Organisation profile

The School of Media, Culture and Society at the University of the West of Scotland was formed in 2014 through the merger of the former School of Social Sciences and former School of Creative and Cultural Industries. It is a large, multi-disciplinary school, with some 110 academic staff and over 50 PhD students. The School has a presence across all four of the UWS Scottish Campuses (Paisley, Ayr, Hamilton and Dumfries), and delivers programmes from the UWS London Campus. 

The School’s teaching and learning programmes and wider activities are underpinned by a strong research base, linked to substantial, and growing, external research funding, and generating extensive publication and impressive external quality ratings. 

Research activity within the School is led by an Associate Dean (Research and Enterprise), Professor Chik Collins (reporting to Dean of School, Professor Derek Carson), and is currently configured around three Strategic Hubs, each of which has a designated Lead for Research and Enterprise, and each of which is composed of two Subject Clusters, as indicated below: 

· Strategic Hub for Society, Policy, Governance and Justice (R&E Lead, Professor Colin Clark)

o Politics, Public Policy, Criminal Justice and Criminology

o Sociology, Social Policy and Careers Guidance

· Strategic Hub for Psychology, Social Work, Health Behaviours and Addictions (R&E Lead, Dr Edward Edgerton)

o Psychology

o Social Work, Health Behaviours and Addictions

· Strategic Hub for Culture and Creativity (R&E Lead, Dr Alison Clifford)

o Art, Music and Performance

o Screen, Broadcasting and Journalism