CSCC Voices I

Summary video for Voices I, the first public intellectuals seminar series from the Centre for the Study of Communications and Culture at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus. The Centre for the Study of Communications and Culture (CSCC) has embarked on a series of projects, beginning in early 2011, to establish and maintain its role as a key centre of excellence in communications and cultural studies in the country and the region. Part of this initiative will lie with a seminar series under the general theme of Culture, Media and Identity. The series is in three parts, each comprising lectures or multimedia presentations by renowned scholars and cultural activists. The main aim of the series is to examine and evaluate the importance of culture and the media in the construction of identities in an increasingly globalised world. This, we believe, is important in a region comprising multiple cultures and at a time when greater cultural awareness, understanding and respect is needed but, unfortunately, has not been forthcoming. The first series of presentations which was held from February-May 2011, titled Voices: Public Intellectuals and Public Discourse in South and South-East Asia, provided critical engagements with contemporary issues related to the role(s) of public intellectuals and public discourses in often-authoritarian settings. This series examined the various theoretical trajectories that the overall project could take, thus helping to formulate and guide the intellectual direction of the Centre. We hope shortly to publish a volume of essays relating to this theme.