Research and innovation
Our research
Our research is organized around four challenge-led themes, highlighting how our research relates to key societal issues and concerns.
We are committed to our research having a positive societal impact and value engagement and knowledge exchange with partners from industry, government, the public sector and civil society.
Follow us on LinkedIn and Bluesky for updates on our latest research.
Research themes
Our research is organized around four challenge-led themes, highlighting how our research relates to key societal issues and concerns. The themes span traditional sub-fields of media, communication, and cultural studies while also making possible inter-disciplinary connections, enabling new research collaborations and emergent outcomes.
Each intersecting theme is explored through various theoretical perspectives, modalities, and methods, including creative practice and practice-led research. As well as advancing academic knowledge in these areas, we are committed to our research having a positive societal impact and value engagement and knowledge exchange with partners from industry, government, the public sector and civil society.
Working in partnership
The School of Media and Communication collaborates with internal and external partners to inform regional, national, and international policy through collaborations with industry, regulators and policymakers, such as the BBC, Ofcom, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, and the European Commission. Our researchers work with communities and industry partners to interrogate the challenges they are facing through dialogue, participation, public engagement and creative practice. Find out more.
Research projects
Our research projects explore the past, present and future of media and communication using archives, new technologies and global partnerships.
Faculty researchers join University of Leeds podcast exploring how we unlock arts and culture for all
The third series of the University of Leeds' podcast, 'How to Fix...',…
Monday 26 October 2026
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Faculty professor develops free film costume course with BFI
The course is one of several outputs from Professor Bell’s three-year…
Thursday 22 October 2026
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Faculty professor’s book documents Latin American Indigenous artists’ critical engagement with generative AI
Artificial Intelligence, Art and Indigeneity: Between Dreams and Hallucinations
Wednesday 14 October 2026
More on Faculty professor’s book documents Latin American Indigenous artists’ critical engagement with generative AI
Faculty staff, researchers and students to illuminate campus for Light Night Leeds
Light Night Leeds takes place on 28 and 29 October.
Wednesday 7 October 2026
More on Faculty staff, researchers and students to illuminate campus for Light Night Leeds'Can We Have a Democratic National Conversation?' with Professor Stephen Coleman
The School's Media, Power and Publics Research Theme invites you to a book talk by Professor Stephen Coleman on his new publication, ‘Shaping Citizenship through Talk Radio’ (Intellect, 2026).
Wednesday 18 November 2026, 15:00 - 16:30 |
More on 'Can We Have a Democratic National Conversation?' with Professor Stephen ColemanScience into Pop: Triangulating Legitimacy in Three Experimental Music Traditions
How can the case of Jamaican dub reggae broaden our understanding of music experimentation?
Wednesday 25 November 2026, 13:00 - 14:30 |
More on Science into Pop: Triangulating Legitimacy in Three Experimental Music TraditionsResearch Seminar: Environmental Activism and Digital Communication: Scaling, Space, and the Limits of Transnational Solidarity
The talk explores how digital communication shapes environmental activism across local, national, and transnational levels, sometimes undermining rather than strengthening transnational solidarity
Wednesday 25 November 2026, 15:45 - 17:00 |
More on Research Seminar: Environmental Activism and Digital Communication: Scaling, Space, and the Limits of Transnational SolidarityThe Algorithm Will See You Now: Theratainment and the Digital Commodification of Mental Health
From Oprah to TherapyTok, this interactive talk explores how mental health becomes entertainment, why therapists turn to social media, and what happens when care depends on commercial visibility.
Wednesday 2 December 2026, 15:45 - 17:00 |
More on The Algorithm Will See You Now: Theratainment and the Digital Commodification of Mental Health







