Background

Skillset Media Academy Wales comprises:

• Cardiff School of Creative and Cultural Industries, University of Glamorgan (CCI)
• School of Art, Media and Design, University of Wales, Newport (NSAMD)
• Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies, University of Aberystwyth (TFTS)
• Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, Cardiff University (JOMEC)
• The Academy offers distinctive and high-level, practice-based and creative education in a range of disciplines, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
• Animation (CCI, NSAMD); BA / MA
• Broadcast Journalism (CCI, JOMEC); BA / MA
• Media Production, inc. Radio, Film/TV Production, Scriptwriting, Fashion and Documentary Photography, Film and TV Set Design (CCI, TFTS, NSAMD); BA / MA
• Other digital media courses, including Interactive Media, Multimedia, Games Design (CCI, NSAMD, TFTS); BA

The Skillset Media Academy Wales is one of the latest Academies to receive approval. The Academy is:

• a collaboration across old and new universities, and is the largest partnership in the Academy network that is entirely HE
• a partnership that embraces both south and mid-Wales, ensuring geographical spread, and teaching in both English and Welsh
• a ‘creative cluster’ promoted by the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) and the Wales Assembly Government (WAG)
• a bilingual Academy that offers training and research for Welsh medium professionals.
• a provider of industry-focused, critically-informed media education that emphasises cross-media collaboration and inter-disciplinarity
• a producer of research that was recognised as being of international excellence in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise

The Academy has developing relationships with the broadcast and media industries in Wales, including BBC Wales/Cymru, ITN, and Boomerang. Courses in broadcast journalism at JOMEC and CCI are accredited by the Broadcast Journalism Training Council.

Courses

Glamorgan/CCI BA Broadcast Journalism BA Radio BSc Creative Technologies BSc Creative Technologies (Multimedia) BSc Creative Technologies (Production) BA Film and Video BA Media Production BA Film and TV Set Design MA Interactive Journalism MA Investigative Journalism BA Television Studies BA Animation BA Computer Animation BA Interactive and Motion Design MA Animation

Aberystwyth/TFTS BA Film and Television Studies BA Media and Communication BA Ffilm a Theledu BA Radio Production BA Scenography MA Cynchyrchu Radio MA Scriptwriting Newport/NSAMD BA Advertising Design BA Computer Games Design BA Creative Sound and Music BA Documentary Film and TV BA Photography for Advertising and Fashion BA Interactive Media BA Photographic Art MFA Creative Music Practice MFA Design by Practice Cardiff/JOMEC Diploma in Journalism Studies (Broadcast Option) MA International Journalism (Broadcast and New Media Pathways)

Projects with industry

Strategic Insight Programme
The Strategic Insight Programme (SIP) was launched to help university staff develop and build relationships with external partner organisations. Two SMAW partners are part of the programme, which recognises the value of universities engaging with issues affecting the wider community and of working with organisations to stimulate innovation.

SIP is a pioneering, fully-funded project to develop these collaborative partnerships by funding short term placements of university staff into external organisations, to develop the skills and ‘real world’ experience of university staff and to:

• Gain strategic insights into each other’s organisations
• Stimulate innovation to develop ideas together
• Provide a fresh perspective
• Build strategic partnerships for future collaboration
• Examine how collaborative partnering with universities can really be beneficial

SIP is a collaborative project fully funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) until July 2010.  Placements require no financial input from partner organisations, making it a low risk way of developing new links.

The four HE Institutions participating are: University of Glamorgan, University of Wales, Newport, University of Wales in Cardiff and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (part of the University of Glamorgan Group).

Several academics affiliated to SMAW have successfully completed projects supported by the scheme. These include:

April 09: James Manning, School of Art, Media and Design, University of Wales, Newport, had a placement with Wonky Limited, which was designed to help him gain insight into the effects on media practices and principles caused by new media distribution opportunities such as digital distribution to explore emergent opportunities and inform the undergraduate curriculum.

May 2009: Mike Reddy, University of Wales, Newport, conducted a placement with Blitz Games Studios Limited, which involved him shadowing a recent programming graduate to get hands-on experience of developmental needs and coding requirements, to inform curriculum development and understand better the strategic direction of gaming development.

2008-09: Inga burrows and Ruth McElroy of CCI, University of Glamorgan, worked with the Cardiff communities of Riverside and Splott to develop a creative means of disseminating the findings of a research report. The report ‘Making Ends Meet’ explores what constitutes sustainable livelihoods in different ethnic, urban communities where poverty rates are high and where tactics for managing poverty are very diverse. Inga and Ruth’s project ensured that the findings were accessible to the communities in which they were generated, by working with SRCDC and Splott Credit Union. These grass-roots organisations acted as the link to communities that are traditionally distant from university researchers, inviting original participants and others from Splott and Riverside to take part in a series of game-creation workshops. Results were used to develop a community-based site to disseminate advice and information on how to address poverty and develop a fun board game as a kind of anti-monopoly.

Research

Screening the Nation: Wales and Landmark Television
This research is being conducted by researchers at the Cardiff School of Creative and Cultural Industries and is funded by the BBC Trust and the Audience Council for Wales. This study can be seen in the context of wide-ranging interest in the issue of ‘representation’ in the media generally and, in the light of its central importance to national life, the BBC in particular.

The research centres on a case-study of Dr Who and Torchwood and focuses on the ways in which these high-profile drama series represent Cardiff and South Wales and how they are interpreted and appreciated by different audiences (general viewers from different parts of Wales, for example, and professionals charged with promoting and branding the city/region). The research is being conducted by Prof Steve Blandford, Prof Stephen Lacey, Dr Ruth McElroy and Dr Rebecca Williams and involves a survey of viewer attitudes, including face-to-face focus groups and online questionnaires. In addition to analysing the programmes themselves, the team also aim to interview key production personnel and to draw parallels with representations in television drama of other cities, regions and nations.

The work began in January 2009 and a report will be delivered to the BBC in January 2010. The report will be formally launched in February 2010 at the Atrium. It is hoped that the research will form the basis of a bid for research council funding for a larger project on television audiences in Wales and representations of national identity in television.

If you would like more information about the project, please contact Dr Rebecca Williams at: landmarktvproject@glam.ac.uk. If you would like to communicate in Welsh, please contact Dr Ruth McElroy at: rmcelroy@glam.ac.uk

Contacts:

The Skillset Media Academy Wales is a partnership of the Cardiff School of Creative and Cultural Industries at the University of Glamorgan, Aberystwyth University, Cardiff University and the University of Wales, Newport.
The project co-ordinator of the Academy is Professor Stephen Lacey of the University of Glamorgan.
Address: Cardiff School of Creative and Cultural Industries, ATRiuM, Adam St., Cardiff CF24 2FN
Tel: 44 (0) 1443-668611
Email: swlacey@glam.ac.uk
cci.glam.ac.uk

Other partner contacts are:
Aberystwyth University: Professor Elan Stephens
Address: Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies, Aberystwyth University, Parry-Williams Building, Aberystwyth SY23 3AJ
Email: ecs@aber.ac.uk
Tel: 44 (0) 1970 622828
www.aberystwyth.ac.uk/en/tfts/

Cardiff University: Colin Larcombe
Address: Cardiff School of Journalism, Media & Cultural Studies, Cardiff University, Bute Building,
King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3NB
Email: larcombecm@cardiff.ac.uk
Tel: 44(0)29 208 76279
www.cardiff.ac.uk/jomec/

University of Wales, Newport: Humphry Trevelyan
Address: School of Art, Media and Design, University of Wales, Newport, Caerleon Campus, Lodge Road, Newport, South Wales, NP18 3QT
Email: Humphry.trevelyan@newport.ac.uk
Tel: 44 (0)1633 432954
amd.newport.ac.uk/amd/index.aspx