On May 8, from 15:00-17:00 we will be using this portal to broadcast a guest lecture from Mark Mullen titled “The US and Europe in Georgia: The Differences in How They Do Development.”
– And what that means for you as you try to get a job.
Mark Mullen is currently working in Georgia, and has long experience from working in different countries: East Africa working on drought relief, followed by democracy related work for the National Democratic Institute (NDI, www.ndi.org), two years in Palestine, a year in Albania then in 1997 as the head of NDI in Georgia until the Rose Revolution. Mark started the national chapter of Transparency International in Georgia (www.transparency.ge) and is involved in a number of non-profit and for profit and social enterprise in Georgia.
There are many interesting connections between Comdev and Caucasus Studies and something that we plan to explore more through these types of events in the future.
If you would like to join the lecture in person you are welcome on May 8, 15-17,
Citadellsvägen 7 (room 104).
To learn more about the Caucasus Studies at Malmö University please see the program website.
The first Comdev seminar of 2012 was held from Jan. 20th to the 21st and, as always, featured some engaging guest speakers covering a wide range of topics. The second day of the seminar was also held in conjunction with the Örecomm Open Seminar which featured Tomas Tufte from Roskilde University and Winston Mano from the University of Westminster in the UK. Both days were well attended by Comdev students with 20+ attending in person and more than double that online.
The first day began with Oscar Hemer presenting a brief introduction to the program for the new students which was followed by a short lecture on basic fundamentals of the field of Communication for Development and the various forms it takes.
The afternoon session featured Lisa Ann Richey from Roskilde University discussing her research on Product Red. She shared some very interesting insights on corporate social responsibility, ethical consumerism, and celebratory endorsement of aid. As always, her lecture was well received and set the stage for what was to come for the next day.
To begin the Saturday event, Florencia Enghel was on hand to talk about the course work and give a lecture about Communication and Development Cooperation. After Florencia provided an introduction to the course work, she added to what Lisa had presented, discussing how the private sector is playing a role in development and giving some examples of how they are using their influence in questionable projects.
After lunch, Thomas Tufte gave an in-depth look at Communication for Development and Social Change highlighting History and Current Challenges. Following the previous two lectures, the role of the private sector in development was still on the minds of some students, which led to some insightful questions and comments from online. Thomas also discussed the different forms which communication for development takes, along with various definitions. Winston Mano capped off the two-day event with his unique perspective on Media and Development in the Digital Age. He was able to draw on his experience from living in both Tanzania and Britain to give a well-rounded lecture.
The first ComDev seminar of the 2012 spring term will take place at Malmö University on Friday January 20th and Saturday January 21st. Speakers include Lisa Ann Richey and Thomas Tufte from Roskilde University, and Winston Mano, Director of Africa Media Centre, University of Westminster. The seminar will take place in room U302 in Malmö University’s Ubåtshallen .
On Saturday 21st Thomas Tufte presents “Communication for Development and Social Change: History and current challenges”.
Winston Manowill also speak on Saturday 21st when he presents “Media and Development in the Digital Age: Questions, issues and priorities for Africa”.
The seminar is open to all and free to attend. There will be a live video stream of the whole seminar on this blog.
If you are a student on the Communication for Development masters programme at Malmö Univeristy then you should log on to It’s Learning and participate in the this seminar using the LIVE LECTURE application.
On Friday June 3rd and Saturday June 4th ComDev Malmö will be holding the final weekend seminar of the spring term. Principally for ComDev10/11 students this seminar is open to all and will be streamed live on the ComDev portal if you would like to follow the presentations and discussions that will be taking place [...]
On Monday June 6th the Ørecomm research group presents Performing, Writing and Doing Ethnography a one day seminar at Roskilde University, Denmark. Key note speaker is Debra Vidali Spitulnik from Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. In 2010 Debra wrote and produced a documentary theatre work based on ethnographic and interview research into young adults engagements’ with [...]
Brand Aid: Shopping Well to Save the World the new book by Lisa Ann Richey, professor at Roskilde University and member of the Ørecomm team , was published by the University of Minnesota Press this March. To launch the book Lisa will be delivering a seminar at the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) in Copenhagen on Friday May 13th. Co-authored, [...]
Last week was a busy one for the ComDev masters programme here in Malmö. On Thursday 3rd we had a successful day of examinations for students presenting their final exam projects. Myriam Horngren was one the students presenting her final project work. Myriam defended her masters thesis Rap: a tool for promoting change amongst youth in [...]
Malmö University’s ComDev09 students are about to embark on their final research/dissertation projects so it seems like a good time to re-visit Edlira Gjoni’s presentation on opportunities for research and project work in Albania. Edlira lives in Tirana and started studying the Communication for Development Masters programme with Malmö University in 2009. Link here to [...]
On Friday 10th of December media researcher John Downing was invited by Örecomm (the universities of Malmö and Roskidle) and Medea to give an open seminar at MEDEA Malmö University. Video of Downing’s presentation on Social Movement Media vs. Media for Development vs. Knowledge-Sharing is now available to stream here John Downing Open seminar On the [...]
Saving suffering strangers: Representations and communications in Product Red High bandwidth Video | Low bandwidth Video In this lecture for ComDev Lisa Ann Richey makes a strong case for why we should be taking Product Red seriously. Drawing on research for her forthcoming book Brand Aid: Shopping well to save the world, co-authored with Stefano Ponte. [...]
When trying to assess our contemporary predicament, the once controversial G-word may be about to be replaced by another elusive concept: Mediatization. The second or third phase of the digital revolution, with its explosion of so-called social media, has made it adamantly clear to us how all sectors of culture and society are saturated with, and increasingly influenced by, mediated communication. Not only politics and the public sphere, but our private lives and everyday experiences are today inseparably entangled with the media.
This is not a “new” phenomenon. It can be traced back all the way to Aristotle’s Poetics, or at least to Marshall McLuhan’s media theory and catchy but obscure conception of the medium as the message… But whereas mediatization used to be largely confined to the global North, or the so-called developed world, and hence not a concern for the traditional field of Communication for Development, it is now truly a global phenomenon, as demonstrated by the ongoing so-called Arabic Spring.
Today’s media environments, in which “old” and “new” media converge in ever changing forms, are both radically transforming the arenas of public opinion and agency – redefining the very concept of a public sphere – and yielding new forms of expression that transgress former genre and media boundaries.
On Friday 20th 
