Naren Chitty
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Professor Naren Chitty, MA in International Communication, PhD in International Relations (American University) is Foundation Chair in International Communication, Head of the Department of International Communication at Macquarie University, Deputy Dean of the Division of Society, Culture, Media & Philosophy and a former Head of the Media Department. He is president of the Global Communication Research Association and a former Secretary General of IAMCR International Association for Media & Communication Research.
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[edit] Publications
He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of International Communication, an editor of the Global Media Journal (versions from Purdue University, USA, Fudan University, China and the Mediterranean Eastern Mediterranean University). The most recent issue of JIC is on “The UN at 60” and is co-edited by Professor Chitty and Mr Ramu Damodaran, Chief of the Civil Society Service of the United Nations in New York.His most recent publications are Studies in Terrorism: Media Scholarship and the Enigma of Terror (2003), which he co-edited with professors Ramona R. Rush and Mehdi Semati, and Mapping Globalisation (2002). His first book was Framing South Asian Transformation' (1994).
[edit] Earlier Career
Chitty is a former diplomat, having being posted in Washington D.C. as Counsellor of the Embassy of Sri Lanka (1982-1987) during the Reagan Administration. During this period he was in the Sri Lankan delegations to CHOGMs in Nassau, The Bahamas and Vancouver, Canada. He represented Sri Lanka at meetings of the Assembly of Parties of INTELSAT (the International Telecommunication Satellite Organisation) and was leader of the Sri Lankan delegation to a World Tourism Organisation Executive Council held at the State Department in Washington DC. He assisted in the formation of the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation of the United States.
[edit] Earlier Period
Chitty was born in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and completed his secondary schooling at Trinity College, Kandy. His undergraduate studies were at the School of Communication, now located in the University of Westminster, London. He studied Communication. He also received training in TV documentary production at the Television Training Centre at Sender Freies Berlin ( in former West Berlin. After completing his undergraduate studies Chitty joined a perspective planning program in Sri Lanka's Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs as a UNDP Young Professional. During this time he wrote several 'policy planning notes' including some on the introduction of television to Sri Lanka. A newspaper article of his encouraging the production by famers of programs for themselves, led to Knud Ebbesen, Director of Public Access Radio in Denmark seeking his help through the Sri Lankan government and UNESCO to set up a community radio program in Sri Lanka. From these initial steps has emerged what is now known as Mahaweli Community Radio. Following his UNDP appointment Chitty took on an assignment as Deputy Director of Community Development Services, an NGO in the area of family health and family planning. He was invited to join the Ministry of State (overlooking Information, Broadcasting and Tourism) to participate in the planning for the introduction of television. He also served as a director of Independent Television Network at this time. He assisted in the establishment of the Sri Lanka Centre for Modern Technologies (Arthur Clarke Centre) at the University of Moratuwa. After the introduction of national television in Sri Lanka, he was sent to Washington DC as Counsellor in the Embassy.
[edit] Visiting Professorships
Apart from teaching for Macquarie University in Sydney, Singapore and Hong Kong, Professor Chitty has taught for University of South Australia in Singapore and Malaysia and been a Visiting Professor at Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris (2004), Michigan State University in East Lansing and American University in Washington DC (1995)
