Dr Richard Langley

Head of Department of Film and Creative Writing
Associate Professor in Film

Contact details

Telephone: +44 (0)121 41 45745
Email: r.m.langley@bham.ac.uk
Twitter: @RichardLangley

With an academic grounding in American and Canadian Studies, and professional experience of television and film production, I am interested in multidisciplinary approaches to teaching and research. In particular, I am keen to develop a fusion of theory and practise by way of a multifaceted audio-visual academia that can function as a versatile teaching tool, and as a mode of publication and public interaction.

Qualifications

BA in American and Canadian Studies
MPhil(B) in History, Film and Television
PhD in Hollywood Film and Universalisation.

Biography

Richard Langley did his first degree, in American and Canadian Studies, and both his MPhil and PhD at University of Birmingham, undertaking the latter part-time so that he could pursue other interesting career opportunities.

Consequently, Richard has had a broad-based work experience across the culture sector, in arts centres, museums, television development and video production. As well as his own experiments in the development of an audio-visual academia, Richard has worked in a range of freelance roles (camera, edit, production) and across a range of genres (sports, comedy, drama, current affairs).

Teaching

My teaching practice and personal pedagogy is informed by a broad-based, multi-modal experience in both academia and the media industries, and has evolved in to what I loosely term the ‘Dirk Gently School’ of pedagogy, which is to say that I believe in the fundamental interconnectedness of all things, and that all of our studies and specialisms are inherently multi- and inter-disciplinary. In practice, this manifests as an emphasis on storytelling, employability, ethical responsibility, and on breaking down the barriers between theory and practice.

My current teaching includes:

Course Convenor for MA in Film and Television: Research and Production
Documentary Filmmaking
Research Skills in Film and Television
Placement and Training
Development and Production Processes
The Video Essay
Film Genre
Audio-Visual Dissertation (UG and PG)

Postgraduate supervision

I am currently supervising several audio-visual dissertations of students on the Film and Television MA.

I am interested in working with students interested in Film production; documentary; digital media; audio-visual academia; social action filmmaking.

Find out more - our PhD Film Studies page has information about doctoral research at the University of Birmingham.

Research

I am in the early stages of developing a series of short-films, ’23 Short Stories About the Noösphere’, a long-term investigative project for a YouTube channel.

Other activities

To see some video essays and other assorted experiments in audio-visual academia, please have a look at my Vimeo page

Also, since the UK lockdown began in March 2020, I have been producing short films for my @SecondsZen Twitter page – 30 seconds of nature, observation and relaxation. Treat yourself.