About Dr Barbara Sadler
I am a Senior Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies. I am proud to be a graduate of the University of Sunderland (BA Media/MA Media and Culture). My doctoral research was funded by AHRC as part of a project called 'Televising History', which was based at University of Lincoln and directed by Professor Ann Gray and Dr Erin Bell.
I have worked as a lecturer since 2005 and hold a PGCE PCET teaching degree. I have taught at both University of Lincoln and University of Sunderland.
My research is focused on Identities, Place and Institutions and the complex relationships between these concepts. This often leads to investigations of production or working cultures/practices and consumption cultures in specific locations – this sometimes includes media environments. There is a historical approach to some of the research and often an examination of textual elements, as well as data collection of oral histories.
Teaching and supervision
I am Programme Leader and Personal Tutor for BA (Hons) Film and Media. I am module leader for several core and optional modules which include:
- FDN018 Multimedia Communication
- MED152 Understanding Media and Culture
- MED123 Making of Popular Culture
- MED261 Researching Media in Theory and Practice
- MED359 Media and Society
Interests
- Cultural Constructions of Identity
- Participatory Cultures
- Representations of the past on screen
- Discourse Analysis
- Media History
- Media Production Studies
- Audience or Consumption Studies
I have supervised dissertations on a range of topics including representations of female heroes in film, constructions of 'place' and identity in Animal Crossing, the impact of social media on contemporary journalism, and an analysis of public response to Southpark.
I am supervising PhD research on gaming cultures, K-pop fan cultures, podcasting and female comedy on television.
Research
My PhD formed part of an AHRC-funded project 'Televising History'. My section of the research investigates ITV history from the regional perspective and the connections between place and identity. In the thesis I analyse ITV regional and national station identifiers and a regional television programme, The Way We Were, each of which was formatted differently for specific regions. The thesis includes a production study and audience reception study to examine how the programme was constructed by producers and then interpreted by audiences.
I have given several conference papers on my doctoral research. Other publications relate to representations of the medical profession in the period drama Poldark and the representations of gender in Poldark.
Areas of expertise
- Production or working cultures
- Audience/consumption cultures
- Social constructions of identity
- Representations on screen
Further information
I am a member of the Academic Misconduct Panel and the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion committee.