Module Catalogue 2024/25

Pre Requisite Comment

N/A

Co Requisite Comment

None

Aims

This introductory module aims to enable students to:
1.       Gain critical knowledge of the role of mass media communications.
2.       Reflect on the ways in which mass media industries shape and frame social and political understanding.
3.       Analyse and assess some of the principal themes and issues in contemporary mass media.
4.       Examine the role of politics and power of mass media in global and local contexts.
5.       Consolidate and apply critical and evaluative skills concerning engagement with, and interpretation of, the outputs of mass media

Outline Of Syllabus

This module may include, but is not limited to, learning activities that are concerned with developing students’ understanding of:

1.       Key theories of media.
2.       Key theorists of media.
3.       The history and evolution of media technologies and institutions.
4.       Politics and media.
5.       Identity and media.

A number of critical frameworks will be used to help make sense of the above, paying particular attention to power, politics and technology.

The module encourages students to undertake close readings of a range of specific media texts and practices and to understand how producers and consumers make sense of contemporary mass media

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

A student successfully completing the module will have:
K1. Introductory knowledge of key terms, concepts, ideas and approaches relevant to understanding the role of mass media communications in contemporary cultures.
K2. An ability to link ideas and theories from media and communications studies to texts, practices, institutions and the identities within audiences.
K3. A developed understanding of how media power impact different ways of life.

Intended Skill Outcomes

A student successfully completing the module should have the following skills:
S1. Analysis – students will acquire an ability to critically analyse a range of primary texts and some of the key themes and issues that underpin the study of media and communications studies.
S2. Organisation – students will learn to demonstrate skills in synthesising and articulating key organising frameworks through which an increasingly diverse media can be understood.
S3. Sources – students will utilise a variety of primary and secondary material in the effective analysis of media as text, technology and institution. They will be given opportunity to analyse closely, interpret, and show the exercise of critical judgement in the understanding and evaluation of key concepts in media studies. S4. Confidence and independence – students will exhibit increased confidence in their communication of their understanding of the media. They will be asked to gather, organise and deploy ideas to formulate arguments and present them effectively in written and oral forms. They will be assessed on the basis of their ability to consider and evaluate academic issues and debates.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The module aims to encourage the comprehension of contemporary mass media and communications in relation to content, production, consumption and use. Lectures will introduce and develop core ideas (i.e. media theories and concepts) each week, which are then later applied through task-based seminars involving students working in smaller groups to consider a theory and/or concept in more practical detail.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The first assessment asks students to engage with key concepts from media studies in order to introduce them to engaging with subject specific academic ideas and language in a formal way. The aim is to prepare them for longer essay assignments in this module and future modules.

The final essay allows students to demonstrate their ability to research and critically analyse a particular issue or topic relating to media theory. Students choose to answer one of several questions provided in the module handbook.

General Notes

N/A