David Gauntlett
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David Gauntlett (born 15 March 1971) is a British sociologist and
media theorist Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media Studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostly ...
, and the author of several books including ''Making is Connecting''. His earlier work concerned contemporary media
audience An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature (in which they are called "readers"), theatre, music (in which they are called "listeners"), video games (in which they are called "players"), or ...
s, and has moved towards a focus on the everyday making and sharing of digital media and
social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
and the role of these activities in self-identity and building creative cultures.


Career

Gauntlett graduated from the
University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...
in Sociology in 1992. He completed an MA in Women's Studies at Lancaster University then took his PhD and then taught at the
University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...
from 1993 to 2002, then was appointed Professor of Media and Audiences at
Bournemouth University Bournemouth University is a public university in Bournemouth, England, with its main campus situated in neighbouring Poole. The university was founded in 1992; however, the origins of its predecessor date back to the early 1900s. The univer ...
. In 2006 he joined the School of Media, Arts and Design at
University of Westminster , mottoeng = The Lord is our Strength , type = Public , established = 1838: Royal Polytechnic Institution 1891: Polytechnic-Regent Street 1970: Polytechnic of Central London 1992: University of Westminster , endowment = £5.1 million ...
as Professor of Media and Communications, becoming Co-Director of the Communications and Media Research Institute (CAMRI), from 2010-2015. From 2015-2017 he was Professor of Creativity and Design, and the Director of Research for Westminster School of Media, Arts and Design. In 2018, he took up a role as a
Canada Research Chair Canada Research Chair (CRC) is a title given to certain Canadian university research professors by the Canada Research Chairs Program. Program goals The Canada Research Chair program was established in 2000 as a part of the Government of Canada ...
in the Faculty of Communication and Design at
Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...
, Toronto. Gauntlett's critique of media 'effects' studies sparked controversy in 1995,David Gauntlett (1995)
Moving Experiences: Understanding Television's Influences and Effects
London: John Libbey
David Gauntlett (2005)

London: John Libbey
and since then he has published a number of books and research on the role of popular media in people's lives.Will Woodward (1999)
'Viewers admit their guilt at watching too much TV'
''The Guardian'' newspaper, Friday 30 April 1999
David Gauntlett and Annette Hill (1999)

London: Routledge
Charlie Peverett (2002)
Review of 'Media, Gender and Identity'
, HERO: The official online gateway to Higher Education, 2002
AHRC Case Studies: Young People's Engagement with Online Immersive Worlds
, Arts and Humanities Research Council, May 2008
Dan Sabbagh (2008)
'Viewers Boys and girls stay in to play on BBC's virtual island Adventure Rock'
''The Times'' newspaper, 22 May 2008
In particular he has focused on the way in which digital media is changing the experience of media in general.Julian McDougall (2007), 'Creative Transformations: What to do with "Media 2.0"?'

Issue 58, November 2007
David Gauntlett (2000)
'A double dose of digital drivel'
''The Times Higher Educational Supplement'', 22 September 2000
David Gauntlett, ed (2000)
Web.Studies: Rewiring Media Studies For The Digital Age
London: Arnold
David Gauntlett and Ross Horsley, eds (2004)
Web.Studies: Second edition
London: Arnold
In 2007, he was shortlisted for the 'Young Academic Author of the Year' award in the Times Higher awards.Times Higher Educational Supplement
Awards Shortlist
, September 2007.
In the 2008 book, ''Reading Media Theory'', Barlow & Mills state: "David Gauntlett is a prominent, public academic, who has spent his career engaging in research activities which have deliberately involved the public, and have crossed the traditional divide between the academic community and the outside world."David M. Barlow and Brett Mills (2008), ''Reading Media Theory: Thinkers, Approaches, Contexts'', London: Pearson Education, p.422.


New creative research methods

This approach asks participants to ''make'' something as part of the research process.University of Oslo (2007)
Creative Production, Self-expression and Identity
, Intermedia, University of Oslo
Gauntlett's work of this kind began with ''Video Critical'' (1997),David Gauntlett (1997)

London: John Libbey
in which children were asked to make videos about the environment, and then in a number of projects which are discussed in ''Creative Explorations'' (2007).David Gauntlett (2007)

London: Routledge
As well as studies in which participants have been invited to make video,
diaries Diaries may refer to: * the plural of diary *''Diaries: 1971-1976'', a 1981 documentary by Ed Pincus *'' Diaries 1969–1979: The Python Years'', a 2006 book by Michael Palin *''OFW Diaries ''OFW Diaries'' is a Philippine television documentary ...
,
collage Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ...
, and
drawings Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, c ...
, Gauntlett has explored the use of
Lego Serious Play LEGO SERIOUS PLAY is a facilitation methodology developed at The Lego Group. Since 2010 it is available under an open source community-based model. Its goal is improving creative thinking and communication. People build with Lego bricks 3-dimensi ...
as a tool in sociology and
social research Social research is a research conducted by social scientists following a systematic plan. Social research methodologies can be classified as quantitative and qualitative. * Quantitative designs approach social phenomena through quantifiable ...
.Anthea Lipsett (2005)
'Lego and professor click over research'
''The Times Higher Educational Supplement'', 8 April 2005
This approach makes use of
metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...
and invites participants to build metaphorical models of their identities. The process of making something, and then reflecting upon it, aims to give a more nuanced insight into participants' feelings or experiences. This work has been supported by awards from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.Arts and Humanities Research Council
list of research awards
/ref>''Times Higher Education'' (2008)
'Grant winners'
7 February 2008


Media Studies 2.0

In 2007, Gauntlett published online the article Media Studies 2.0, which created some discussion amongst
media studies Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media Studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostly ...
educators.British Film Institute
Media Studies Conference 2007
, 4–6 July 2007
Transforming Audiences International Conference
6–7 September 2007
Andy Ruddock (2008)
'Media Studies 2.0? Binge Drinking and Why Audiences Still Matter'
''Sociology Compass'', Volume 2 Issue 1 Page 1-15, January 2008.
'Towards a Brave New World? The Media Studies 2.0 Debate'
, presentation by Geoff Lealand, University of Waikato, at AMES conference, May 2007
The article argues that the traditional form of
media studies Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media Studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostly ...
teaching and research fails to recognise the changing media landscape in which the categories of 'audiences' and 'producers' blur together, and in which new research methods and approaches are needed. Andy Ruddock has written that Gauntlett's "ironic polemic" includes "much to value", and acknowledges that the argument "is more strategy than creed", but argues that audiences still exist, and experience mass media specifically ''as'' audience, and so it would be premature to dispose of the notion of 'audience' altogether. In other areas there has been less acceptance: Andy Medhurst at Sussex University wrote of Media Studies 2.0, 'Isn't it odd that whenever someone purportedly identifies a new paradigm, they see themselves as already a leading practitioner of it?'


Making is Connecting

In 2008 Gauntlett proposed 'the Make and Connect Agenda', an attempt to rethink audience studies in the context of media users as producers as well as consumers of media material. This argues that there is a shift from a 'sit-back-and-be-told culture' to a 'making-and-doing culture', and that harnessing creativity in both
Web 2.0 Web 2.0 (also known as participative (or participatory) web and social web) refers to websites that emphasize user-generated content, ease of use, participatory culture and interoperability (i.e., compatibility with other products, systems, and ...
and in other everyday creative activities will play a role in tackling
environmental problems Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on t ...
. These ideas are developed further in his best-known book 'Making is Connecting: The social meaning of creativity, from DIY and knitting to YouTube and Web 2.0'. The Second Edition of 'Making is Connecting' was published in 2018, and included additional sections on the creative process.Polity Press
'Making is Connecting: Second Expanded Edition'
/ref>


Books

* ''Making is Connecting: Second Expanded Edition'' (Polity, 2018). * ''Making Media Studies: The Creativity Turn in Media and Communications Studies'' (Peter Lang, 2015). * ''Making is Connecting: The social meaning of creativity, from DIY and knitting to YouTube and Web 2.0'' (Polity, 2011). * ''Media Studies 2.0, and Other Battles around the Future of Media Research'' (Kindle, 2011). * ''Creative Explorations: New approaches to identities and audiences'' (London: Routledge, 2007). * ''Media, Gender and Identity'' (Routledge, 2002; second edition, 2008). * ''Web.Studies'' (edited collection, Arnold & Oxford Univ Press, 2000; second edition, co-edited with Ross Horsley, 2004). * ''TV Living: Television, Culture and Everyday Life'' (Routledge, 1999). Written with Annette Hill. * ''Video Critical: Children, The Environment and Media Power'' (John Libbey, 1997). * ''Moving Experiences'' (John Libbey, 1995; second edition, 2005).


References


External links


Official Website

Making is Connecting
– site about Making is Connecting project, with extracts, video, etc.

– Interview from 2010 book ''Mashup Cultures'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Gauntlett, David 1971 births Living people Mass media theorists British sociologists Academics of the University of Leeds Academics of the University of Westminster Alumni of the University of Leeds Alumni of the University of York