SC364-6-AU-CO:
Mass Media and Modern Life
2023/24
Sociology and Criminology
Colchester Campus
Autumn
Undergraduate: Level 6
Current
Thursday 05 October 2023
Friday 15 December 2023
15
10 February 2023
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
BA QP10 English Language with Media Communication,
BA QP11 English Language with Media Communication (Including Year Abroad),
BA QP12 English Language with Media Communication (Including Placement Year),
BA QP13 English Language with Media Communication (Including Foundation Year)
The module charts the period of intensive developments in new communication technologies from the latter part of the nineteenth century through to the inter-war years and considers the impact of these new mass media on social and cultural life in Britain and the wider Atlantic world from the 1860s through to the present day. From the emergence of new forms of print culture, through the impact of radio, cinema, television to the mass production and distribution of recorded music, the module explores the role of these new media in shaping distinctive forms of mass culture. A central ambition of the course is to historically chart the formation and development of these forms of mass culture and also to reflect upon the public debates associated with their emergence. The course is framed by a concern to grasp the importance of the modern mass media at a point when new technological developments in the means of communication are signalling its dissolution.
Objectives of Course
- to develop an historical understanding of the modern mass media;
- to develop an understanding of the social and critical context of their development;
- to develop an understanding of the relationship between media forms and distinctive types of mass culture;
- to develop an understanding of the way questions of national identity were bound up with public debates about mass culture in Britain and the wider Atlantic world;
The course is framed by a concern to grasp the importance of the modern mass media at a point when new technological developments in the means of communication are signalling its dissolution.
Please click on the link below to view the Introduction video to SC364 Mass Media and Modern Life
https://moodle.essex.ac.uk/mod/page/view.php?id=668575
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. Lectures classes labs and seminars will be taught face-to-face (assuming social distancing allows this).
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 weekly classes will take place face-to-face (unless there is a change in the current COVID safety measures).
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.
-
Iain Chambers (1988b)
Popular culture: the metropolitan experience. London: Routledge. Available at:
http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780203134993.
-
Patrick Joyce (1991)
Visions of the People: Industrial England and the Question of Class, 1840-1914. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511560651.
-
Martin, G., Waites, Bernard and Bennett, Tony (1982)
Popular culture, past and present: a reader. London: Croom Helm in association with the Open University Press. Available at:
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/universityofessex-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1581596.
-
Crisell, A. (2002)
An introductory history of British broadcasting. 2nd ed. London: Routledge. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203995006.
-
McKibbin, R. (1998a)
Classes and cultures: England, 1918-1951. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Available at:
https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198206729.001.0001.
-
Leavis, F.R. (2009) ‘Mass Civilisation and Minority Culture’, in J. Storey (ed.) Cultural theory and popular culture: a reader. 4th ed. Harlow: Pearson, pp. 12–19.
-
Leavis, F.R. (1930) Mass civilisation and minority culture. Cambridge: Minority Press.
-
Williams, R. (1978) ‘The press and popular culture: a historical perspective’, in Newspaper history: from the seventeenth century to the present. London: Constable.
-
Williams, R. (1989) What I came to say. London: Hutchinson Radius.
The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's
reading list.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Coursework |
Essay |
|
100% |
| Exam |
Main exam: In-Person, Open Book, 120 minutes during Summer (Main Period)
|
| Exam |
Reassessment Main exam: In-Person, Open Book, 120 minutes during September (Reassessment Period)
|
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Prof Sean Nixon, email: snixon@essex.ac.uk.
Professor Sean Nixon
Jane Harper, Undergraduate Administrator, email: socugrad@essex.ac.uk, telephone: 01206 873052
Yes
Yes
Yes
Dr David Clampin
Liverpool John Moores University
Subject Leader - History
Dr Aneira Edmunds
School of Law, Politics & Sociology
Senior Lecturer
Dr Paul Gilbert
University of Sussex
Senior Lecturer in International Development
Available via Moodle
Of 20 hours, 20 (100%) hours available to students:
0 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s), module, or event type.
Disclaimer: The University makes every effort to ensure that this information on its Module Directory is accurate and up-to-date. Exceptionally it can
be necessary to make changes, for example to programmes, modules, facilities or fees. Examples of such reasons might include a change of law or regulatory requirements,
industrial action, lack of demand, departure of key personnel, change in government policy, or withdrawal/reduction of funding. Changes to modules may for example consist
of variations to the content and method of delivery or assessment of modules and other services, to discontinue modules and other services and to merge or combine modules.
The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will also keep students informed appropriately by updating our programme specifications and module directory.
The full Procedures, Rules and Regulations of the University governing how it operates are set out in the Charter, Statutes and Ordinances and in the University Regulations, Policy and Procedures.