SMS – Södertörn Media Archeological Collection

Södertörn Media Archeological Collection is a laboratory, a workshop, and an environment for the creative exploration of media history through the technologies it has left behind. SMS can be found in room MC317 in the main building of Södertörn University.

SMS opened in 2024 and is run by the Department of Media and Communication Studies (MCS). The collections are open to visitors both from Södertörn University and from other institutions. We welcome students, teachers, researchers, and anyone interested in media-historical objects and how to work pedagogically with the questions these objects raise. The collections allow you to explore sound, image, and storage media through, for example, a slide projector, a push-button telephone, or a document binder.

The collections are used in MCS education at all levels, from undergraduate to doctoral studies, as well as in various forms of collaboration. One example is the summer school, where pupils in grade 7 have explored media-historical objects as a way of understanding how today’s digital media technologies have developed, and how they might have taken alternative forms. SMS also hosts a seminar series with invited guests and offers longer research stays for junior researchers (see below).

We are happy to receive donations of older media objects.

Opening hours and contact

The collections (MC317) are open to visitors on Tuesdays between 10–12 or by appointment.

If you want to book a visit or have an old media device to donate to the collections, please contact us at sms@sh.se.

SMS seminar series

3 Nov 2026 – Satenik Sargsyan (Linköpings universitet). The role of fax in digitalisation of public administration.

9 Dec 2025 – Arina Stoenescu (Södertörn University). Typografiska spår och ideologiska uttryck i textens materialitet. Om typografi och politik i kommunismens Rumänien 1948–1989

8 Oct 2024 – Erik Isberg (KTH). Svenska teknikframtider: Teknik- och mediehistoriska perspektiv i arbetet med Tekniska museets nya basutställning

SMS fellows

SMS offers research residencies for early-career researchers and artists working on issues related to media history and media archaeology. Over the course of a few weeks, participants will have the opportunity to work in an inspiring research environment at Södertörn University, surrounded by historical media artefacts, and to present their ongoing research or artistic work as part of the SMS seminar.

For more information and to express your interest, please contact us at sms@sh.se

Fellows 2026/2027:

Satenik Sargsyan, Linköping University