Greyscale image of Andrew Branch

Andrew Branch

Senior Lecturer in Media Communications

Senior Lecturer

Media and Communication

Department of Media , School of Arts and Creative Industries

Programme Development and Enhancement Lead, Department of Media

Co-director Cultural Engine Research Group (CERG)

Course Leader MA Media and Communication Industries

Qualifications

  • PhD in Cultural Studies (bursary funded), University of East London, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2010. Thesis title: Social Mobility, Masculinity and Popular Music, Supervisors: Prof Mica Nava, Dr Jeremy Gilbert, Dr Tim Lawrence
  • MA Media and Communication, with distinction, Goldsmiths College, University of London, 2005
  • BA(Hons) Communication Studies, 1st class, Nottingham Polytechnic, CNAA, 1992

Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy

Areas Of Interest

  • Pierre Bourdieu’s relational sociology
  • communication industries/creative industries/media industries
  • popular music studies
  • social class and educational experience 
Greyscale image of Andrew Branch

OVERVIEW

My teaching and research are invested in making sense of the workings of the creative industries, held up as drivers of progressive social and economic change by successive governments intent on superintending them. 

Drawing primarily on the work of Pierre Bourdieu, I’m interested in how workers in these industries negotiate the complex relations between commercial imperatives and creative practice. I situate this interest in the wider context of examining how subjectivities are formed, embodied, negotiated, and captured in media discourses. 

This research informs my postgraduate teaching. I welcome enquiries from prospective doctoral research candidates. 

RESEARCH AND IMPACT

The impact of this research is realised via the public-facing work I do as a member of the Cultural Engine Research Group (CERG), which I co-founded with Dr Tony Sampson (Reader in Digital Communications, Essex) and Giles Tofield (Cultural Engine).

CERG works with marginalised communities and groups, securing funding to study how specific sites of incubation frame social reproduction.

TEACHING

  • MA Media and Communication Industries

    Develop your career in the media industry with our comprehensive MA programme. Gain academic and practical skills in digital media, marketing, and communications. Apply today!

Publications

Browse past publications by year.

Full publications list

Visit the research repository to view a full list of publications

Research repository