Dr Caroline Mitchell

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Professor of Radio and Participation

My research and practice are centred on community media production and cultures of transnational community radio and women's/feminist radio. I specialise in using mapping and participatory action research methods.

I was co-founder of Fem FM, the first women's radio station in the UK (1992), and co-curated a digital archive of the station in 2014. I have published widely about women and radio, including the edited volume ‘Women and Radio: Airing Differences’, (Routledge, 2000).

As PI for Transnational Radio Encounters, I researched ways that community stations use radio to connect transnationally with similar minority ethnic, social, and cultural groups. This research group commissioned the online interactive platform radio.garden which has attracted millions of users since its launch in 2016.

My current research focuses on developing sustainable participatory media practices and frameworks relating to communities, cultural participation, wellbeing, and sustainable development.

Teaching and supervision
Research
Publications
Areas of expertise
Further information

Teaching and supervision

I contribute to undergraduate and MA modules in the following areas:

Radio Management
Radio Studies
Community Media
Community Radio Theory and Practices
Women and Radio
Transnational Radio Practices
Media Industries and Employability

I am currently supervising or co-supervising the following PhD projects:

Screens, Podcasts, and the changing face of the radio industry.
Reclaiming rural territory as feminist space: Embodied responses to site through art walking/drawing/performance.
Change from Within: Communication in the Public Sector in Cyprus; The Journey of a Broadcaster.
Landscaping Social Justice within the North East: A geographical participatory case study of grassroots responses to social justice concerns
In Breach of the Boys’ Club: Women as Live Music Stage Crew

Research interests for potential research students

I am interested in viewing proposals for traditional and practice-based PhDs, including the following areas:

Feminist and community radio histories and practices;
Participatory arts and media practices
Intergenerational perspectives on participatory media production
Community media and UN Sustainability Goals

Research

2015-17: Co-investigator, with Professor Trish Winter and Dr Andrew Richardson: 'Culture Map: 'Putting Southwick on the Map', to develop a new methodology for involving local communities in the evaluation of arts-led cultural interventions.
2013-16: Transnational Radio Encounters: Mediations of Nationality, Identity and Community through Radio (Funder: HERA), including the Radio Garden.
2012-ongoing: Fem FM Archive, working with Bristol City Archives to establish a digital archive of the UK's first women's radio station.
2011-13: Community Media Applications and Participation (Funder: Lifelong Learning Programme. Education, Audiovisual and Cultural Executive Agency. Grundtvig.)
2009-10: CrossTalk: Moving stories from across borders, cultures, generations (Funder: EU-Programme, Socrates-Grundvig).

Publications

Number of items: 22.

Article

Mitchell, Caroline and Lewis, Peter M (2022) The Radio Garden: Private pleasures and public benefits. Interactions (Journal) Studies in Communication & Culture, 12 (1). pp. 39-50. ISSN 17572681

Mitchell, Caroline (2015) Re-Sounding Feminist Radio: A Journey through Women's Community Radio Archives. Feminist Media Histories, 1 (4). pp. 126-143. ISSN 2373-7492

Book Section

Mitchell, Caroline (2020) Women’s Radio Production. In: The International Encyclopedia of Gender, Media, and Communication. Wiley. ISBN 9781119429128

Mitchell, Caroline and Lewis, Peter M (2018) Community Radio and Transnational Identities. In: Transnationalizing Radio Research, New Approaches to an Old Medium. transcript, Verlag Bielefeld, pp. 33-46. ISBN 9783837639131

Mitchell, Caroline (2014) Breaking the sound barrier, histories and practices of women's radio. In: Routledge Companion to British Media History. Routledge, London and New York, pp. 345-355. ISBN 9780415537186

Lewis, Peter and Mitchell, Caroline (2014) Fomento de la cohesión social: el papel de los medios communitarios [Promoting social cohesion: the role of community media]. In: Medios de proximidad: participación social y políticas públicas. íMedia/ComAndalucia, pp. 249-270. ISBN 9788461732746

Mitchell, Caroline (2012) 'Praxis and participation in community radio training in Europe'. In: Community Radio in the 21st Century. Peter Lang, Bern. ISBN 978-3-0343-0728-4

Lockwood, Alex, Mitchell, Caroline and Evi, Karasanathanapolou (2011) ‘Sparking Sustainability: an example from media practice’. In: Teaching Sustainability, Teaching Sustainably. Stylus, Grand Valley State. ISBN 978-1579227395

Mitchell, Caroline (2011) Voicing the Community: Participation and Change in Black and Minority Ethnic Local UK Radio. In: Postcolonial Media Culture in Britain. Palgrave Macmillan, UK. ISBN 9780230545304

Mitchell, Caroline and Jones, Susan (2006) 'Networking Community Media - Web Radio as a participatory medium'. In: From the Margins to the Cutting Edge Community Media and Empowerment. Hampton Press, Cresskill, NJ. ISBN 1-57273-718-2

Mitchell, Caroline and Baxter, Ann (2006) Organic Radio: The Role of Social Partnerships In Creating Community Voices. In: From the Margins to the Cutting Edge: Community Media and Empowerment. Hampton Press, pp. 69-100. ISBN 1572737182

Mitchell, Caroline (2004) Dangerously Feminine? Theory and Praxis of Women's Alternative Radio. In: Women and Media: International Perspectives. Blackwell Publishers, pp. 157-184. ISBN 1405116080

Mitchell, Caroline (2002) On Air/Off Air: Defining Women's Radio Space in European Women's Community Radio. In: Community Media in the Information Age: Perspectives and Prospects. Hampton Press, pp. 85-105. ISBN 1572733721

Conference or Workshop Item

Mitchell, Caroline (2022) Sonic Archaeology: Acoustic mapping with coastal communities. In: Sonic Cartography: Soundscape, Simulation and Re-enactment, 28 - 30 October 2022, University of Kent. (Submitted)