Dr Mike Birch

Associate Professor of Broadcast Media

Author of: Mental Health: Contexts Debates and Analysis

Office Hours
TR 8-9am, W 3:30-4:30pm and by appointment.

Areas of Interest

Main areas of interest are: mediations of health/mental health; disability; genre form; semiology; representation; the politics of self-identity; applied theatre - media and theatre for development; trust and risk; stereotyping; stigma; hegemony; language and media; globalisation.

Courses Taught

Media, Self-Identity & Society; Essentials of Film; Film Mediations of Mental Health; From Semiotics to Significations; Basic Television Production; Advanced Television Production; Broadcast Journalism; Making Meaning: Theory & Practice in Media Production.

Administrative Responsibilities

All College Committee (2007-9) and (2011 - present)
Academic Technology Advisory Group (2004-9) ATAG Chair (2007-9)
Curriculum Committee (2004-9)
Honors Advisory Committee (2005-11)

During my time at MCLA:

While at MCLA, my departmental contributions have included leadership towards developing not just a curriculum focusing on convergent media journalism but also new technologies enabling student learning across the college. This has involved securing new television studio technologies and I have also secured $50,000 via Title III grant funding for new Avid Media Composer Editing Lab. I continue to offer leadership in the designing and pricing new technological infrastructure for this ongoing MCLA project.

Publications

Book Publications

Birch, Michael (2011) Mediating Mental Health: Contexts Debates and Analysis Ashgate.

Paper Publications

Birch, Michael (1996) Takin' Over the Asylum: Promoting Meanings of Mental Health? Promotion of Mental Health (Vol.6), Avebury. 
Birch, Michael (1998) Promoting Mental Health in Media: In Search of an Effective Methodology Promotion of Mental Health (Vol.8), Avebury.
Birch, Michael (1999) Representations of Schizophrenia in Television News: A Comparative Analysis Avebury.

Book Reviews

Acknowledged in: Fairclough, Norman (1995) Media Discourse London: Edward Arnold.
Acknowledged in: Barsam, Richard (2004) Looking at Movies: An Introduction to Film W.W. Norton.

Conferences Attended/Papers Presented

Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference, July 1-4 Tampere, (Finland 1996) - Narratives of Madness in Media.
European Mental Health Promotion Conference Commonwealth Institute, London 11th-13th Sept., (1996). 
European Mental Health Promotion Conference at the Conservatoire, Birmingham 9th-11th Sept. (1998).
European Promotion of Mental Health Conference in Maastricht 11th-13th Oct. (1999)
Radio History Symposium: Talks and Documentaries - Bournemouth University, 23rd - 24th June, (1999).
Contributed evidence from research to the MIND Inquiry and Recommendations for Policy about media representations of 'mental health' published in: Creating Accepting Communities: Report of the Mind Inquiry into Social Exclusion and Mental Health Problems (1999)
New Mental Health Mediations: Service-User Perspectives paper presented to the 3rd Biennial World Conference on the Promotion of Mental Health and Prevention of Mental Disorders, Auckland, New Zealand, 15th-17th September (2004).
Broadcasters Education Association Conference at the National Association of Broadcasters (Las Vegas) 2005. Presented: Transitioning Communication Curricula from Analogue Technologies to Digital Modes.
Transforming Audiences Conference, attended at University of Westminster, London, UK. 6th - 7th September, 2007.
MeCCSA Conference 11th - 13th January 2012 at University of Bedfordshire, Luton, UK. Presented paper about public policy from my book Mediating Mental Health.

Affiliations

Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association, NAMI.

Previous HE Experience

Senior Lecturer Falmouth College of Arts (1994-2002), taught Broadcasting Studies, guest lectured on History of Modern Art and Design teaching the Sociology of Values and Taste; co-wrote BA (Hons) English With Media, (1995). 

Contact
Mark Hopkins 107B | 413-662-5375 | e-mail Michael Birch