Module Directory

This module of study provides a critical introduction to the key issues of concern to scholars of modern culture and society within the emerging field of media studies. It explores the reasons why we must understand the role of the media in social life and provides an accessible account of how we get to grips with social communication. As such, our foremost interest will be examining the social practices that have shaped the media in modern society. By the end of the module, students will have accessed a range of critical approaches to questions such as:

• Do the media influence social behaviour and the politics of representation?


• What is the relationship between the media, mass politics and governance?


• Are the media reflective or instigative of social and cultural change?


• What constitutes media power and who wields it?

This module follows three major areas over two terms of lectures. In the Autumn term, the syllabus is focused on key concepts. In the Spring term, we will explore key debates and research methods.

The aims of this module are:

• to encourage students to understand the modern media as a social terrain, as a systematic order of communication, and as a domain of ideas.


• to cover some of the high profile areas of popular debate including the media and violence, the media and persuasion, the media and objectivity.


• to develop some of the central concerns of intellectual debate, including:
  
  
  
  • The relationship between popular aesthetics, technology and society.
  
  
  • The role of the media in the construction and contestation of values and meanings.
  
  
  • The progressive or regressive tendencies of an increasingly mediated society.
  
  
  
  

Students will receive a foundation in the major theoretical approaches to mass media, the premises of which will be established using examples from cinema, photography, newspapers and, in particular, television. In the process, students will encounter many of the disciplinary strands contributing to contemporary media analysis: sociology, cultural studies, semiotics, cultural and political economy, history, mass communications, and anthropology. Students will also consider the basics of practical methodologies for doing media research, including content analysis, research interviews and ethnography. The module is intended to be accessible to entry-level students in the humanities and social sciences, and will support further study of contemporary media in a number of disciplines. 

By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:

1. have a foundation in the major theoretical approaches to mass media, the premises of which will be established using examples from cinema, photography, newspapers and, in particular, television.

2. have encountered many of the disciplinary strands contributing to contemporary media analysis: sociology, cultural studies, semiotics, cultural and political economy, history, mass communications, and anthropology.

3. have considered the basics of practical methodologies for doing media research, including content analysis, research interviews and ethnography.

The module is intended to be accessible to entry-level students in the humanities and social sciences, and will support further study of contemporary media in a number of disciplines

AUTUMN TERM

• Introduction to Media, Culture and Society


• Media Texts and Meaning: Media Representations


• Media and Social Context: Media Power


• Media Texts and Meaning: How Do Media Make Meaning?


• Media Texts and Meaning: Genre and Narrative 


• Media Texts and Meaning: Reality Media


• Media and Social Contexts: Conceptualising Mass Society


• Media and Social Contexts: Postmodernism and Post-Truth


• Media and Social Contexts: Consumer Society and Advertising


• Essay Surgeries

SPRING TERM

• Producing Media: The Business of Media


• Producing Media: Media Regulation and Policy


• Producing Media: Media Production in A Global Age


• Producing Media: Media Business in the Digital Age


• Reading Week – Independent Activity 


• Media and Technology


• Media Audiences: Producing Audiences


• Media Audiences: Investigating Audiences


• Media Audiences: New Media Audiences


• Essay Surgeries

SUMMER TERM

• Revision Sessions

Most modules in Sociology are divided into lectures of around 50 minutes and a class of around 50 minutes. Some are taught as a 2hr seminar, and others via a 50-minute lecture and 2-hr lab.

Please note that you should be spending up to eight hours per week undertaking your own private study (reading, preparing for classes or assignments, etc.) on each of your modules (e.g. 32 hours in total for four 30-credit modules).

The lectures provide an overview of the substantive debates around the topic of the week, while the classes will give you the opportunity to reflect on your learning and actively engage with your peers to develop your understanding further.

The lecture and classes will take place face-to-face. You are strongly encouraged to attend the classes as they provide an opportunity to talk with your class teacher and other students. The classes will be captured and available via Listen Again. However, if you want to gain the most you can from these classes it is very important that you attend and engage. Please note that the recording of classes is at the discretion of the teacher.