MeCCSA Postgraduate Network Conference 2026

Media and Sustainability

University of Reading,
Minghella Studios, Whiteknights Campus
Reading RG6 6BT
9th September 2026

Any questions about the conference or the submission process can be directed to:
Babsie Keulemans – e.l.keulemans@pgr.reading.ac.uk

The MeCCSA Postgraduate Network is pleased to invite postgraduate researchers and
creative practitioners to submit proposals for the 2026 MeCCSA PGN Conference, hosted by
the Department of Film, Theatre & Television at the University of Reading.

The conference will take place in the Minghella Studios, on the University’s Whiteknights
campus. The event brings together postgraduate researchers working across media,
communication, cultural studies, screen studies and performing arts to share their research
in a supportive and inclusive environment.

Conference Theme: Media and Sustainability

At a moment shaped by ecological crisis, institutional precarity, technological acceleration,
and shifting labour conditions, questions of sustainability have become central to the fields
of media, communication, cultural studies, screen studies and performing arts. The theme
invites participants to explore how media industries, forms, cultures, and research practices
endure, adapt, resist or reimagine themselves within unstable or emerging environments. We
also encourage reflection on the sustainability of academic and creative labour, and the
infrastructures that support media work.
These conversations build on a growing body of critical work across media, screen,
performing arts and cultural research that engage with sustainability through questions of
representation, creative practice, aesthetics, institutions and the conditions under which
work is made and sustained (for example in the work of scholars such as Salma Monani, Sean
Cubitt, Adam O’Brien, Phaedra Pezzullo, Nicole Starosielski, Laura U. Marks and Lisa
Woynarski).
The University of Reading provides a particularly resonant setting for these conversations.
The University was named Sustainable University of the Year 2025 by The Times and The
Sunday Times Good University Guide, recognising its sustained commitment to
environmental responsibility.
Participants are encouraged to interpret the conference theme broadly and creatively.
Submissions from interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary perspectives are warmly welcomed,
including practice-based work.

Formats and Participation
In recognition of the diverse ways postgraduate researchers work and communicate research,
we invite proposals in a range of formats, including:
· Paper presentations (15 minutes)
· Panel proposals (typically 3-5 named contributors)
· Practice-based or creative contributions, including film, audiovisual work, performance or
artistic practice
We particularly welcome work-in-progress and contributions from early-stage postgraduate
researchers.

Submission Guidelines
Proposals should be submitted by Friday 15th May 2026

Further information about application, accessibility and format can be found here.