Shakuntala Banaji is a Research Officer on the seven country European Union funded project Civicweb: Young People, Civic Participation and the Internet for which the Institute of Education is the lead partner; she also lectures in Film theory and Audience studies as well as Internet Cultures on the MA in Media, Culture and Communication. 

She has previously worked on a review of literature outlining Rhetorics of Creativity in writing about the arts and education, evaluating a set of media education materials about advertising aimed with primary school students called Be Adwise2 and as a consultant researcher on the project Children in Communication about Migration (CHICAM).

She taught English and Media Studies to secondary school students in South East London for seven years, during which time she completed her MA in 'English Studies in Education', with a focus on the comparative ways in which English language and literature in English are taught and learnt in monolingual, multilingual and multicultural settings. She has guest lectured on Hindi Film in the UK, Sweden and India, taught on the Media and Society BSc at South Bank University and given papers on a diverse range of audiences in relation to film, news, online activism, youth civic participation and media education.

Her doctoral research into the meanings made by young viewers from representations of sex, gender and ethnicity in Hindi films was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. Her thesis investigates the connections between discourses of gender and ethnicity in contemporary Hindi blockbusters and the construction of gender, ethnic and sexual identity by young adult viewers in India and the UK. The main findings of this research can be found in a book Reading Bollywood: The Young Audience and Hindi Films

Shakuntala has worked as a researcher on the project 'After September 11th: TV News and Transnational Audiences'. The summary findings of this project can be found in a report to the Broadcasting Standards Commission in August 2002. She has also worked as a consultant researcher and an advisory teacher for the English and Media Centre, examining Media Studies provision in UK schools and making resources about News for teachers and students of Media Studies.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Books and Book Chapters

Banaji, S. (ed.) (Forthcoming) South Asian Media Cultures: Representations, Audiences, Contexts, London and New York: Anthem Press

Banaji, S. (2008) ‘Creativity: Exploring the Rhetorics and the Realities’ in (eds.) Marsh J., Robinson, M. and Willett, R., Play, Creativities and Digital Cultures, London and New York: Routledge

Banaji, S. (2008, In Press) 'Melodramatic Appropriations: Hindi Films and their Audiences in Europe', in (eds) Leila Jordan and Kaushik Bhaumik, The Indian Cinema Book, London: British Film Institute

Banaji, S. (2008) ‘Fascist imaginaries and clandestine critiques: young Hindi film viewers respond to love, violence and xenophobia in cross-border romances’ in War, Enemy and Hindi Films: Filming the Line of Control (eds.) Meenakshi Bharat and Nirmal Kumar, New Delhi: Routledge

Banaji, S. (2006) Reading ‘Bollywood’: The Young Audience and Hindi Films, Basingstoke: Palgrave-Macmillan

Journal Articles and Reports

Banaji, S. (2008) ‘National Report on the Producers of Civic Websites for Young People in the UK’ in CivicWeb Deliverable 13, Report on the Production of Civic Websites for Young People, www.civicweb.eu

Banaji, S. (2008) ‘The Trouble with Civic: A Snapshot of Young People’s Civic and Political Engagements in Twenty-first Century Democracies’ in Journal of Youth Studies, Vol. 11, No. 5, October 2008, 543-60

Banaji, S. (2007) ‘Civic Websites in the UK: A National Overview’ in CivicWeb, Deliverable 6, An Overview of Civic Websites in Europe, www.civicweb.eu

Buckingham, D., Willett, R., Banaji, S. and Cranmer, S. (2007) Media Smart Be Adwise 2. An evaluation, London, Media Smart

Banaji, S. and Burn A. (2007) ‘Creativity Through a Rhetorical Lens: Implications for Schooling, Literacy and Media Education’ in special issue, Literacy, Volume 41, Number 2, July 2007

Banaji, S. and Burn A. (2007) Rhetorics of Creativity: a Review of the Literature, London: Creative Partnerships and Arts Council of England, January

Banaji, S. (2007) ‘Beyond Subculture, by Rupa Huq’ (2007), Book Review in Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 28:1, 133 - 137
 
Banaji, S. (2006) ‘Loving with irony: young Bombay viewers discuss sex, love and their encounters with media’ in Journal of Sex Education, Vol. 6, No. 3, October 2006

Banaji, S. (2006) ‘Young people viewing Hindi films: ideology, pleasure and meaning’ in Merz - medien + erziehung, Vol. 50, no. 3, June 2006

Banaji, S. and Al-Ghabban, A. (2006) '"Neutrality comes from inside us": Indian and British-Asian Perspectives on Television News "After September 11" Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies Vol. 32. No. 3, June 2006

Banaji, S. (2005) 'Intimate Deceptions: Young British-Asian Viewers Discuss Sexual Relations On and Off the Hindi Film Screen' Journal of South Asian Popular Culture Vol 3, No. 2, October 2005

De. Block, L., Buckingham, D. and Banaji S. (2005) Children in Communication about Migration (CHICAM) final project Report

Buckingham, D., Banaji, S., Burn, A., Carr, D., Cranmer, S. and Willett, R. (2005) ‘Assessing the Media Literacy of Children and Young People: A literature review’. London, Ofcom; available here

Banaji, S. (2005) 'Portrait of an Indian Education', Changing English, Vol 12, No. 1

Banaji, S. (2002) 'Private Lives and Public Spaces: The Precarious Pleasures of Gender Discourse in Raja Hindustani' published in Women: a Cultural Review Vol. 2, No. 13

Banaji, S. (2001) 'Indian Education in 2001: an overview' in Forum Vol. 43, No. 3

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