Communication Research (PhD)

The role communication research plays in the world is more vital than ever. Social, health and ecological crises are shaping a ‘new normal’, a situation increasingly framed as fragile and precarious. Networks, systems, and communities are being re-thought, suggesting dystopic and utopic possibilities. Communication researchers bring much-needed critical positioning to this dynamic. They mobilise new kinds of knowledge formation; exploring, probing, and creating ways to open dialogues on what it means to be human in rapidly shifting environments.

Our focus for RCA2021 is on interdisciplinarity. Postgraduate researchers are combining disciplines in unprecedentedly innovative ways. They push at the edges of their individual fields of study yet remain at the apex of interdisciplinary practices.

Here we feature a graduate researcher who seeks to ‘innovate the design of video game-worlds through the adoption of a philosophical outlook.’ The application of philosophy, and particularly the metaphysical and metaethical decisions taken by game designers, to virtual storyworlds, offers a way out of the creative rut in which the industry finds itself. This type of research is crucial for bridging industry and academia, establishing the potential for new forms of knowledge production.

Find out more about Communication Research at the RCA: www.rca.ac.uk

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