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School of English, Media and Creative Arts

Organisation profile

Overview of our Research

The School of English, Media and Creative Arts (SEMCA) comprises five disciplines: English, Film and Digital Media, Drama and Theatre Studies, Music, and Journalism and Media. The School is internationally renowned for its research, with Performing Arts and English both ranked in the QS world top 100 and top 150, respectively, in 2025. SEMCA researchers deploy a diverse range of methods and practices, including collaborative research work that emphasises teamwork across different career stages. Research in the school includes textual, archival, theoretical, historical, philosophical, digital, technological, practice-based, and critical approaches to the analysis of texts, performances, society, and culture. It also includes creative and professional practices such as fiction, poetry, journalism, playwriting, documentary-making, musical composition, music performance, directing, and translation. The School’s diverse research profile includes:
 
  • Histories of Creative Practice
  • Textual, Archival, and Critical Analysis
  • Theoretical and Critical Analysis
  • Theoretical and Philosophical Approaches to Creativity and Culture
  • Practice-Based Research
  • Irish-language arts and culture
  • The Application of Digital Technologies in Arts and Humanities
  • Responding to key societal challenges, such as media literacy, digital transformation, AI, social marginalisation and language endangerment.
 
Research and creative practice emerging from SEMCA has attracted notice at the highest international levels, with three ERC grant awards (RECIRC, 2014-2020; Theatronomics, 2021-2026; STEMMA, 2023-2028), two Booker Prize nominations (in 2017 and 2023), and many national and international research awards for research publications. It is also rooted in local and national contexts, not only through collaborations with major national organisations such as the Abbey Theatre, Irish National Opera, Ealaín na Gaeltachta, Druid Theatre, TG4, and the Irish Writers Centre, but also through our commitment to the public good through partnerships and other forms of engagement.

UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. Our work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  1. SDG 1 - No Poverty
    SDG 1 No Poverty
  2. SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
    SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
  3. SDG 4 - Quality Education
    SDG 4 Quality Education
  4. SDG 5 - Gender Equality
    SDG 5 Gender Equality
  5. SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
    SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth
  6. SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
    SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
  7. SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
    SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities
  8. SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
    SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
  9. SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
    SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production
  10. SDG 13 - Climate Action
    SDG 13 Climate Action
  11. SDG 15 - Life on Land
    SDG 15 Life on Land
  12. SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
    SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
  13. SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals
    SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals

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