About CIMARC

About CIMARC

• Mission:  CIMARC represents the outward facing and international dimensions of our research culture.  It offers media consultancy and training; develops links, contacts and networks; encourages research development; seeks research funding; and stages events, seminars and conferences.
  
• Brief History: CIMA was originally established in 2002. When the Media School moved to the main media building in 2005 CIMARC was housed in  a media rich room, with wide screen projection, storage for study resources, the University of Luton Press collection of books, and room for groups of up to 30 for research seminars. The Centre’s room is currently undergoing a complete makeover involving a new projector and screen, a comprehensive multi-media console, and new blackout blinds.  The centre was renamed CIMARC: The Centre for International Media Analysis Research and Consultancy in 2007 and had its Official Opening on 15th May 2008, with guest speaker Kate Adie.
• Main areas:  The study of media is multi-disciplinary drawing on such disciplines as literature, sociology, history, linguistics, philosophy and psychology. The Centre features a broad range of research interests that could be loosely grouped in three distinct but related areas:
• World Cinema: (Chinese, Indian, German, Italian, British Black/African cinemas),  independent film and video, psycho-analysis, science fiction, special effects). Research in this area helps to strengthen the teaching of the MA in International Cinema, established in 2001.
• Media economics: (broadcasting and the new media, journalism, games studies, multimedia, media distribution, new technologies, digitalisation, convergence, and globalisation, the history of publishing, the e-book and e-publishing, the global media-sport industry). Research in this area contributes to the teaching of the MA in Media, Culture and Technology and the undergraduate programme.
• Image and Representation: (gender, ethnicity, and class, national identities, adaption and television drama, news and journalism, popular fiction, games studies, celebrity culture,quiz and game shows, sport). Research in this area contributes to a wide range of modules in our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.