Mundus Journalism bids farewell to Chas Critcher

Mundus Journalism staff in Swansea bid farewell to the long time serving visiting professor Chas Critcher who retires from his teaching position this year.

Chas Critcher (right) with Dr. Richard Thomas (left).

One warm lovely evening in July, staff at the Swansea specialization programme bid farewell to the visiting professor Chas Critcher over food and drinks in a local restaurant.

Chas Critcher, a sociologist by profession and an Emeritus Professor of Communications at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK, has taught thesis writing to eleven cohorts of Mundus students in Swansea right up until  this year. Alongside teaching, Chas is also a well known researcher and a published author of many research publications like Moral Panics and the Media (Open University Press 2003) and Critical Readings in Moral Panics and the Media (Open University Press 2006).

Chas joined the Mundus Journalism Programme in Swansea in 2007, when the then Swansea programme coordinator Kevin Williams offered him a teaching position in the visiting faculty.

“Initially, I was responsible for helping students with their dissertations. I conducted a series of workshops on how to plan and complete the dissertation.”

In later years, Chas became more involved in the mainstream teaching of subjects like ‘Risk Reporting’ where he taught Mundusians the sociological theory of risk together with his colleagues who taught the practical components of the course.

Chas told us that as a teacher to the eleven cohorts of Mundusians, there were several high points during his career but the highest point was always when a student “who had never done a thesis before and lacked confidence in writing one would say at last, ‘hey, now I get how to write a thesis!’”

Chas says that when students, who had no background in research, gained this kind of understanding it meant that they were finally heading towards the most important stage of their Mundus journey. Finishing the Masters thesis and successfully graduating from the programme.

As Chas retires from the programme, he fondly remembers Mundus Journalism students as one of the best students that he has ever taught and as the most impressive young people that he has ever come across.

“Mundus students are really trying to defend the high standards of journalism. My message to them is to keep the enthusiasm going and don’t give up. We live in the era of misinformation and conspiracy theory and it is so important now for people to write with integrity about important issues.  So, Mundus students need to keep going because they are absolutely vital to the future of any kind of rational world.”

Thank you for the kind words Chas! We wish you a happy retirement on this goodbye note from Dr Richard Thomas, who runs the programme in Swansea: 

“Chas is something of a legend. His commitment to his students and willingness to go the extra mile for them really marks him out as a special academic. In the same way that the many students taught by him were fortunate to have benefited from his care and expertise, I and my colleagues are lucky to have worked alongside him. We are sad to say goodbye, but if anyone has earned a long and happy retirement, it’s Chas.”