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Centre for Multimodal Research

Developing and promoting multimodal perspectives on meaning making, communication and learning.

Director: Professor Jeff Bezemer

Our mission is to promote recognition and understanding of all means of making meaning. We develop theories, methods and practical applications through multimodal research across different social domains.

About us 

Background

The Centre for Multimodal Research was established by Carey Jewitt and Gunther Kress in 2006 to consolidate and advance scholarly work in multimodality at IOE.

Early research focused on learning and teaching in the early years and primary and secondary education. Since then, projects have concentrated on exploring learning and technologies across different social sites, including schools, museums, and clinical work places.

Between 2011 and 2014 members of the centre ran MODE, a research training programme on multimodal research that was part of the National Centre for Research Methods.

Our staff

Study with us

Programmes

Graduate taught

Our research feeds into a wide range of modules within IOE. We also run a dedicated Master's level module on multimodal communication in the Spring term:

Doctoral research

We welcome proposals for doctoral research. See details and application process:

Visiting schemes

We welcome applications from postdoctoral researchers for visiting the centre under the UCL academic affiliate scheme:

Activities

Our research

Our centre explores multimodal representation and communication in relation to the following themes:

  • Body, action, technology
  • Text, media, design 
  • Transcription, transduction, documentation 
  • Learning, play, identity 
  • Social and technological change

We draw on theories and methods from a range of disciplines, including social semiotics, discourse analysis and conversation analysis.

Our empirical work is focused on multimodal analysis of artefacts (e.g. films, drawings) and video-recorded, spontaneous interaction (e.g. in work places, classrooms).

Much of our research is done with and for practitioners, including teachers and health professionals. We publish in a wide range of journals and edited volumes.

Find out more:

Visual and Multimodal Research Forum

A hub run by the centre for researchers interested in multimodality. Multimodality draws attention to how meaning is made through the combined use of semiotic resources such as gesture, speech, face expression, body movement and proxemics, (still and moving) image, objects, sound and music, writing, colour, layout, and the built environment.

Multimodality Talks Series

The forum is collaborating with the University of Leeds Multimodality@Leeds and the University of Stockholm to offer the first of a series of jointly organised talks on multimodality. It aims to provide a platform for dialogue for advancing multimodal research across disciplines. 

Multimodality Reading Group

Outreach and teaching activities coordinated by Sophia Diamantopoulou - find out more about the Multimodality Reading Group.

 

Making meaning: the role of semiotics and education

Gunther Kress, Professor of Semiotics and Education, in conversation with doctoral student Sophia Diamantopoulou.

 

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