Cultural Identities

One of the things I do in my spare time is act as an Honorary Professor at Cardiff University's School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, where I was briefly a lecturer before my election. I am not a journalist, nor would claim ever to have been one. I lectured post-grad students on subjects like Political Communication, Global Media, the making of media policy, and the relationship between the media and identities.

Last week some journalists from a number of overseas countries, including Belgium, Egypt, Macedonia, Malaysia,Turkey,Poland,Nigeria, Russia and Slovenia came to Cardiff, then went to Llangollen, on a British Council visit, where they were exploring issues of Multiculturalism of the UK and Welsh society. It was of course an extraordinary week for them to come, encompassing Live8, the G8, the Olympic success and the appalling events of last Thursday.

I lectured to them - not my choice of title, on Wales in the UK. Devolution. Plural Politics and the Journalism of Respect. Essentially my focus was on the complexity of cultural identity. The lecture is attached.

Download british_council_lecture_final.doc