News archive 2007

Radio and University conference

02 Nov 2007, PR 176/07

King's College London and The Radio Academy and are holding a one-day conference today (Friday 2 November) looking at the relationship between radio, the universities and the ‘public intellectual', entitled I'm An Intellectual: Get Me Out of Here!

Speakers will include Mark Damazer, Controller of BBC Radio 4, Mark Kermode, broadcaster and film critic, Hugh Dennis, actor and comedian, Dr Richard Howells, Reader in Cultural and Creative Industries at King's, and Professor Frank Furedi, Professor of Sociology at University of Kent and author of Where Have all the Intellectuals Gone?

Radio and universities share a commitment to informing and educating their respective audiences. At the same time, both are equally accused of elitism and of dumbing down. I'm An Intellectual: Get Me Out of Here! will look at how broadcasters and academics can continue to promote learning for its own sake and respond to external pressures. Central to the conference will be an examination of the changing role of the ‘public intellectual'.

A varied schedule of keynotes speeches, panel discussions and interactive sessions will look at the challenges facing each sector, the relationship between them, and how collectively they can work together for the public good.

Dr Richard Howells, Reader in Cultural and Creative Industries at King's College London, welcomes the opportunity for radio and the universities to tackle the issues surrounding intellectual life together: ‘We'll be exploring areas of common concern with a critical yet collaborative eye. And we have a great deal to gain from each other. King's is certainly a long established, successful and academically rigorous university. At the same time we actively reach beyond the college walls to all parts of contemporary cultural and creative life, including the media. Radio, meanwhile, has a long tradition of public education going all the way back to Lord Reith. Whether we use the microphone or the seminar room, we both have the means – and I believe the obligation - to contribute to the wider intellectual life of everyone'

Christopher Coe, Director of Communications at King's College London will take part in one of the panel discussion. ‘Red Light Spells Danger' will examine the resources available to radio practitioners, including university academics

I'm An Intellectual: Get Me Out of Here is supported by the London Centre for Arts and Cultural Enterprise (LCACE) and the King's College Annual Fund.

Notes to editors

King's College London
King's College London is the fourth oldest university in England with more than 13,700 undergraduates and nearly 6,200 graduate students in nine schools of study based at five London campuses. It is a member of the Russell Group: a coalition of the UK's major research-based universities. The College has had 24 of its subject-areas awarded the highest rating of 5* and 5 for research quality, demonstrating excellence at an international level, and it has recently received an excellent result in its audit by the Quality Assurance Agency.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, international relations, medicine, nursing and the sciences, and has played major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA. It is the largest centre for the education of health care professionals in Europe and is home to five Medical Research Council Centres – more than any other university.

King's is in the top group of UK universities for research earnings, with income from grants and contracts of more than £114 million, and has anannual income of more than £369 million.


Dr Richard Howells
Dr Howells, a former newspaper and radio journalist who became an academic after studying at Harvard and Cambridge, is Reader in Creative & Cultural Industries at King's College London. He is a regular contributor to radio and television discussions on media and cultural issues.

The Radio Academy
The Radio Academy is both a professional body and a registered charity dedicated to the encouragement, recognition and promotion of excellence in UK broadcasting and audio production. Since 1983 it has represented the radio industry to outside bodies including the government and offered neutral ground where everyone from the national networks to individual podcasters is encouraged to discuss the broadcasting, production, marketing and promotion of radio and audio. It works together with Sony to produce the annual Sony Radio Academy Awards, which in 2007 celebrated their 25th year.

LCACE
The London Centre for Arts and Cultural Enterprise (LCACE) is a university initiative promoting the exchange of knowledge and expertise with the capital's arts and cultural sectors. The eight institutions involved are: Birkbeck, University of London; City University; the Courtauld Institute; Goldsmiths, University of London; Guildhall School of Music & Drama; King's College London; Queen Mary, University of London; and Royal Holloway, University of London.



Further information
Melanie Gardner, Senior Public Relations Officer, King's College London, Tel: 020 7848 3073; email: melanie.gardner@kcl.ac.uk

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