Media and cultural education in the age of digital capitalism

Section of Media Studies hosts a research seminar with David Buckingham, Emeritus Professor of Media and Communications at Loughborough University, who will give a talk on “Media and cultural education in the age of digital capitalism”.

Abstract

In this talk, David Buckingham will present some key ideas from his Media Education Manifesto (published in 2019), and offer some broader reflections on the changing relations between culture and education. The Manifesto challenges the current emphasis on self-regulation in communications policy, and the superficial ideas about digital skills and internet safety to which it gives rise. It proposes a broader, more critical approach to the rise of ‘digital capitalism’, and to the ubiquity of digital media in daily life. What is needed is a more ambitious and coherent approach to teaching about culture and communication much more broadly. Yet how should we understand the difficulties and constraints of implementing this approach in the current context of educational policy-making?

Bio

David Buckingham is Emeritus Professor of Media and Communications at Loughborough University, UK, and a Visiting Professor at King’s College London. His research has focused on children and young people’s interactions with electronic media, and on media literacy education. He has directed more than 25 research projects on these issues, and been a consultant for bodies such as UNESCO, the United Nations, the European Commission, Ofcom, and the UK government. His website and blog are at: www.davidbuckingham.net.