I am currently Deputy Head of School (Media) in the Wolverhampton School of Art, University of Wolverhampton. I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and have recently completed an Executive Leaders course with the Leadership Foundation. I love what I do and love meeting new people, which is why I have accrued two wonderful decades of experience in a widening participation HEI. Student transformation, social mobility and democratisation of opportunity is what motivates me above all. My personal and professional growth rests wholeheartedly upon these values.

I am passionate about aligning Media leaders with a widening participation HEI strategy. In my latest role I have led upon a transformative period of review, investment, curriculum update and external engagement with industry partners. Such engagement, for example, took the form of the first ever Royal Television Society Roadshow on campus and the pioneering Breaking into Broadcasting Bootcamp (RTS and BBC Academy) being run for the first time on any University premises. I have also led upon increased PSRB accreditation, staff HEA recognition, degree apprenticeships, strategic equipment/resources, innovative marketing and much more. My sector presence & loyal contacts led to the inauguration of the Media Advisory Board as a 100+ committee of media industry professional used selectively as a focus group to advise upon and inform educational change.

I have published in a diverse range of areas including Gaming, Education and Film. I also regularly present at international conferences and collaborate with exciting research projects. My REFable post-doc personal research strategy complements my academic and professional career.

My research interests span my more recent research directions, methodological leanings as well as the academic disciplines that I teach in.

I am particularly interesting in research around gaming, ethics and education - particularly in large open world role playing games. I like to critically explore how gaming can be used as a pedaogical tool and how certain gaming scenarios encourage the player to engage with moral challenges that are not easily resolved.

I am also interested in the critical evaluation of technology, education, management and change in the HEI. This is based on my doctoral research, the recommendations of which I would like to develop further.

I am also interested in film studies based research around the cinema of Iran, South Korea, Bollywood and the wider concept of Third Cinema.

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  Executive Leaders 4

  Leadership Foundation for Higher Education (July 2017)

   

  Senior Fellow (HEA)

  Higher Education Academy (July 2016)

   

  MENSA Certificate of Merit

  MENSA Foundation (Sept 1993)

   

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  The University of Wolverhampton

  Doctor of Education (EdD) 2010 – 2019

  Academic perceptions of Educational Technology: Towards communicative rationality in the HEI.

   

  University of Warwick

  MA in Film and TV Studies 1996 – 1997

   

  The University of Wolverhampton

  PGDip in Higher Education 2008 – 2010

   

  The University of Wolverhampton

  BA (Hons) History of Art & Design with Media & Communications 1993 - 1996

   

   

   

Sembi, Pritpal (2016) ‘Writing Text with Skyrim’ in Bennett, Pete and Julian McDougall (2016) Doing Text: Media After the Subject. Bedfordshire: Auteur Publishing.

Conference Paper ‘Skyrim as Multi-Disciplinary Pedagogic Tool’ to be delivered at the Videogame Cultures Project: 7th Global Meeting, Oxford University, Mansfield College, 11th to 13th September 2015.

Conference Paper ‘How might Humanities lecturers’ personal & professional experiences influence good practice within institutional educational technology policy?’ delivered to New Research in SLSSC: Fifth Annual Staff Research Conference, University of Wolverhampton, Light House Media Centre, 1st  July 2013.

Conference Paper ‘Academic Staff Perceptions of I.T. in the Humanities’ delivered to Storyville: exploring narrative of learning and teaching, University of Brighton c/o Thistle Hotel, Brighton, 30th May 2013.

Sembi, Pritpal Singh (2012) ‘Is it acceptable to remotely supervise placement students electronically via their eportfolio reflective learning blogs?’ in Poot, Alison (2012) Making the Case: More effective practice with PebblePad. Telford: Pebble Learning, pp120-123.

Sembi, Pritpal Singh (2012) ‘Review of Education and Technology: Key Issues and Debates by Neil Selwyn’ in Media Education Research Journal, (3)1, pp104-106.

Conference Paper ‘Academic Staff Perceptions of I.T. In the School of Law, Social Sciences and Communications’ delivered to New Research in SLSSC: Fourth Annual Staff Research Conference, University of Wolverhampton, Light House Media Centre, 2nd July 2012

Conference Paper ‘Using Narrative Inquiry to Investigate Staff Perceptions of IT Policy in HE’ delivering to the School of Education Futures Annual Conference at University of Wolverhampton, Walsall Campus, 21st June 2012.

Conference Paper ‘Is it acceptable to remotely supervise placement students electronically via their e-portfolio reflective learning blogs?’ delivering to the Pebblebash 2012 conference at Park House Hotel, Shifnal, Telford 20th June 2012

Sembi, Pritpal Singh (2011) 'Implementing change: an autobiographical case study of introducing a technology innovation within a West Midlands HEI' in Journal of Further and Higher Education, 36(1), February 2012, pp109-125.

Conference Paper ‘Transmigration of the Soul in James Camerons Avatar’ delivered to the Fourth Annual Conference of Film and Philosophy at Liverpool John Moores University on 7th July 2011.

Conference paper ‘To what extent can e-assessment methodology encourage reflective practice in placement students?’ delivered to The Third Assessment in Higher Education Conference at the University of Cumbria on 6th July 2011.

Conference Paper ‘Using Pebblepad to supervise placement students’ delivered to the School of Law, Social Science and Communication annual staff conference at the University of Wolverhampton on 5th July 2010.

Conference paper ‘Is it possible to remotely supervise placement students electronically via their e-portfolio reflective learning blogs?’ delivered to the E-Portfolios Now event organised by JISC at the University of Derby on 11th November 2009.

Conference paper ‘What are the benefits of supervising placement students electronically via their e-portfolio reflective learning diaries?’ delivered to the international conference Telling E-Portfolio Stories 2009 held at the University of Wolverhampton 10th & 11th June 2009.

ILE Phase 2 project ‘Using Eportfolios for Student Link’ disseminated via Rewarding Excellence event in January 2009 and to LATEE Research Cluster in June 2009. Disseminated in internal paper late 2009.

ILE Phase 1 project ‘Student Engagement with Student Link’ disseminated via Rewarding Excellence event on 21.1.08 and to LATEE Research Cluster verbally in June 2008. Disseminated in internal bound publication late 2008.

I began my professional media experience at BBC Birmingham as a Broadcast Assistant and Researcher working on live broadcast and 'magazine' type output. I then moved on to a freelance career in media before joining academia. I orignally worked on a very wide variety of television shows and undertook a vast array of duties during this time. My proudest moment was being given the responsibility of receiving an A-list Bollywood superstar for a rare UK visit.

I have an academic, professional and research career in Media that spans three decades in a variety of high profile industry and educational roles. I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a member of the Royal Television Society.

I command the respect of practitioners and theorists by being a credible amalgamation and advocate of both. My professional background in BBC Television Production, academic grounding in Media & Communications, senior lecturing experience in Film Studies and growing research profile in Gaming demonstrate a unique synergy for academic leadership.