Dr Fiona Smith
| Biography | Fiona is a principal lecturer in Gray's School of Art at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen and has over 25 years’ experience of teaching, research and course management in Higher Education. Her first degree is in information science (1992) and her doctorate is in environmental journalism (1996). The latter examined the media representation of the environment in Scotland and explored this from the position of journalistic praxis. This work resulted in a book published in 1999. Fiona's works broadly in the area media representation but her subject expertise ranges across different disciplines from critical and cultural theory (specifically critical postmodern perspectives), to narrative enquiry and media analysis, and formalist aspects of media and film production. She has skills in advanced textual analysis and teaches semiotics, critical discourse analysis, and rhetorical analysis to students and staff across the school and university. Fiona is a conceptual researcher and after working for some time in the fields of journalism and information science, she relocated her published work to situate it within the broader discipline of communication and cultural studies. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and believes that reflective evaluation of practice is central to being an academic. She has a strong interest in critical pedagogy and the work of Paulo Freire. She strives to orientate her teaching practice in accordance with a dialogic approach. She is a member of MeCCSA (the Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association), the subject association for academics working within these disciplines. |
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| Research Interests | Her research interests are broadly in the following areas: The representation of the uncanny in photography and film Digital retrophilic communities and people's engagement with the past The mediation of melancholia and loss in urban exploration photography The development of media literacy and resilience in secondary school education |
| Teaching and Learning | Fiona is a Principal Lecturer in Gray's School of Art. She teaches the following modules: Media Semiotics and Discourse, Postmodern Culture, Cinema and Society and contributes to Visual Culture and Design, Research Methods, Research in the Creative Industries. She is Stage 4 Coordinator on the BA (Hons) Media degree. |
| Scopus Author ID | 55788018900 |
| PhD Supervision Availability | Yes |
| PhD Topics | Fiona supervises PhDs in the following areas: Media and cultural theory Media and film representation Media and film audiences She welcomes any PhD applications related to the areas of cultural theory, memory, fan communities and the mediation and consumption of the past. Additionally, she has expertise in the areas of journalism theory and media (specifically environmental) discourse. |