Course description
COURSE INFORMATION
Media and culture represent major aspects of our everyday lives, from cities competing to be Cities of Culture, the growth of the media industry and media-inspired public debate, through to the various music we listen to, the films and television programmes we watch, or the increasingly significant amount of time we spend in the digital world of the internet. Media and culture, and how we consume and experience them, are a key feature of our social life.
This MA in Media Cultures is designed to enable you to gain a thorough understanding of media and culture and their interrelationship with society. You will engage with a range of debates, from exploring theoretical explanations of the differing ways in which culture is argued to shape society, to examining key aspects of media, such as computer technology, video games, popular music, global culture, and even why films such as Star Wars are so popular. You will also engage with a range of classic and contemporary social theories which, in differing ways, attempt to explain, examine and analytically explore our multifaceted cultural and increasingly media-saturated society.
This programme will engage in debate and discussion with leading media and cultural theorists and significant case studies to enable you to appreciate contemporary media, cultural, and social theory, analyse and discuss their importance and evaluate the significant concepts and contributions associated with specific ideas, approaches and theories. You will also be able to use a variety of methodological perspectives to analyse, synthesise and assess contemporary media, cultural and social theory.
You must successfully complete three core modules, one option module and an independent piece of research for the award of MA.
COURSEWORK AND ASSESSMENT
Assessment is specific to each of the modules but a student studying the programme will be appropriately assessed through different methods that support intellectual rigour and encourage the application of skills. The emphasis is to make the assessment processes as relevant as possible to both the process of learning and to the workplace (where appropriate). The modules are assessed in a variety of ways including assignments and a dissertation.
Students will be supported in their learning and teaching through the active use of the University's e-learning portal to encourage peer group interaction and support. Students will be allocated to guidance tutors who will support them in their choice of modules and options that encourage their intellectual development and their employability.
CAREERS
Complementing academic knowledge students will also acquire a range of transferable skills relevant to a range of careers such as communicating effectively, preparing written reports and time management.
Career options in culture are expanding rapidly as it becomes a focus of public policy development. Students might wish to pursue careers in local and national government, social research, the media or education and training for example.
Year 1 Modules
MP0700 New Media and the Arts (OPTION, 30 Credits)
MP0701 Animation Final Programme of Work (OPTION, 60 Credits)
MP0702 Animation Performances (OPTION, 30 Credits)
MP0703 Animation Preproduction (OPTION, 30 Credits)
MP0704 Critical Theory of Technology (OPTION, 30 Credits)
MP0705 Issues in Contemporary Mass Media (OPTION, 30 Credits)
MP0706 Mass Media Practices (OPTION, 30 Credits)
MP0707 Skills in Media Practice (OPTION, 30 Credits)
MP0708 Contemporary Cultural and Media Theory (OPTION, 30 Credits)
MP0709 Popular Culture(s) (OPTION, 30 Credits)
MP0710 Research Methods (CORE, 30 Credits)
MP0711 Media and Communication Postgraduate Dissertation (OPTION, 60 Credits)
MP0712 Approaches to Film History (OPTION, 30 Credits)
MP0713 European and American Cinematic Cities (OPTION, 30 Credits)
MP0714 Gender, Sexuality and Film (OPTION, 30 Credits)
SO0558 Popular Culture(s) (OPTION, 30 Credits)
