DCRC - Digital Cultures Research Centre

The week ending the 18th of May saw researchers conducting interesting conversations both near and afar, some reflection and also looking forward, the week was also the 141st week of the operation of the DCRC. 141 years ago, in 1871, Henry Stanley tracked down David Livingstone on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, five bank holidays were introduced by law for the first time, the Rugby Football Union was founded and and trade unions were legalised.

The 141st week of the DCRC saw the 2012 graduate digital media showcase Sideways Looks held at the Paintworks in south Bristol. Senior lecturer Rod Dickinson explained that "Students on the award are asked to produce work which shows that they understand the ways the media work, and also that they can analyse and critique this. Their projects represent a fresh look at the world while often unravelling some of the ways in which our views are currently shaped by existing media." With Endemol based in the same complex, it was even rumoured that Noel Edmunds paid a quick visit during a break in filming.

Senior Research Fellow Mandy Rose features in two videos recently released by the MIT Open Documenary Lab. Mandy was interviewed while at MIT for the New Arts of Documentary Summit, where she talked about her influential work on collaborative documentary making.

On the 15th of May, DCRC researcher Tom Abba interviewed the writer Nick Harkaway about his recent book examining what it is to live in a 'digital' epoch, as a part of the Bristol Festival of Ideas. Harkaway offered a brief follow up blog post on the forum for his book, concerning the character of the Flâneur.

The DCRC was pleased to receive European visitors as a part of the growing network of international collaborators that UWE Bristol has been developing to explore how we can share and deliver our innovative programmes in media and cultural studies in an increasingly globalised education sector.

DCRC PhD researcher Dan Dixon spent the week ending the 18th May in New York city conducting participant observations of Punckdrunk's innovative imersive theatre production 'Sleep No More'. We look forward to hearing more about Dan's AHRC/NESTA supported research in the not-too-distant future.

The 141st week of the DCRC also brought some interesting discussions about the future of the immensely successful New Media: A critical introduction, a product of the UWE Department of Culture Media and Drama that spawned the DCRC and currently in its second edition. More will be revealed in the coming months.