SOAS, University of London (The School of Oriental and African Studies)

Overview

The Centre for Media and Film Studies enjoys a large and vibrant community of research students who are studying a wide range of issues related to the global south. Training and supervision are provided for students registered for postgraduate research degrees (MPhil and PhD). The research student seminar is very student-oriented and responsive to the specific needs and interests of each group. Training in a wide range of relevant research methods is provided. There is ample opportunity to develop or improve language skills and to attend selected courses offered across the Masters degree programmes.

Student progress is supported by a Supervisory Committee that includes the supervisor and two other faculty members familiar with the area of research. A weekly Research Seminar brings all Centre students and faculty together to listen and debate with outside speakers, who include academics, media professionals and others from the NGO/advocacy sectors. We have recently created a new PhD with practice, designed for those with experience of the media and film industries, or wishing to include a substantial component of practice-based work in their research.

Recent Research Theses

Saeed Zeydabadi-Nejad – The Politics of Cinema under the Islamic Republic

Academic Staff and their Research Areas

Professor Annabelle Sreberny MA (Cantab) PhD (Columbia) FRSA
Middle East, especially Iran; gender and democratization; diasporic cultures; ‘small media’ and political change

Dr. Dina Matar, MSc PhD (London)
Middle East, especially the Arab world; international political communication; Arab cultural politics; Arab cultural studies; memory studies and oral history; Islamist  movements; social movements and media; diasporas; ethnic minorities; transnational movements and communications

Dr. Somnath Batabyal, MA (SOAS), PhD (SOAS)
Southeast Asia with a focus on India; transnational news spheres with a special focus on India; Development discourses in India and its articulation in mainstream and alternate news forums; environmental politics.

Dr. Jaeho Kang, MA (Korea); PhD (Cambridge University)
East Asia; Korea, China and Japan; critical theory; media theory; East Asian cultural studies; political communication; media and urban spaces in East Asian cities; New media and democracy; media spectacle and global mega events

Associate Members

Professor Stephen Chan BA MA(AUCKLAND) MA(LONDON) PHD(KENT)
Professor of International Relations

Dr Lindiwe Dovey BA(HARVARD) PHD(CANTAB)
Senior Lecturer in African Film and Performance Arts

Professor Rachel Dwyer BA(SOAS, LONDON) MPHIL(OXFORD) PHD(SOAS, LONDON)
Professor of Indian Cultures and Cinema

Ms Narguess Farzad BA(LONDON)
Senior Fellow, Persian Language and Literature

Professor Andrew Gerstle BA(COLUMBIA) MA(WASEDA) PHD(HARVARD)
Professor of Japanese Studies

Dr Sian Hawthorne BA(LONDON) PHD(LONDON)
Lecturer in Critical Theory and the Study of Religions

Dr Dana Healy PHD (PRAGUE)
Senior Lecturer in Vietnamese

Professor Michel Hockx DRS PHD(LEIDEN)
Professor of Chinese

Dr Stephen Hughes BA(BATES COLL., LEWISTON) MA PHD(CHICAGO)
Lecturer in Social Anthropology

Dr Kevin Latham BA(OXON) PGDIP(ZHANGSHAN) MA PHD(LONDON)
Senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology

Dr Dolores Martinez AB(CHICAGO) DIPSOCANTH DPHIL(OXON)
Reader in Anthropology with reference to Japan

Dr Nima Mina BA(MARBURG) MMUS PHD(MONTREAL)
Senior Lecturer in Persian and Iranian Studies

Dr Parvathi Raman BA PHD(LONDON)
Senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology

Isolde Standish BA(BALLARAT) BA, PhD(LONDON)
Reader in Film and Media Studies

Dr Justin Watkins BA(LEEDS) MA PHD(LONDON)
Senior Lecturer in the Languages and Linguistics of South East Asia