme.

Wednesday 12th October
GUEST SPEAKER – Robert Beveridge, Napier University and Voice of the
Listener and Viewer:

The future of public service broadcasting : Launch of CMR Media Policy
Briefing Papers

Robert Beveridge will lead a debate about media and broadcasting policy
issues in the UK and Europe, with reference not only to the BBC, but also
to ITV, and with special emphasis on the Scottish experience, and the
importance of consumer consultation in formulating policy. This will
coincide with the launch of the Centre for Media Research Media Policy
Briefing Papers and the first two issues in this series: The Future of the
BBC and Media Literacy in Northern Ireland.

Venue – 1.00 pm LT 14

Wednesday 26th October
PhD presentations – Photographing ‘Types’

Anne Burke – Type Casting on Aran: The Photographs of A.C. Haddon and
Frances Flaherty

An account of the recording of Aran ‘types’ by the anthropologist A.C.
Haddon and the photographer and filmmaker Frances Flaherty.

Niamh O’Sullivan – Photographic Representations of Black Africa

An exploration of some of the ways in which black Africa has been
represented by outsiders.

Respondents and supervisors – Greg McLaughlin and Sarah Edge.

Venue – 1.00 pm Link Lounge.


Wednesday 9th November
GUEST SPEAKER – From Accommodation to Event: The Changing Nature of the
Public Sphere

Dr. Iain Mackenzie, Lecturer in Political Theory at the University of
Kent, will investigate the changing nature of the concept of the public
sphere. The principal claim is this: the public sphere can no longer be
defined as a space articulated by a logic of liberal accommodation, rather
the public sphere is becoming an arena articulated by the logic of events.

Venue – 1.00 pm Link Lounge.


Wednesday 16th November
CMR presentation – Creative Industries in Beijing

Ned Rossiter will report on recent fieldwork on creative industries
developments in Beijing. This paper is part of a collaborative
international comparative study and is motivated by a desire to go beyond
a predominantly economistic understanding of the creative industries in
exploring the tensions between macro global forces and micro local forces.


Respondents – Helen Thornham and Robert Porter

Venue - 1.00 pm LT 14.


Wednesday 30th November
GUEST SPEAKER: ‘Raising the Titanic’: Shipwreck into Myth into Cultural
Regeneration

Richard Howells, Senior Lecturer in Communication Arts at the University
of Leeds, and author of Visual Culture (2003) and The Myth of the Titanic
(1999), will discuss the different ways in which the story of the Titanic
has migrated through popular culture – with particular reference to the
story’s local significance and plans for regenerating Belfast’s docks area
with a Titanic theme park.


Venue – 1.00 pm Link Lounge.


Wednesday 7th December
CMR presentation – The Coming of Television to Northern Ireland

Martin McLoone and Andrew Hill will discuss and give an account of the
arrival of television in Northern Ireland. While the Unionist government
had initially been anxious to bring television to Northern Ireland it
subsequently came to present a critical challenge to Unionist hegemony.

Respondents – Ciara Chambers and Conn Holohan

Venue – 1.00 pm Link Lounge.