About

MeCCSA is the subject association for the field of media, communication and cultural studies in UK Higher Education. Membership is open to all who teach and research these subjects in HE institutions, via either institutional or individual membership; international members are also welcome. The field includes media and cultural studies; film, TV and screen studies; digital media and culture; media production, journalism, radio, advertising, PR, creative writing, and publishing.

MeCCSA members organise activities through 11 networks: Climate Change; Disability Studies; Local and Community Media; Policy; Postgraduate; Practice; Race, Ethnicity and Postcolonial; Radio Studies; Social Movements; Sound Studies; and the Women’s Network. Contact the organisers of each network for more information.

Each year MeCCSA holds a conference which attracts around 200 delegates internationally, and which includes keynote speakers, academic papers, presentations around media and teaching practice, networking opportunities, and the Annual General Meeting at which the Executive is elected by the membership. Throughout the year other events are held or supported by MeCCSA, and its member networks organise a variety of events such as conferences, symposia and webinars.

The MeCCSA newsletter Three-D is published twice a year, and this website is updated regularly with other news.

MeCCSA operates a discussion and information email list through the JISCMail system. This mailing list is a free service and is not restricted to members. Please note that this is an unmoderated list and its content reflects the views of those who post to the list, not of MeCCSA as an organisation. Many of the MeCCSA networks also operate separate email lists.

MeCCSA is recognised by, and works with, government departments and other agencies. The association has represented its subject areas and made recommendations to bodies such as HE funding agencies and the Quality Assurance Agency. It is an unincorporated association, whose constitution includes the following purposes:

• Supporting, developing, representing and promoting the field in Higher Education
• Providing a professional forum for members to exchange information and experience
• Contributing to policy debates and consultations
• Raising and improving public understanding of the field
• Maintaining and improving the quality of provision in teaching and learning in the field
• Advising research and funding bodies, and other relevant national and international bodies, including professional practice and training associations
• Promoting the interests of students
• Fostering research in the field
• Advising on professional qualifications in the field
• Promoting policies which encourage diversity and equal opportunities in the field

For potential students of media, communication or cultural studies, MeCCSA has produced a short introductory video with some general advice. More information for potential students, teachers and parents can be found on our FAQs page.

History

The current Association was formed in January 2007 by the merger of two previous subject sector associations. MeCCSA had been founded in 1999 from another merger of two associations in the field; the Association of Media Practice Educators (AMPE) had also been founded in 1999, after the emerging tertiary sector of media practice education organised to represent and help develop practice issues in both teaching and researching media. By 2005 it was recognised that collaborative working could be enhanced by closer ties, and both organisations held their first joint annual conference in 2005 at the University of Lincoln. A merger proposal was passed by both AGMs at the 2006 Leeds Metropolitan University conference, and the new MeCCSA came into being at Coventry University in 2007.

Constitution

Adopted by the Association at its Annual General Meeting, Coventry 11 January 2007. Annex A revised at its Annual General Meeting, Salford, 13January 2011. Text and Appendices revised following AGM, Bournemouth, 9 January 2014. It was further amended following Executive Committee, June 2014, and ratified with new Annex A by AGM Northumbria, January 2015. The most recent version was adopted following motions to the AGM in January 2022, to account for an extended membership and accommodating the annual conference in September.