Teaching Staff
Professor Philip Thickett
- Head of Department, Degree Leader - Television and Video, Admissions Coordinator
- Specialisms / subject areas:
- Television production
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Philip worked for the BBC for over 20 years. Starting as a Studio Cameraman and ending up as an Executive Producer working on large National Events, Phil has a wide skill base in and experience of both technical operations and production across most genres. Not only has Phil worked in most BBC centres but he also has extensive experience of worldwide location production.
Professor Tim Wall
- Professor of Radio and Popular Music Studies, Head of Academic Affairs and Director of the Online Music Enterprise research project.
- Specialisms / subject areas:
- Radio and Popular Music Studies.
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He is also Chair of the Radio Studies Network, the lead international body for radio research, and editor of the Radio Journal. His intellectual background is in economics and cultural studies. He obtained his doctorate with an ethnographic study of music radio. His research interests are in the relationships between popular music, music radio and urban culture, as well as media education. He teaches undergraduate programmes in these areas as well as supervising doctoral students. He has presented and published widely on these subjects as well as on media employability and media and cultural studies curriculum design.
Sara Harris
- Director of Media Content Lab, Media Skills, Notion Studio and Screen Media Lab, Senior Lecturer in Digital Media, Knowledge Transfer Fellow
- Specialisms / subject areas:
- Externally funded projects, digital media media management, developing innovative curriculum (recently developed MA Event and Exhibition Management and MA Media Enterprise).
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As head of Externally Funded Projects within the Department of Media and Communication at Birmingham City University, Sara leads a team of 20 staff engaging with businesses from the creative industries in a number of ways. Its latest venture is Notion Studio, which offers expertise in animation and digital video with aim of working with new talent to develop projects which use animation techniques as alternative media, looking at different production processes and exploring its uses in teaching and learning. Sara is a Knowledge Transfer Fellow and has recently developed Masters courses in Media Enterprise and Event and Exhibition Management.
- Email: sara.harris@bcu.ac.uk
- Tel: +44 (0)121 204 9880
- Location: B203 (Perry Barr), office at Screen Media Lab
Paul Bradshaw
- Degree Leader - Web and New Media, Senior lecturer, online journalism and magazine production, Mediacourses.com Website Manager
- Specialisms / subject areas:
- Online journalism, digital media, website design, print design, magazine journalism, CDROM, DVD, interactive promotion, Flash.
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Paul was Editor of Internet Monthly magazine for two years before going on to manage the launch of the Education-Quest family of websites. He has worked as a designer for a number of online and offline projects, as well as a journalist and columnist on newspapers, magazines, and websites. He is the author of two books on the Internet and continues to be involved in website and magazine management.
His research interests include the impact of digital technologies on the media, and the development of online journalism as a new form.
He writes as a freelance journalist and designer, and maintains a number of blogs including the Online Journalism Blog (http://ojournalism.blogspot.com), Interactive PR (http://interactivepr.blogspot.com) and Web and New Media (http://webandnewmedia.blogspot.com).
Bob Calver
- Senior Lecturer Broadcast Journalism, Business Liaison Coordinator for Screen Media Lab
- Specialisms / subject areas:
- Radio journalism; media law.
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Bob spent 18 years working for the BBC locally and nationally after beginning his career in newspaper journalism. He still freelances in radio, online and print journalism, including being editor of a quarterly newspaper. In addition to his teaching he is closely involved with the department's Screen Media Lab Project, supporting creative companies in the region and delivers a range of training courses.
Oliver Carter
- Visiting Lecturer in Media Theory
- Specialisms / subject areas:
- New Media, Cultural Studies, Fandom, Euro-Cult Cinema, Regional Music Economies.
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Oliver teaches a number of BA theory modules, leading Digital Cultures and the Art of the Film Maker elective module. As well as teaching at Birmingham City University, Oliver has also taught at Birmingham University and taught A Level Media Studies at Baverstock Sports College in Birmingham. He is a member of the department's research team, currently studying towards his PhD on Euro-Cult Cinema fandom and the author of two upcoming books, Broadcasting in Developing Countries and This is Media Studies. He has recently completed research into the economics of the West Midlands music industry and how public funding can be best used to create employment. He has a strong interest in Media Education and the current approaches to teaching Media Studies in schools as well as numerous others. He hopes to publish a book on Italian 'giallo' cinema...one day!
Sam Coley
- Degree Leader Radio
- Specialisms / subject areas:
- Radio production, radio documentary, online radio.
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Sam Coley has worked extensively in both the New Zealand and British radio industries, specializing in Commercial Production and Documentary making. Before taking up his current position at Birmingham City University, Sam was Creative Director for the Northern Branch of New Zealand's Radio Network, the Southern Hemisphere's largest radio commercial production department. He has been a regular guest lecturer on the subject of radio production and in his spare time runs an online radio station, which promotes unsigned musicians.
Pamela Creed
- Lecturer in Television & Video Production, Course Director for MA Television & Interactive Content (Formerly known as MA Media Production)
- Specialisms / subject areas:
- Television production.
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Pamela has been a producer/director for the BBC for 28 years and is an experienced programme maker, particularly in live television. She has held senior production roles as series producer and deputy editor. As well as studio-based shows, she has also worked in lifestyle output, children's programmes, entertainment and outside broadcasts. She has also worked extensively as a director/producer on single camera productions. Her last major production as a series producer, was a network documentary series on the life and times of the late Gardeners' World presenter Geoff Hamilton.
Faye Davies
- Lecturer in Media Theory, BA Examinations Officer, Course Director for Certificate of Professional Studies in Media
- Specialisms / subject areas:
- Representations of gender and sexuality, film history and theory, iconography, fandom and the reappropriation of media texts.
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Faye has been involved in teaching a variety of media theory courses to postgraduate level and is currently Third Year Tutor for students on the degree in Media and Communication. She is Course Director for the Certificate of Professional Studies in Media, and is currently developing training resources to aid secondary and further education staff who teach Media Studies, ensuring that they get the most creative work from their students.
Faye's main research interests include representations of gender and sexuality, film history and theory, iconography, fandom and the reappropriation of media texts. She is currently undertaking PhD research at Liverpool John Moores University, which focuses on the representation of sexuality in U.S. film and television from 1990 to the present day. Faye also has a forthcoming chapter in Televising Queer Women entitled, 'Paradigmatically Oppositional Representations: Gender and Sexual Identity in The L Word', which was formulated from her conference paper at the 2006 MeCCSA conference.
Andrew Dubber
- Degree Leader, Music Industries
- Specialisms / subject areas:
- Music Online, Music Industries Skills, Digital Technology and Online Culture, Radio Media, Radio Writing and Production, Radio Drama.
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Andrew Dubber is a lecturer and researcher in Music Industries, with a background in record label management and radio broadcast and production. He has produced and released jazz albums and has worked as a remixer and producer on pop and rock projects.
For six years, he produced and presented a weekly nationwide jazz radio programme in New Zealand, and has made award-winning radio documentaries, children's programmes, music programmes and serial drama for radio.
Kerry Gough
- Lecturer in Media Theory, Second Year Broad Course Leader
- Specialisms / subject areas:
- Kerry teaches Film, Television and Communication Studies. Her research interests include science fiction and horror, crime and criminality on screen, comic book culture and the marketing and merchandising of Hollywood.
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Kerry has recently completed her PhD with the University of Nottingham, 'Ever Been Mistaken for a Man?': Ripley as a Shifting Cultural Signifier. Her thesis examines the historical reception of the Alien film saga and the shifting nature of questions surrounding gender, androgyny and feminism. Highlighting the cultural shifts, her thesis uncovers how Lt. Ellen Ripley functions within the reception materials, as a historically located nexus for societal discourse and debate surrounding the body, social behaviours and gendered norms.
Before joining Birmingham City University, she taught at The University of Nottingham, featured as the Articles Editor for Scope: An Online Journal of Film Studies and was the Talking Pictures Programme Leader at The Broadway, Nottingham. She has publications forthcoming on Dark Horse Comics (2007) and Crime Scene Investigation (2007).
Kerry has been involved in the organisation of numerous conferences, including Science Fictions (2005), Love Maybe (2004) and Subjects and Citizens (2003), with a new project, The Online Mainline, due for development in 2007. In addition, she is also a member of the West Midlands Animation Forum Steering Group in association with Screen Media Lab and Digital Central.
Dave Harte
- Digital Central Project Manager
- Specialisms / subject areas:
- Creative Industries Development.
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Dave is currently running Digital Central, a major business development project on behalf of the regional development agency. Formerly Dave has taught print design, photography and media theory on our undergraduate and postgraduate courses. He continues to work on developing professional links between our students and the region's media industry. Digital Central aims to help the West Midlands' digital media and music industries through tailored support for showcasing, networking and innovation projects.
Dave is part of a national network of curriculum developers organised by the Centre for Excellence in Media Practice, he contributes to Skillset's regional Education Focus Group and sits on the Media Reference Group for the Higher Education Academy's Art, Design & Media subject Centre.
- Email: dave.harte@bcu.ac.uk
- Tel: +44 (0)121 204 9881
- Location: Screen Media Lab, Digbeth, Birmingham
Sue Heseltine
- Course Director, BA Media and Communications; Journalism Degree Leader; Senior Lecturer in Journalism
- Specialisms / subject areas:
- Print journalism, broadcast journalism, media law, professional studies.
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Sue spent more than 20 years as a working journalist in the print and broadcasting industries. She worked on regional newspapers in Wales and the North of England, including The Star in Sheffield and the Yorkshire Post in Leeds . She has also worked for BBC Radio Sheffield and spent eight years as a TV journalist working mainly for Yorkshire's regional news programme, Calendar, as well as Sky News and Granada TV.
Diane Kemp
- Course Director: Postgraduate Diploma Broadcast Journalism and Masters in International Broadcast Journalism.
- Specialisms / subject areas:
- Broadcast journalism, radio production.
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Diane was a reporter /presenter /producer in BBC and commercial radio and in regional and network BBC TV for 11 years. She now teaches radio and television skills on a number of courses within the department. Further afield she is an external examiner at several universities and is a member of the Broadcast Journalism Training Council.
Julian Kilsby
- Degree Leader Media Photography.
- Specialisms / subject areas:
- Digital and traditional photography, Digital Imaging and Design.
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Julian has been with the Media Department for seven years and also works as a freelance photographer, specialising in reportage, portraiture and lifestyle photography. He has also worked in a diverse range of other photographic fields including music, travel, interior design and product photography.
Gerry King
- Visiting Lecturer in Television & Video.
- Specialisms / subject areas:
- Television production.
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Over the last 30 years Gerry has been making programmes for corporate and training purposes. He also has worked as a video skills trainer for companies such as Sony. Gerry has been a member of the Royal Television Society since 1980, serving as a centre officer and committee member, and has been the Midland centre's honorary secretary for the last 14 years. He was awarded the Royal Television Society's silver medal in 1997 for his work within the society, especially in the Midlands.
Dr. Bethany Klein
- Lecturer in Media Theory.
- Specialisms / subject areas:
- Popular music culture, interactions between cultural and commercial objectives, reality-based TV programming, and the politics of representation.
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Bethany Klein teaches BA and MA level media theory modules in the department. Her research interests include popular music culture, interactions between cultural and commercial objectives, reality-based TV programming, and the politics of representation.
Dr Paul Long
- Senior Lecturer in Media
- Specialisms / subject areas:
- Popular Television, Media Cultures, Film Rhetoric and Reality Media.
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Paul Long teaches a range of theory modules at BA and MA level, including Popular Television, Media Cultures, Film Rhetoric and Reality Media. He gained his PhD in Social History at the University of Warwick, focusing on class and culture in post-war Britain. His research interests include concepts of ordinary life and the everyday, as well as representations of history and the relationship between local life and local media. His published work includes articles on the image and redevelopment of Birmingham and he is currently researching the work of documentary filmmaker Philip Donnellan, the BBC TV series 'Gangsters' and 'unreality' media - the use of psychics and the occult in TV programmes. He would like to hear from any of the ghosts contacted in 'Most Haunted', Doris Stokes or Derek Acorah. He is a member of the Midlands Television Research Group.
Annette Naudin
- Course Director MA Media Enterprise
- Specialisms / subject areas:
- Creative enterprise
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Annette Naudin is the course director of the MA in Media Enterprise at Birmingham City University. Annette's developed her entrepreneurial experience by setting up and running her own successful textile business supplying outlets such as Liberty, Harrods and exporting to Japan, USA and Europe.
Developing expertise in the creative industries and enterprise, she then worked as a consultant with clients including local authorities, Arts Council England and various creative industries organisations and projects. She completed a second MA at Warwick University in European Cultural Policy and Management.
She is interested in the development and support of the creative industries sector and has recently been awarded a faculty Teaching Fellowship to research NESTA’s approach to teaching enterprise. As part of this work she is coordinating a Creative Enterprise conference and is the co-author of a published paper on the subject of Creative Industries Enterprise and Curriculum Development.
Dr Ayo Oyeleye
- Course Director MA Media and Communication, Senior Lecturer in Media Studies
- Specialisms / subject areas:
- International & Development Communication; Media Enterprise and the Creative Industries; New Media and Digital Cultures; Visual and Promotional Cultures.
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Ayo has a life-long interest in the development and application of communications models for national development and social change. He has worked in the advertising industry, which developed his interest in the uses and applicability of persuasive communication in emerging societies. He subsequently developed this for his doctoral research. His teaching and research interests include international, intercultural and political communication, international relations, the impact and potentials of communication technologies, advertising and visual culture.
Mathilde Stein
- Course Director: MA in Event and Exhibition Management
- Specialisms / subject areas:
- Event and exhibition management.
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During her professional career, Mathilde has built up a wealth of experience with a large variety of events. She has participated in the organisation of trade fairs, exhibitions, incentives, seminars, conferences, expositions, press conferences and fashion shows, and specialised in international sports events.
Her work portfolio includes international trade fairs and exhibitions such as Vinexpo, Sitevinitech, Sival , SIG, Sportel and Gliss'Expo, as well as sports events such as the World Cup, the Tour de France, the Dakar Rally, the World Surfing Championships, the Bordeaux World Cup Show Jumping and the World Track Cycling Championships.
Mathilde has an MA in Latin American Studies, and a postgraduate degree in Communications, including Event Management, from the Institut des Sciences de l'Information et de la Communication of the Bordeaux III University.
Pete Wilby
- Lecturer; Public Relations Acting Degree Leader; Teaching Fellow.
- Specialisms / subject areas:
- Public Relations, Journalism, Media Theory.
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Pete is an experienced music journalist and broadcaster. His research interests include music promotion and amateur music as a social discourse. He is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and has worked on a wide range of PR projects from music promotion and events management in the UK to training local authority communications officers in Russia. He maintains a blog, Screaming Headlines that provides a commentary on current issues in journalism and PR.
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