Jamie Clarke

Background

Originally from Greater Manchester, Jamie’s academic background is in English literature which he studied at undergraduate and masters level at the University of Sheffield. Jamie at this point was surprised but delighted to learn that reasonably serious people made a career out of their passion for film! His PhD in film studies swiftly followed. He has worked at Southampton Solent University since 2003 where he is currently the course leader of the Foundation Year in Media. 

Research Interests

Jamie’s principal research interest is with professional communities working in the screen industries. He explores how their career ambitions, fears and competing interests are expressed in their public relations, their trade discourse and indeed the content that they produce on screen. In so doing, he investigates the (not always successful) strategies of corporate and trade stakeholders to navigate their respective industries by self-branding and self-mythologising.

As part of his research interests, Jamie is currently the co-convenor of Solent University’s Contemporary Screen Studies (CSS) research group. He has also led the department’s Research-in-Progress group since 2022. He has been a member of the international Disney Culture and Society Research Network since its inception in 2022 and is currently a part of the committee to organise their third annual conference in 2025.

Teaching

In addition, Jamie has 20 years of experience teaching in the further education sector. His teaching experience includes courses and modules on English literature, cultural studies, media studies and media production ranging from level three to level six. Representative of his career trajectory he now teaches on video production and video editing more than he teaches on his own research interests which arguably remain more stuffily academic! Jamie was awarded Solent University’s Student Teaching and Recognition ‘excellent academic support’ award in 2018. That same year he was also shortlisted for the ‘excellent feedback’ award.

Course leadership and development

Jamie was appointed the the course leader of The Foundation Year in Media in 2020. He was previously the course leader of BA (Hons) Media Culture and Production between 2007 and 2020. During his tenure he piloted three revalidations of the course. He has also played a key role in validating Solent University’s current BA (Hons) Media Production course where he now teaches alongside his commitments to the Foundation. 

Highlights of his time as course leader of BA (Hons) Media Culture and Production involve scoring 93 percent and 100 percent on overall satisfaction for the NSS in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Jamie also organised three course trips to New York between 2005 and 2007 and four course trips to the Berlin Film Festival between 2013 and 2016. In 2018, Jamie became a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and he has also been an external examiner at the University of Westminster since 2021 for their course, Contemporary Media Practice.