Colin Sparks
Professor of media studies; Director of CAMRI
Awards
I have received grants to support my research activities from the ESRC, the EC, Unesco, the Rockefeller Foundation and the WACC.
Biography
In the course of my research, I have worked with and advised the European Union, Unesco, the Open Society Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the British Council, Universities in the US, Europe and East Asia, and many other organisations, academic, official, and non-governmental. I have participated actively in the professional associations of the field, both nationally and internationally.
I was one of the founders of Media, Culture and Society, and I continue to play an active role as managing editor, as well as editing issues on a regular basis. I was a founder of the European Institute for Communication and Culture. I have organised several of its colloquia, and edited themed issues of its journal Javnost/The Public. In 2004, I took the initiative to launch an open access journal Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture, on whose editorial board I serve.
Research Statement
My current research interests include the comparative study of media systems undergoing rapid change. I am particularly interested in comparing the media systems of post-communist countries with those of other societies that have moved away from different forms of dictatorship towards more democratic forms of political rule. My other major current interest is in theories of media and communication.
Selected Publications
After transition: A comparative study of Poland, Russia and China. Karol Jakubowicz and Miklos Sukosd eds. Central and eastern European media change in global perspective. Budapest: CEU Press.
Development, globalization and the media. London:Sage. (Approximately 300pp.)
What’s wrong with globalization? Global Media and Communication, vol. 3, no.2.
Contradictions in capitalist media practice. Lee Artz, Steve Macek and Dana Cloud eds. Marxism and Communication Studies: The point is to change it. New York: Peter Lang. 111-32.
Media and the global public sphere: An evaluative approach. Wilma de Jong, Martin Shaw and Neil Stammers eds. Global activism, global media. London: Pluto Press.34-49.
Civil Society as a contested concept: Media and political transformation in Eastern and Central Europe. Robert Hackett and Yuezhi Zhao eds. Democratizing global media: One world, many struggles. Lanham, MD. : Rowman and Littlefield. 37-56.
PhD Supervision including info on supervisions, completions and examinations
I have supervised a large number of doctoral students to completion. Successful student topics include work on Xinhua News Agency, the Iranian Press, Thai culture and national identity, migration and Moroccan society, the sociology of British journalism, and many others. I am happy to consider proposals from prospective students.
