Online seminar on “Exploring ethics in transnational media collaboration” on 30-31 May with top global experts

A two-day online seminar “Exploring Ethics in Transnational Media Collaboration” is scheduled for 30 and 31 May. 

Speakers from Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the UK, the USA, Canada, Germany, Africa and Nigeria will address a range of important topics, including storytelling, decolonising feminism, and the challenges of transnational media research. This seminar is the second in a series of interdisciplinary knowledge exchange events towards a de-colonial imaginary around ethics in north-south transnational media collaborations. 

Developing a Media-Decolonisation Imaginary (DMDI) is a study which aims to​ advance new methodologies for transnational media research, Pedagogy and Practice. DMDI is developed in partnership with Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Ghana, as well as scholars at the University of Florida and the London School of Economics’ (LSE), Africa Institute.  Also, in collaboration with us, are the Wole Soyinka International Cultural Exchange (WSICE), Lanka Cine (Media), Sri Lanka.

This interventionist work builds on the AHRC research project ScreenWorlds (2019 - 2025), and on Postcolonial interrogations of transnational research collaborations/allyship, to study how ethical north-south media research partnerships can be strengthened. Beginning in January 2024 and running till April 2025, it features a 12-month seminar series focalising themes of Postcolonialism, Intersectionality, and Indigenous Knowledge Theory. We believe that these are mobilisable for designing media-research methodologies which privilege intersectional diversity and inclusion in media landscapes, beyond superficial gestures. 

Opening Keynote titled “Community-Based Communication Model for Development: An Update”

on 30 May will be delivered by the University of Liberal Arts, Bangladesh Pro Vice Chancellor Prof.  Jude William Genilo.  Closing Keynote on 31 May  will be by Professor Nikita Dhawan who is the Professor of Political Theory and History of Ideas at the Technical University Dresden, Germany and Chair of Political Science with a focus on Political Theory and the History of Political Thought, Institute of Political Science, Technical University Dresden. Germany. The topic will be “One World, One Pain? Transnational Literacy and Planetary Ethics.” 

The Chair on 30 May is Prof. George M. Bob-Milliar. Associate Professor in African Studies, at the Department of History and Political Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi-Ghana and the Chair for 31 May is Imruh Bakari, Filmmaker and Senior Fellow at University of Winchester, UK.

Other speakers and their subjects at the event includes Dr. Nini Kerr, Lecturer in Counselling, Psychotherapy and Applied Social Sciences, School of Health in Social Science, The University of Edinburgh, UK (Decolonising the University: An Impossible Task?) ; Prof. Abu S.M. Dayen, Department of Bangla [Language], Jahangirnagar University. Bangladesh (Rabindranath Tagore›s Education Policy: Exploring the Attempts to Decolonise Bengal Pedagogy); Dr. Rathitharan Kathiresu, Senior Lecturer, Department of Drama and Theatre Arts, Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan Faculty of Performing and Visual Arts, University of Jaffna. Sri Lanka (Tamil Theatre Practices, with Some Attention to its History and its Characteristics as a Style of Stage/Screen Performance); Dr. Anisha Datta, Chair, Department of Sociology. Associate Professor of Sociology. King›s University College at Western University. Canada ( Neoliberalist Slippages in Decolonisation in the Context of Transnationalism); Dr. Ayesha Siddiqua, Associate Professor, Department of Media and Communication Studies, National University of Modern Languages. Pakistan, (Exploring Pakistani Female Identities and how they Challenge Stereotypical Media Representations); Asim Rafiqui, Photojournalist, Ph.D., candidate in Social Anthropology at the TUDelft, Netherlands (Trouble in the Field); Prof. Sunny Singh, Professor of Creative Writing and Inclusion in the Arts, London Metropolitan University. UK, (Moving Beyond (Neo-)Colonial Paradigms: Centring Justice in Transnational Collaborations); Dr. Kanchuka Darmasiri 

Department of Fine Arts, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka (A Trajectory of Sri Lankan Critical Feminist Locales in Precolonial, Colonial, and Post-Colonial Moments); Santhus Aroh, Visiting Lecturer; Lagos Business School, Pan Atlantic University. Nigeria, (Focus on Nigeria’s Financial Responsibilities in Transnational Media Collaborations); Kyari Bukar, Co-Founder, Trans Sahara Investment Corporation, 

Chairman (2015 - 2018): Nigerian Economic Summit Group, (In Conversation with Kyari Bukar: Sustainable Africa-Funded Research - Visiting Possibilities); Bolanle Austin-Peters, Founder Terra Kulture, Nigerian Cultural Centre, Nigeria, (Arts of the Peoples: Crafting Our Stories - from SARO! THE MUSICAL (2013), to FUNMILAYO (2024)); and Prof. Aniko Imre, Professor of Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California. U.S.A, (European Semi-Peripheral Media and Research Production); 

The event’s Research team includes Principal Researcher - Dr Samantha Iwowo, Principal Academic, Directing Theatre, Film and Television, Program Leader: MA Directing, Film and Television, Chair, Industry to Academic Research Series, Faculty of Media and Communication, Bournemouth University, England; South Asian partner - Lanka Bandaranayake, Award-winning filmmaker, founder, director and CEO of Lanka Cine (Media) Sri Lanka and Project Manager (Africa) - Marcia Abdul-Korah, Filmmaker, Ghana.

Participation is free for those registered via Eventbrite.