Media Communications Course Handbook

Transcription

Media Communications
Subject Handbook
2015-16
Department of Film, Media and Creative Computing
School of Humanities and Cultural Industries
Major, Joint or Minor
Single, Major, Joint and Minor
School
Humanities and Cultural Industries
Department
Film and Media Production
Campus
Newton Park
Final award
BA Media Communications or BA Combined
Awards (including Media Communications as
major, joint or minor)
Intermediate awards available
Certificate of Higher Education (1 Year)
Diploma of Higher Education 2 Years)
UCAS code
P390 (Single Honours)
Details of professional body
accreditation
N/A
Relevant QAA Benchmark
statements
Communication, Media, Film and Cultural
Studies
Date specification last updated
August 2009
INTRODUCTION
A warm welcome from all the staff and students in the Department of Film and Media
Production at Bath Spa University.
Media Communications at Bath Spa University is located within one academic Department
alongside several partner subjects and programmes, Film & Screen Studies and Creative Media
Practice and Creative Computing. Together, these subjects and programmes form a media
ecology which focus upon communicative and cultural activities as central forces in shaping
everyday life; in the organisation of economic and political activities; in the construction of
public culture; in the creation of new expressive forms, and as the basis for a range of
professional practices.
Degree programmes in Media Communications are characterised by a diversity of emphases and
by offering a range of approaches to theoretical, critical, practical and
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creative work in these fields. In doing so they offer programmes relevant to students’ futures,
both in work and as citizens (QAA, Benchmark Statement for Communication, Media, Film
and Cultural Studies, 2008: 6).
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Media Communications at Bath Spa is about how the media are produced, distributed and
consumed. Studying with us means working with a dedicated team of teachers and
researchers and engaging with up- to- the minute debates on the production, distribution and
consumption of contemporary media. As part of the Department you will be members of a
vibrant, dynamic and motivated student community, examining media as diverse as film,
television, radio, newspapers, magazines, the Internet, mobile phones and videogames.
Our Media Communications programme has been designed to allow you to explore key
themes in the subject. Our first year modules equip students with the essential ‘critical toolkit’
for analysing the media and conducting media research. In the second year you will be given
the opportunity to explore issues of media power and industry processes, textual
representations and audience consumption, and consider the extent of their impact on wider
social and cultural practices, in particular, through an exploration of how the social
embedding of the media in the ordinary and the everyday, facilitates or sets limits to media
power.
In your final year you will have the opportunity to take a diverse range of modules, including
studies of media technology, media fandom, computer and videogames, popular music, film
and journalism. In addition, you can test yourself in undertaking an extended exercise in
research and writing in the form of the Dissertation and express your initiative and creativity
in the Creative Enterprise Project module.
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COURSE STRUCTURE
Level 4 Year 1
Code
Title
Media Today
Credits Status
Single
40
Core
Status
Major/ Joint/Minor
Core
MC4010- 40
MC4002- 20
Introduction to Television
20
Optional
Optional
MC4003- 20
Popular Media Culture
20
Optional
Optional
MC4006-20
Ideation and Creative Problem
Solving
20
Optional
Optional
MC4012- 20
Digital Practice
20
Optional
Optional
Code
Title
MC5110- 40
Media Cultures: Concepts and
Practices
Credits Statu
s
Single
40
Core
Status
Major/Join
t/Minor
Core
MC5010- 40
Commissioning and work in the
Media
40
Optional
Optional
MC5015- 20
Digital Cultures
40
Optional
Optional
MC5002- 20
Music Cultures, Media and
Markets
20
Optional
Optional
MC5003- 20
Journalism and Citizenship
20
Optional
Optional
MC5004- 20
Television, Representation and
Gender
20
Optional
Optional
MC5005-20
Stardom and Celebrity
20
Optional
Optional
MC5015-40
Digital Cultures
40
Optional
Optional
MC5016-40
Everyday Media Making
40
Optional
Optional
Level 5 Year 2
3
Level 6 Year 3
Code
Title
Credit Status
s
Single
MC6001- 40
Dissertation
40
Core
Status
Major/Joint/Min
or
Optional
MC6002- 40
Creative Enterprise Project
40
Optional
Optional
MC6003- 20
Media Technologies and Change
20
Optional
Optional
MC6005- 20
Videogames
20
Optional
Optional
MC6006- 20
Popular Music Journalism
20
Optional
Optional
MC6007- 20
Feminist Film Criticism
20
Optional
Optional
MC6012- 20
Community Media
20
Optional
Optional
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Media Communications: Student Handbook 2013-14
Department of Film and Media Production
Course Aims – What You will learn
The Media Communications programme aims to provide an academically rewarding,
personally fulfilling experience for students, and to create a learning and teaching experience
for you that is modern and research and practice informed. Within this challenging and
supportive framework, the Media Communications programme aims:
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To enable students to develop empirical knowledge of the structures, processes and
impacts of Media Communications in the contemporary world.
To understand forms of Media Communications as they have emerged historically
and appreciate the process through which they have developed, with reference to
social, cultural and technological change.
To encourage students to approach Media Communications as developing and
contextualised ecologies of media forms, values, production, representation,
reception and technologies.
To provide students with an understanding of Media Communications as a cross-
disciplinary and interdisciplinary field that makes use of different, and often
contending, theoretical, paradigms, approaches and methodologies.
To equip students to analyse closely, interpret and show the exercise of critical
judgement in the understanding and evaluation of media forms and practices and
to conduct applied analyses of their own.
To give students an insight into the different modes of global, national and local
media experience and their interaction.
To give students an understanding of the ways in which media forms and
consumption are embedded in everyday life and relate to values and identities.
To develop the skills and attributes that can enable students to progress to
postgraduate study in the subject area of Media Communications and related areas
and/or to pursue successfully courses of graduate training and/or to enter the world
of graduate employment.
To promote qualities of citizenship, which will enable graduates to contribute to
economic, social and political wellbeing.
Knowledge
As a student in Media Communications, through your core and elective modules, you will
engage with:
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The historical development of selected mass media and surrounding
contestations relating to regulation, representations and social uses.
The embedded nature of Media Communications structures and processes
which necessitates study of these in relation to various contexts – historical,
political, economic, social, cultural, technological, professional.
The contribution of major theoretical approaches and methodologies to the
cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary field of Media Communications research
and debate as an object of study.
The field of Media Communications research as defined both in relation to
concerns of/with ‘popular culture’ and ‘public knowledge’ and interrelated
ecologies of production, representations, reception and impacts.
The role of Media Communications within individual family and community
dynamics, inter-community formation, difference and change, and national
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and international processes, challenges and conflicts of globalisation.
 An awareness and understanding of the legal, ethical and regulatory frameworks that
affect media production, manipulation, distribution, circulation and consumption.
Thinking Skills
Through your core and elective modules, you will acquire the ability to:
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Draw upon, bring together and synthesise ideas and information from a variety
of sources of knowledge and from a variety of disciplines.
Analyse and evaluate published studies and mass mediated materials.
Plan, conduct, prepare and present-through verbal presentation, information
communication technology (ICT) platforms and written report- discussion of
published research and media materials.
Participate through listening, verbal contribution and constructive (seminar)
debate and argument.
Undertake critical self-reflection.
Subject-Based Practical Skills
Through your core and elective modules, you will acquire the ability to:
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Identify, locate and retrieve relevant media-related sources.
Synthesise ideas and information from a variety of mass communication sources
and analyse and evaluate these with reference to relevant theoretical and
methodological frameworks and discussion.
Plan, conduct, prepare and present – through verbal presentation, ICT platforms,
and written report – critical discussion and evaluation of published Media
Communications research and the student’s own applied media analyses.
Deploy methodological and theoretical awareness in the generation and/or
interrogation of media related materials and present these according to the
standards and conventions of Media Communications presentation.
Skills for Life and Work
Through your core and elective modules, you will acquire:
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Research skills and information literacy skills– identification, location and
retrieval of library and web based sources.
Time management methods and practices.
Digital literacy and networking skills.
Written presentation skills including the presentation of a structured, coherent
and referenced essay and report.
Verbal presentation skills including the presentation of a structured, coherent
and sourced presentation with supporting visual aids and other materials.
Independent learning skills.
Group work and team-based skills.
Social learning skills.
Qualities for Citizenship
As a student in Media Communications, through your core and elective modules, you will be
encouraged to appreciate, foster and express:
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Personal independence and contextual adaptability.
Critical thinking and engagement.
Leadership and co-operation.
Motivation, confidence and responsibility.
Innovation and business and/or social entrepreneurship.
Awareness of, and receptiveness to, value systems.
Tolerance and intercultural understanding.
Global awareness and perspectives.
Learning Environment
The Department is committed to continually improving the quality and standards of its
learning and teaching. We will ensure that staff use a range of innovative teaching and
assessment methods which effectively engage with students as individuals and collectively.
We will encourage research and practice to keep teaching relevant and we will work hard to
ensure that all students have the opportunity to fulfil their potential.
In keeping with the general aims of the Media Communications Awards each module has
specified learning aims and outcomes that inform teaching, learning and assessment. Each
module actively seeks to introduce students to relevant reading and debates, positions of
theory and methodological approaches. Importantly, however, there is also a strong
emphasis throughout on applied study of the mass media where theoretical concepts and
frameworks and methodological approaches found in the literature can be ‘put to the test’ in
applied empirical discussion of aspects of media organisation, media representations and/or
media audiences as appropriate.
Different media related materials, whether newspaper articles, video TV programmes or
audience statistics can thus be expected to inform teaching sessions – whether lectures or
seminars – and, indeed, students are expected to gather these, and other materials, for
themselves as part of their formal assessment and also as general good practice throughout
their period of studying Media Communications.
As students of today’s media you are encouraged throughout your programme of studies, and
within each selected module, to relate issues of theory and debate raised in your reading,
lectures and seminars to actual media- related developments and processes. That is, we ask
you to ‘bring alive’ your studies by testing out the relevance of some of these materials in
applied and engaged discussion of current media processes, representations and/or audience
processes as appropriate.
Throughout your studies, therefore, you will need to make use of different resources if you
want to make sure that you are getting the best out of your time of study and gain the best
marks and grades that you possibly can. You should aim, then, to make use of different
resources as your proceed through your programme of study including.
Minerva: Virtual Learning
Media Communications modules make considerable use of the University’s virtual learning
environment, known as ‘Minerva’. You will be introduced to this learning facility as part of
your induction programme.
Your Media Resources
You should get into the habit of monitoring the media themselves – whether television,
newspapers, advertisements the Web and so on. These will inevitably generate a rich source
of materials for you to subject to critical analysis and reflection. Some sections of the media
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also comment regularly on media developments and output. The Media Guardian in the
Guardian on Monday each week, and the Media Section in The Independent on Friday each
week, for example, are valuable resources, often providing detailed insider commentaries,
critical analyses, and occasional up- to- date statistical data and related discussion. Below is a
brief summary of what you should be looking out for during your degree programme:
Trade Press
The press can prove an invaluable source of insights into developments inside the UK’s
media industries. A good example is Screen International, a leading trade magazine for the
film and cinemagraphic exhibition industries.
Academic Journals
Academic journals, of course, provide in- depth, theoretically informed analysis of these and
other relevant aspects of the mass media. Academic journals taken by BSU include key title
like Media, Culture and Society, New Media and Society and Media History. Through the LIS
website, we also have access to a number of relevant electronic journals, such as Media,
War and Conflict.
Journals often provide an excellent resource of up- to- the- moment academic research and
discussion that can prove highly relevant/useful to your current interests. The widely held
perception that academic articles are always written in impenetrable prose is not always the
case, and even those that are can still offer rich insights and useful discussion with a little
perseverance – an outcome generally recognised and rewarded by your tutors. As you will
see all handbooks include reference to some of the latest journal articles reporting on the
latest research findings and discussion.
Bound volumes of journals are always available and can be photocopied for home reading. A
five minute review of all recent back issues of a selected journal can also often turn up a
‘cutting edge’ article that is ‘spot- on’ to your concerns and will demonstrate to your tutor
that you are taking your studies in this subject area seriously.
BSU Library – book stock and online resources
BSU library book stocks in the area of Media Communications are well stocked and offer a
good selection of up- to- date titles, many of which have been purchased in the last five years
especially for the modules on offer. In addition the library is currently building its collection
of CD roms (invaluable for researching, for example, selected newspaper articles on a
particular topic) and, of course, also holds various text books (see below) and reference
books of direct interest to students of Media Communications. Access to the Web is also
available and the Web, of course, can deliver a seemingly limitless range of sources of
potential interest and use – though be careful, not all information on the Web can be
assumed to be of academic value or trustworthy!
Your module tutors will give you specific advice on how to use the Web as an
effective research and learning tool.
ASSESSMENT
Our aims in assessing our students are to motivate them to learn; to create learning
opportunities; to establish what they have learned; to provide feedback to students and staff;
to provide marks and grades and to check standards. We believe that to achieve the above,
assessment must be:
 Reliable, in that learning outcomes and marking criteria should be equally clear to all
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who are undertaking the assignment
Valid, in that the assessment actually does assess what it sets out to assess
Relevant, in that it aligns with the learning outcomes and leads on from what has
been taught
Clear, about criteria, in particular that the student knows what they have to do to
achieve different marks or grades
Clear about purpose, as to whether the assessment is intended to be formative or
summative
Clear about standards, in particular whether students are assessed in relation to each
other or in relation to some independent criteria
Students are assessed by a variety of assessment methods, including essays, seminar
presentation and practical projects
WORK EXPERIENCE AND PLACEMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Students have the opportunity to undertake work experience and placements in Years 2 and
3 of the course.
PROJECT WORK
Students have the opportunity to undertake project work in all three years of the
programme.
ADDED VALUE
 Extensive personal support from a friendly and caring staff
 A good practical and theoretical education
 Availability of careers advice and support
HOW WE SUPPORT YOU
We offer a range of support mechanisms:
 One- week induction programme for orientation and familiarisation,
followed by further orientation at subject level.
 Programme Handbook and Module Guides detailing course content,
required reading/activities, learning outcomes, and assessment modes
and deadlines.
 Assessment Guides outlining assignment requirements and procedures.
 Module readers containing essential resources for students.
 Library and study skill packages.
 Extensive library and other learning resources.
 Commons building with purpose-built studio and post-production facilities
 Staff tutors and mentors assist you with academic problems, to advise on
pastoral issues, offer guidance and assist you in liaising with Student
Services (counselling, disability, finance, etc.).
 Student email and open personal access to tutorial staff and module
leaders.
 Access to student counsellors.
 Access to learning and teaching support services, which provides assistance
and guidance e.g. dyslexia.
 Opportunities for overseas study
Students are allocated a personal tutor upon registration at the start of their studies at Bath
Spa University, with whom they are encouraged to meet several times in their first year. The
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allocated tutor represents a first port of call for students whenever an academic or personal
issue arises about which they need to inform the University, or whenever they require
advice or guidance. The tutor will advise, direct, guide, or oversee their academic wellbeing
whenever appropriate. However, sometimes students may prefer to approach another
member of staff (such as one of their lecturers/tutors), which is also perfectly acceptable: all
staff are always willing to assist any student who seeks their advice.
HOW WE SUPPORT YOU
Media Communications staff aim to be accessible to students, normally during their published
office hours and at other times by appointment. Within the School of Humanities and Cultural
Industries, office hours are displayed on staff office doors and also on a list in the General
Office. Please note that many of your tutors teach for half the week, and work in industry the
other half, so they may not be available all the time. We also employ specialist-contracted
tutors who do not have office hours. In those cases, if you want advice outside teaching hours
consult the module coordinator.
All students at Bath Spa University are allocated a personal tutor. Your personal tutor will
support you in reflecting on your progress as well as your learning and career aspirations.
Personal tutors will be able to advise on and direct you to other university-level support
services.
Within the curriculum there is detailed attention to career opportunities and all students will
have the chance to study and experience a variety of media roles via the varied diet of taught
and project work. Within the Level 6 project modules students will work with industry mentors
and the University careers service to plan their future – be it progression to further study or
seeking opportunities in the workplace. During your core module at level 4 (MC4010 Media
Today), you will be introduced to a range of university services including the Writing and
Learning Centre who offer support on all aspects of academic writing and planning. As part of
all modules, you will engage in the process of personal development planning through the
production of research journals and logs as well as reflective pieces of writing and verbal
presentations that ask you to consider your aspirations, skills acquisition and development
needs.
Note: Creative specialism staff are based in the several Schools. Please liaise with the relevant
School Office to contact these staff outside of scheduled teaching and office hour timetables.
HOW WE ASSURE THE QUALITY OF THE COURSE
Before the course started, a process of course approval took place which included consultation
with academic and industry subject experts. The following was checked:
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There would be enough qualified staff to teach the course
Adequate resources would be in place
Overall aims and objectives are appropriate
Content of the course meets requirements of Quality Assurance Agency for Higher
Education and European Standards and Guidelines
The course maps to subject benchmark statements
The course meets any professional/statutory body requirements
Internal quality criteria, such as admissions policy, teaching, learning and assessment
strategy and student support mechanisms
HOW WE MONITOR THE QUALITY OF THE COURSE
The quality of the course is annual monitored through evaluating:
 External examiner reports (considering quality and standards).
 Peer observation of teaching and staff development review.
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University surveys.
Statistical information, considering issues such as pass rate.
Student feedback, including module evaluation questionnaires
National Student Survey (NSS) data
The course team use this information to undertake annual monitoring, which, in turn, is
monitored by the University’s Academic Quality and Standards Committee.
Every six years an in-depth periodic review of the subject area is undertaken by a review panel,
which includes at least two external subject (academic and industry) specialists. The panel
considers documents, meets with current/former students and staff before drawing its
conclusions. This results in a report highlighting good practice and identifying areas where
action is needed.
THE ROLE OF THE COURSE COMMITTEE
This course has a course committee (the ‘Creative Media Practice Subject Board’) comprising
all relevant teaching staff, student representatives and others who make a contribution
towards the effective operation of the course (for example library and technical staff). The
committee has responsibilities for the quality of the course and plays a critical role in the
University’s quality assurance procedures.
THE ROLE OF EXTERNAL EXAMINERS
The standard of this course is monitored by at least one external examiner whose principal
duties include:
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Ensuring the standard of the course
Ensuring that practices and procedures (e.g. in relation to assessment) are adhered to
Our external examiner(s) ensure that we follow University regulations, that we meet Quality
Assurance Agency benchmarks for our subject area and that the standards of the course are
comparable with those of other higher education institutions.
The Creative Media Practice team follows the University’s regulations and procedures
regarding marking, and our external examiner(s) are the final arbiters to ensure that these
regulations and procedures are followed and applied in a consistent manner.
LISTENING TO THE VIEWS OF STUDENTS
Student feedback is important and is obtained through:
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Mid-term and end of module student evaluations.
Student representation on course committees, meeting each term
Our roles as module leaders
Our roles as personal tutors
Subject leader’s/Head of Department’s periodic meetings with student representatives
Department of Media and Film Production Staff/Student forum (details of meetings are
available via the Minerva VLE and are publicised throughout the programme)
Student representatives are given training by the Bath Spa University Student Union. Contact
details of the current representatives are published on core module VLE sites and
representatives are introduced to the student body in the first sessions of each core module.
Students are notified of action taken in response to feedback through:
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Department of Media and Film Production Staff/Student forum
Course committees
Minerva VLE
Subject Board
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LISTENING TO THE VIEWS OF OTHERS
The views of other interested parties are obtained, for example, through:
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Feedback from former students through the department’s alumni arrangements
Liaison with employers and industry representatives
Liaison with sector skills, design and craft councils
Liaison with external examiner(s)
HYPERLINKS TO APPROPRIATE REGULATIONS, POLICIES AND GUIDANCE
Undergraduate Modular Scheme regulations:
http://thehub.bathspa.ac.uk/services/student-services/modular-scheme-and-timetabling
Plagiarism/unfair practice policy:
http://www.bathspa.ac.uk/regulations/unfair-practice
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES STATEMENT
The Department of Film and Media Production at Bath Spa University welcomes diversity
amongst its students, staff and visitors, recognising the contributions that can be made by
individuals from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences.
Our aim is that all staff and students, both existing and potential, should receive equal and
fair treatment in all aspects of University life. The University seeks to ensure that a suitable
working and studying environment is provided which is free from discrimination and where
all members of the University community are treated with dignity and respect and are valued
as individuals.
The Student Handbook is designed to provide you with a central point of reference,
containing detailed information concerning your course. We want to ensure that the needs of
all students are met in every aspect of every course that we offer. A key way in which we
ensure this is to monitor student feedback on each academic module undertaken. The results
of this provide us with essential information on our progress to ensuring equality of access
and opportunity for all students.
Should you have any concerns at any time regarding your course, any of the information
contained within this Handbook, or any other aspect of University life, you should discuss this
in the first instance with Kristin Doern (details above) who will assist you in identifying the
types of support available to you. Examples of these types of support are
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Arranging appropriate teaching and examination arrangements.
Assisting with the provision of scribes, readers, note takers or interpreters.
Assisting you with applications for financial assistance.
Assisting you with any concerns you may have regarding any work experience you
may undertake.
Helping you to identify technology and other support appropriate to individual
needs.
Advising on study and arranging loan of equipment.
Liaising with members of academic staff in relation to access to the curricula.
There are also a range of support mechanisms offered by Bath Spa University, such as
Student Support Services and Careers Advice. Details of how to access these services can be
found on the University’s homepages.
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We want to ensure that your needs are met. If you require this information in any
other format, please contact Dr Rebecca Feasey Ext 6151, ST105
[email protected].
Equal Opportunities Policy
The following provides information concerning the Bath Spa University Equal Opportunities
Policy. Please take the time to familiarise yourself with it as it is relevant to everybody.
Bath Spa University Equal Opportunities Policy Statement
Bath Spa University is fully committed to being an equal opportunities employer and
providing equality of opportunity for all its staff and students, applicants and visitors. The
University will not tolerate unfair or unlawful discrimination on the grounds of gender,
ethnicity, colour, disability, religion, nationality, age, occupation, marital status or sexual
orientation or any distinction, which is not relevant to the employee/employer relationship or
its student body.
Responsibilities
Promoting and maintaining equal opportunities is the responsibility of everyone, although it
is recognised that management have additional responsibilities to ensure that the policy is
carried out.
The University Management will ensure that:
 All staff and students are aware of the equal opportunities policy and our
procedures for making a complaint.
 The implementation of equal opportunities is effectively monitored.
 An Equal Opportunities Strategy and Action Plan is produced and reviewed. Staff,
Students and Union representatives are provided with appropriate forums to discuss
and deal with equal opportunities issues.
 All staff are provided with appropriate equal opportunities training.
 A network of trained Harassment Advisors is available to provide advice and
guidance.
 Procedures are in place for the fair appointment, promotion and development of staff,
the fair selection and teaching of students, free from unjustifiable discrimination.
All staff and students are expected to:
 Support and implement the equal opportunities policy; and
 Ensure that their behaviour and/or actions do not amount to discrimination or
harassment.
Staff and students of the University are expected to comply with this policy and are
expected to promote a culture free of unfair discrimination, prejudice and all forms of
harassment and bullying. Any incidents of discrimination, harassment or bullying will be
investigated and may be grounds for dismissal or expulsion.
IMPORTANT ASSESSMENT REGULATIONS
The Pass Mark The pass mark for all assessments in Creative Media Practice is 40%. A mark of
39% or lower is a fail. Some modules are assessed on a pass/fail basis, where you do not
receive a grade – but you still have to pass such assessments.
If a student fails a module, they do not have an automatic right to resubmit coursework or resit
an examination to make good the assessment units which caused them to fail. Attendance at
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that module may be taken into account here, as will any relevant mitigating circumstances.
Deferred Work When a failure has taken place because of a mark lower than 40% or through
non- submission of work due to serious personal problems, such as illness or bereavement, the
student should submit documentary evidence of the problems to Registry. If possible, this
evidence should take the form of a doctor’s letter or similar. The information will be forwarded
to Student Services. The Assessment Boards may decide to give the student an opportunity to
resubmit the item of coursework, or resit the examination, with no penalty (i.e. it will be
marked out of 100%). This is known as ‘deferral’ of the assessment unit. It’s important to note
that a deferral is not guaranteed: the Assessment Boards will decide. Referred Work
When a student fails a module because of a low mark or non-submission of coursework,
without evidence of mitigating circumstances acceptable to the Assessment Board, the Board
will usually (but not invariably) give them the opportunity to resit the examinations or resubmit
the items of coursework that resulted in the fail. This is known as ‘referral’ of the assessment
unit. In a minority of cases, the Board may decide that it is appropriate that no opportunity for
reassessment be given - for instance, in the case of students who have been chronically absent
from class. A referred assessment can only be awarded a maximum of the pass mark of 40%,
however well the student does on their reassessment.
‘Trailing’ a Module
When a student fails a module after resitting an exam or resubmitting coursework, or fails at
the first attempt and is not allowed to resit or resubmit, they may nevertheless be allowed to
proceed to the next academic year with a maximum of 60 credits outstanding which have to be
made up in the coming year. This is known as ‘trailing’ modules. If a failed module is a
compulsory part of their programme, they will have to repeat it. If it was an optional module,
they may either retake it or choose an alternative module at the same level. Once the failed
module is made up and passed, it is theoretically possible for the student to trail another failed
module.
Basis of Degree Qualifications
In year 1 (Level 4), module grades do not count towards the final degree classification. The only
requirement is that the modules be successfully completed. At Levels 5 and 6 (second and third
year), students must obtain 240 further credits, or pass twelve modules. The marks from Levels
2 and 3 count 40% and 60% respectively towards the student’s final degree classification.
The student’s final Degree Classification is determined in the following way: the mean
percentage of the overall marks for Level 5 modules, discounting the 20-credit module that
received the lowest mark (i.e. 100 credits), weighted at 40%; plus the mean percentage of the
overall mark for Level 6 modules, discounting the 20-credit module that received the lowest
mark (i.e. 100 credits), weighted at 60%.
This means that level 5 and 6 core modules are always included for classification purposes.
Please note that taking an Erasmus or other overseas placement will affect the way your
eventual degree classification is calculated: please ask Dr Suman Ghosh, our International link
tutor, for advice.
Referencing your coursework and unfair practice
You should always make sure you use the correct referencing system accurately. You will find
information and guidance on referencing here:
http://www2.bathspa.ac.uk/services/library/InfoSkills/
… and you can download the university guide to Harvard referencing here
http://www.bathspa.ac.uk/Media/Library/Documents/BSU%20Harvard%206%20July%202015.
pdf
14
Note also that modules may have specific referencing requirements for subject materials and
media texts. Full details of any such specific or additional requirements are available via the
module Minerva VLE pages. As with anything, if you have any questions, just ask!
Plagiarism/unfair practice
Unacceptable academic practice, particularly in assessment, is known as Unfair Practice. Unfair
Practice may take a variety of forms, which cannot all be covered in detail here, but the most
common form is the plagiarism of coursework. Others include collusion with other students for
the production of written work, impersonation in examinations, or submission of fraudulent
mitigating circumstances evidence. Submitting the same piece of work, or largely the same
piece of work, for assessment in more than one module is ‘double-counting’ and also
constitutes unfair practice.
The penalties for unfair practice are severe, and if students are in any doubt about what
constitutes acceptable academic practice they must consult their tutors for advice.
For further information on the University regulations concerning unfair practice, including the
penalties for unfair practice, see http://www.bathspa.ac.uk/services/studentservices/policies/unfair-practice.asp
You should never resort to unfair practices as a means of resolving academic, personal or
medical difficulties.
You should be in no doubt that plagiarism is CHEATING, and is a very serious offence in Higher
Education. Please note if a student claims not to have been aware of the offence or its
consequences, or did not understand what constitutes plagiarism, that this will not be
accepted under any circumstances. Plagiarism will result in a penalty even when it is
unintended or unwitting.
The University is concerned that you get proper credit for your work. This means making sure
that you are properly assessed in relation to the learning outcomes specified for your modules,
and also in relation to other students. Proper assessment is compromised when students
engage in unfair practice, in particular when they plagiarise, or otherwise present others' work
as their own. To help prevent this practice, the University subscribes to a Plagiarism Detection
Service (PDS).
This compares work submitted to it with millions of pages of internet-based material -including work uploaded to the service by other students at BSU and in other universities. For
every module, the University submits to the PDS all student work which is in a suitable form.
Avoiding Plagiarism
Develop Good Habits
Plagiarism often starts in the note-taking stage. As you take notes, make sure you distinguish
between paraphrases and direct quotations. Copy quotations exactly as they appear, and
record all the information you will need for citations and a list of references, i.e. the full
bibliographical reference. Unless you explain your indebtedness to another source very clearly
it’s best to avoid paraphrase and quote directly or not at all. If using an on-line source, do not
cut and paste text directly into your own draft. Be conscientious and consistent in whatever
note-taking strategy you use. It will be no defence against plagiarism that the student was not
aware that they were plagiarising.
The following guidelines are reproduced with the permission of the Department of Language
and Literature, St Mary’s University College.1 In general, however, we would always encourage
you to use quotations in a more active way than this example suggests.
15
Imagine I am a student writing an essay on the poetry of T. S. Eliot for one of my literature
tutors. I have been reading Helen Gardner’s book The Art of T. S. Eliot and have found it very
helpful. I wish to use it for my essay. Helen Gardner has written the following: ‘In the opening
movement of The Waste Land, which is called “The Burial of the Dead”, we are given a series of
contrasted scenes. The common note in all these scenes is fear; the contrasts arise from the
various attitudes towards fear. The theme is first stated in the famous opening lines, the
comment on the cruelty of spring-time, the pain of new life stirring after the torpor of winter’.
Now, in my own essay, I too want to refer to the opening of the same poem. I write the
following:
‘The opening of The Waste Land gives a series of contrasted scenes. The common note is fear,
first stated in the opening description of the cruelty of spring-time, the pain of new life stirring
after the torpor of winter.’
THIS IS PLAGIARISM.
I’ve left a couple of words out, but I’ve taken the rest, word for word, from Helen
Gardner, with no reference to her or to her book, and no quotation marks. Let’s say, instead, I
write the following:
‘The beginning of The Waste Land gives a group of different scenes. The overall sense is one of
fear, which we first discover in the opening description of the harshness of spring, the agony of
life stirring again after the inactivity of winter.’
THIS IS ALSO PLAGIARISM.
Although I’ve only left one or two words the same and changed the other words, I am just
trying to disguise the fact that everything I have said comes from this passage. I have still not
given any reference to the fact that I am following a source.
What if I write the following?
‘As Helen Gardner says, the opening of The Waste Land gives a series of contrasted scenes. The
common note is fear, first stated in the opening description of the cruelty of spring-time, the
pain of new life stirring after the torpor of winter.’
This is better, but IT’S STILL NOT RIGHT. At last I have acknowledged that the idea comes from
Helen Gardner, but I do not say where it comes from, and I do not acknowledge that I am using
her very words.
How, then, should I do it? I must make it quite clear that I am using her ideas and her words:
‘As Helen Gardner says, “the opening movement of The Waste Land gives us a series of
contrasted scenes. The common note in all these scenes is fear; the contrasts arise from the
various attitudes towards fear. The theme is first stated in the ... comment on the cruelty of
spring-time, the pain of new life stirring after the torpor of winter”.’
THIS IS NOT PLAGIARISM.
Here I am fully acknowledging my source. All the words that appear in quotation marks are
Helen Gardner’s words, not my own. The ‘1’ that appears after the quotation is a footnote
reference. See below for the footnote for this quotation. As in this example, you must supply
either a footnote or an endnote at the end of your essay or at the bottom of the relevant page.
Most word-processing packages (e.g. Word) have a footnote/endnote facility to help you do
this.
16
Module Code
MC4010-40
Title
Media Today
Subject area
Media Communications; Creative Media Practice
Pathway
Single, Major, Joint
Level
4
Credits
40
ECTS
20
Contact time
104 hours (4 hours per week)
Pre-requisites
None
Acceptable for
Combined Awards Level 4
Excluded combinations
None
Core/Optional
Core
Module Co-ordinator
James Newman
Description & Aims
Media Today will develop your knowledge of the media and creative industries,
introduce you to a range of key debates, which underpin the study of media
communications, and encourage you to explore your understanding through the
production of original media texts. The module will look at all areas of media
communication, but with an emphasis on contemporary media cultures and
media futures.
The module will encourage you to develop your research skills; your ability to
critically analyse and discuss media production and consumption; to present
your findings for a range of different audiences writing in different registers; and
will allow you to develop and refine your media production skills in a range of
different media.
The assessments will test your levels of industry awareness; your skills in
textual analysis and audience research; and your production and design skills.
They will focus strongly on developing research skills and communication using
a range of media.
Outline Syllabus & Teaching & Learning Methods
17
The module is divided into three major blocks:
Block 1 focuses on approaches to media studies and analysis.
Here, you will concentrate on key debates in contemporary media and cultural
studies and engage with specific studies, investigating their findings and
methodologies. The Block is assessed through critical commentaries on key
studies and the production of an essay on an aspect of contemporary media
studies.
Block 2 focuses on media making.
Here, you will focus on developing and refining your media production skills.
You will research, design and create an original media text. This will be
accompanied by a commentary detailing your work, creative decisions and
reflecting on your personal and skills development.
Block 3 focuses on contemporary media cultures.
Central to debates in contemporary media culture and practice are questions of
producer/consumer and professional/amateur. In this block, you will
concentrate on mapping the cultures of remixing that crystalise these debates.
The block is assessed through a presentation in which you analyse an artefact
from remix culture, locating it in its cultural, historical and production contexts.
Each of the module blocks will require individual reading and research, and will
consist of lectures, discussion seminars and practice-based workshops. You will
receive guidance in critical approaches to media and will be supported in
developing your technical skills and ability to use a range of digital platforms.
In order to develop collaborative working skills, the module will make extensive
use of peer support and provides opportunities for you to reflect on your
personal and professional development. The module will make sustained use of
online support, including the BSU VLE system (Minerva), Google App services,
social media, news feeds, podcasts and research databases.
Where appropriate, guest speakers and BSU Media Communications alumni will
be used to give an industry perspective.
Intended Learning Outcomes
How assessed*
18
On successful completion of this module, you should be able
to:
1. Critically comment on the methods and findings of key
media texts
2. Develop arguments that engage with debates in
contemporary media studies
3. Harness media production tools to create original texts in
response to clear guidance and briefs
4. Communicate complex ideas using conventions, forms and
formats appropriate for the target audience
5. Design and deliver effective oral presentation
6. Work effectively to achieve clear research outcomes
7. Reflect constructively on learning and research processes
8. Apply personal academic planning effectively to manage
your time and meet set deadlines
9. Identify and access appropriate academic material using
scholarly research tools
Critical
commentaries
(1, 4, 6, 8, 9)
Essay
(1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9)
Brief-led
production
(3, 4, 6, 7, 8)
Presentation
(5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
Assessment Scheme
Weighting %
Summative
1. Critical commentaries on key media and cultural studies
texts (total 2,500 words)
25%
2. Essay (2,500 words)
25%
3. Brief-led media production and (with commentary)
25%
4. Presentation
25%
Formative
All assessment submissions will be developed in the light of
structured tutor and peer review. Where learning or training
needs are identified in this process, teaching will be adapted
to address those needs. Informal collaborative reflection will
be encouraged throughout as this reflects industry practice
better than isolated research.
Reading Lists/Key Texts & Websites
19
Suggested readings will be provided for each weekly theme and a core reading
pack will be made available. However, general introductions can be found in the
following books.
Burton, G. (2005) Media and Society: Critical Perspectives Maidenhead: Open
University Press.
Devereux, E. (2007) Understanding the Media, 2nd ed. London: Sage
Laughey, D. (2007) Key Themes in Media Theory Maidenhead: Open University
Press
Long, P and Wall, T. (2012) Media Studies: Texts, Production, Context. Harlow:
Pearson
Scannell, P. (2007) Media and Communication London: Sage
Learning Resources
The learning resources for this module will include:
Minerva VLE: Lecture materials; reading lists; research databases (e.g.
NewsBank);
screencasts; links to external resources; links to online journals.
Social Media: The module will make use of the BSU Media Communications
department Twitter feed and will encourage your use of social media and RSS
subscriptions where appropriate.
Library: Multiple copies of relevant books; hard copies of journals including
Media History, New Media and Society, Media, Culture and Society, and Critical
Studies in Media Communication.
20
Code
MC4002-20
Title
Introduction to Television
Subject area
Pathway
Single, Major, Joint, Minor
Level
4
Credits
20
ECTS
10
Contact time
Pre-requisites
None
Acceptable for
Elective in UGMS
None
Core/Optional
Optional
Module Co-ordinator
Rebecca Feasey
Description & Aims
Introduction to Television aims to provide you with the opportunity to study the key
debates in the growing discipline of television studies from a number of critical
perspectives. The syllabus will begin by examining the emergence of feminist television
criticism, considering the relationship between feminism, femininity and the woman’s
role in soap opera. It will go on to explore critical writing concerning the
representations of homosexuality in the situation comedy and the depiction of the
adolescent in teen programming. The module will conclude by investigating the growth
of lifestyle programming and the role of the audience in both the reality game-doc and
the talk show genre. Introduction to Television will identify a range of contemporary
debates and encourage you to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of such literature
in relation to a range of contemporary popular genre texts. The assessments will test
your ability to analyse extant literature in the field of television studies, your skills in
applying such work to relevant programming and your capacity to communicate your
ideas effectively in a range of written and verbal formats.
Introduction to Television will cover a number of key debates concerning the academic
analysis of popular television, with each debate being introduced in a formal lecture and
then challenged, considered and reconsidered in the ensuing seminar. Each debate will
require looking at the relevant lecture slides, the essential reading, a range of further
readings as outlined in the module handbook, an appropriate television text and the
introduction of relevant extra materials. The Minerva site for the module will act as a
research centre and will contain both weekly support materials (lecture slides, further
21
reading, links etc.) and broader research materials such as links to academic journal
articles, programme websites, review materials and audience demographics.
How assessed*
On successful completion of this module, you should be able to:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Essay
1. Describe key debates in the field of academic television
studies.
2. Identify appropriate academic and popular media research
material.
3. Evaluate published writing on academic television studies.
4. Apply appropriate theoretical ideas, theories and debates
to specific television texts.
5. Communicate key debates in extant literature.
6. Reflect on your learning and research approaches both
individually and, where appropriate, as a collective
process.
Assessment Scheme
1, 2, 3, 5, 6.
Research Portfolio
and Reflective
Commentary
6.
Individual and
group formative
assessment
Weighting %
Summative
Essay (2,500 words)
50%
Research Portfolio and Reflective Commentary
50%
Formative
All feedback on summative work should be understood as
providing formative support. Structured feedback sessions will be
built into your learning to allow reflection on each element of
assessment. Where specific needs are identified, formative
assessment activities will be included to support your learning.
Suggested readings will be provided for each weekly theme. However, general
introductions can be found in the following books.
Geraghty, L. (2009) American Science Fiction Film and Television. London: Berg
Jermyn, D. (2010) Prime Suspect. London: BFI
22
Lewis, T. (2008) TV Transformations: Revealing the Makeover Show. London: Routledge.
Potter, T and Marshall, C.W (eds.) (2009) The Wire: Urban Decay and American
Television. London: Continuum.Ross, S., and Stein, L. (2008) Teen Television: Essays on
Programming and Fandom. London: McFarland.
Scott, G. (2008) The Talk Show Revolution: How TV and Radio Talk Shows Have Changed
America. London: Global Authors Publishers.
Telotte, J.P. ed. (2008) The Essential Science Fiction Television Reader. Lexington: The
University Press of Kentucky.
Wood, H. (2009) Talking with Television: Women, Talk Shows, and Modern SelfReflexivity. Illinois: University of Illinois Press
Television & New Media: http://tvn.sagepub.com/
Flowtv: http://flowtv.org/
Scope: http://www.scope.nottingham.ac.uk/index.php
Learning Resources
Minerva VLE: Lecture materials; reading lists; research databases; links to external
resources; links to online journals.
Library: Multiple copies of relevant books, hard copies of appropriate journals and
recordings of specific programme titles.
Code
MC4003-20
Title
Popular Media Culture
Subject areas
Media Communications, Cultural Studies
Pathway
Level
4
Credits
20
ECTS
10
Contact time
Pre-requisites
None
Acceptable for
Elective in UGMS
None
Core/Optional
Optional
Module Co-ordinator
Andy R. Brown
23
Description & Aims
Popular Media Culture will introduce you to some of the key debates about the
role and significance of popular media culture in contemporary consumer-driven
societies. Tracing its emergence, via controversies about the rise of mass
commercial culture and fears about its impact on high culture and working class
culture respectively, the module will go on to examine a range of examples of
historical and contemporary popular cultural forms. These will include the
classic Hollywood gangster film, gender representations in film Noir; the rise of
popular music and youth styles, quiz and games shows, with special attention
being given to the recent re-branding of the talent show as a Reality TV
phenomenon, as well as an exploration of the postmodernist account of popular
culture, via the surprising success of cartoon-formats, such as the Simpsons,
South Park and Family Guy and films like The Matrix and Shaun of the Dead (and
the various multi-media platforms that surround these forms, including multimedia interactivity, computer games and the net).
Throughout the development of the module students will be encouraged to
explore the relevance and application of key theoretical concepts and ideas to
the description and explanation of popular media culture, including debates
about capitalism, gender, ethnicity and class, the culture industry and cultural
production, commodification and consumption, ideology and hegemony claims,
pleasure and resistance, intertextuality and pastiche. Through the course of the
development of the module six critical frameworks for making sense of popular
culture will be introduced: Mass Culture theory, Frankfurt School Marxism,
Althusserian theories of ideology, Gramscian hegemony theory, Feminist media
theory, and postmodern theories of media culture.
The aims of the module are: to provide an introduction to the historical development
and changing understandings of popular media culture; outline five
critical approaches to understanding the emergence, character and operation of the
media culture industries and their key associated ideas. To identity and critically
evaluate a range of studies into different aspects of popular culture and their research
context. And to encourage a critical awareness of the relationship between evidence,
argument and method involved in the evaluation of different theoretical approaches to
media popular culture. Finally, to encourage and facilitate student development of
applied and informed understandings of contemporary and historical forms of popular
culture.
The module is organised around a pattern of two-hour lecture and
seminar/workshop sessions, which alternate between theoretical and applied
material, where key ideas and approaches to popular media culture are explored
and illustrated through application and critical exploration in relation to actual
historical and contemporary examples. Lectures will endeavour to offer: a clear and
comprehensive introduction to the issues of each theme; communicate the history,
context and development of the relevant approaches; consider examples from case
studies, historical and current events and indicate the key disagreements between
scholars and perspectives and identifying issues for further study.
24
Seminar/Workshops will involve small group-based student activities (discussing
examples, problems, etc.); review, evaluation, and exploration of the week’s course
reading material; class and group analysis of video clips, images, articles, practices,
etc., and class and group debate of media related issues and examples.
How assessed*
On successful completion of this module you should be able to:
1. Identify and explain a range of key concepts involved
1, 2, 3.
in the study of media and popular culture.
Presentation
2. Describe and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of
particular studies of media popular culture within
their social and historical context.
1, 2, 3, 4.
3. Assess the relative merits of competing accounts of popular
media culture in terms of debates about class, gender,
capitalism and postmodernism, mass mediation and
cultural (re) production.
4. Present a structured argument employing oral, textual and
audio-visual material.
5. Communicate key debates in extant literature.
6. Reflect on your learning and research approaches, both
individually and, where appropriate, as a collective process.
Assessment Scheme
Summative
Group seminar investigation & presentation (with individual
weighting) comprised of PowerPoint/commentary
Essay title selected from the module list. 2,500 words
Essay
5.
Essay and
Presentation
6.
Individual and
group formative
assessment
Weighting %
50%
50%
Formative
While all feedback on summative work should be understood as
providing formative support, workshops will include opportunities
for peer reflection on the research process. Where specific learning
requirements are identified, formative assessment activities will be
developed to meet those needs.
Walton, D. (2008) Introducing Cultural Studies. London: Sage
Strinati, D. (2004) An Introduction to Studying Popular Culture. London: Routledge. (ebook).
Hollows, J. (2000) Feminism, Femininity and Popular Culture. Manchester: Manchester
University Press.
Storey, J. (2006) Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction. Harlow: Pearson
Education.
Learning Resources
25
Minerva VLE: Lecture materials; reading lists; links to external resources; links to
online journals.
Library: Multiple copies of relevant books.
Code
MC4006-20
Title
Ideation and Creative Problem-Solving
Subject area
Film, Media and Creative Computing
Pathway
Major/Joint/Minor
Level
4
Credits
20
ECTS
20
Contact time
52 hours
Pre-requisites
None
Acceptable for
None
None
Core/Optional
Optional
Module Leader
Prof James Newman
Description & Aims
Although we are well used to hearing the term in everyday and professional contexts,
just what do we mean by 'creativity'?
As Kaufman and Sternberg (2010) note in The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity, it
can refer to a person, process, place, or product. It can be found in geniuses and in
small children. It has been studied by psychologists, educators, neuroscientists,
historians, sociologists, economists, engineers, and scholars of all types. However,
there are still debates, after more than six decades of intensive research, on how to
measure, utilize, and improve it.
This module aims to explore and develop your abilities to solve problems creatively in
a diverse variety of contexts. As we will see throughout the module, creative thinking
skills are as much about attitude and self-confidence as about talent. As Cotrell
(2011) observes, creativity is often less ordered, structured and predictable. As you
are not looking for 'one' answer, you are likely to come up with lots of suggestions
that are not 'right'. This can be difficult if you are more used to analytical and logical
26
approaches. It can also be experienced as 'risky' as the prospect of making a mistake
or not coming up with an answer is more likely.
Creative problem solving usually requires two distinct phases: divergent thinking
(ideation) and convergent thinking (idea analysis and evaluation). The module will
explore both approaches and their relationship in the context of the digital economy.
It will look at the importance of what Cottrell (2011) calls the empathy and the
emotional self-management often needed in order to allow creative thinking states to
emerge. It is important to be able to cope with risk, confusion, disorder and feeling
that you are not progressing quickly.
Throughout the module, you will be introduced to a variety of theoretical models of
creativity and strategies for nurturing and capturing creative thinking. You will work
on a series of projects requiring the use of these different approaches and strategies.
Projects will vary in terms of the mediums and resources you will work with (some
traditional media projects as well as more abstract creative exercises such as rapidly
prototyping solutions to complex problems) as well as the amount of time you will
have for planning (you many have many weeks to plan and complete a video project
while you may be allocated just a few hours for prototyping projects).
Outline Syllabus
There are two key components of the module's syllabus:
1. Introduction to ideation and creative problem-solving techniques such as
visualisation, attribute listing, mind mapping, metaphorical thinking, bisociation,
forced relationships, free association, stream of consciousness, idea incubation, etc.
2. A series of sandpit workshops in designed to challenge creative problem-solving
abilities. As well as your ongoing, longer-term assessments, you will work on a diverse
range of short projects in the classroom which are designed to allow you to put into
practice the strategies you have been introduced to.
Teaching & Learning Methods
Lectures will provide an overview of key theories of creative thinking and strategies
for enhancing, capturing and presenting creative solutions.
Sandpit workshop sessions exploring ideation and creative problem-solving
techniques. These sessions are designed around a diverse range of projects that you
will work on in the classroom. There will be a mixture of 'seen' and 'unseen' projects
and different time limits and resource restrictions.
How assessed*
27
By the end of the module, students will have:
1. learned about ideation and creative problem-solving
2. gained experience in giving and taking constructive criticism in
discussion;
Report
3. learned to critically analyse and understand the role of
creative problem-solving in the digital economy.
Assessment Scheme
Weighting %
Summative:
Project Report (approx. 2500 words)
50%
Research Portfolio (2500 word equivalent)
50%
Formative:
While all feedback on summative work should be understood as
providing formative support, workshops will include opportunities
for peer reflection on the research process. Where specific learning
requirements are identified, formative assessment activities will be
developed to meet those needs.
Reading Lists/Key Texts & Websites Nothing after 2009? Currency?
Cottrell, S. (2011) Critical Thinking Skills, Palgrave.
de Bono, E. (1985) Six hats thinking, Little Brown and Company
Kaufman, J. and Sternberg, R. (2010) The Cambridge handbook of creativity,
Cambridge University Press.
Robinson, K. (2001) Out of our minds: learning to be creative, Capstone.
Robinson, K. (2013) Finding your element, Allen lane.
Learning Resources
BSU Library, Minerva
Additional online resources e.g. creative thinking and ideation exercises,
28
presentations and public lectures (such as Ken Robinson's TED talk on 'how schools kill
creativity') and resources relating to specific projects and classroom exercises.
Code
Title
Subject area
Pathway
Level
Credits
ECTS
Contact time
Acceptable for
Core/Optional
Module Co-ordinator
Description
MC4008
Digital Practice
Film, Media and Creative Computing
Major/Joint/Minor
4
20
20
52 hours
None
None
None
FMC tutors
This module introduces students to the production of a variety of digital media. This
‘media’ includes text, still images, video, audio, sound and animation. The module will
provide an introduction to types of media, situating this within cultural and societal
contexts with a historical perspective. Students will also be exposed to a series of digital
practice, which will mean making an artefact. However, this module aims to ensure that
context and relevant historical perspectives inform production. This means students will
be expected to ensure their ideas are appropriately informed by theory, among other
aspects.
This module will also introduce the students to creativity and how digital media are and
can be used in practical and creative pursuits.
This module will provide grounding in digital media processes and techniques, with the
aim of ensuring students are well placed to work on digital media projects and understand
core basics of the medium. These include both theory, development and application. It is
expected the student will work on practical projects producing artefacts and portfolios
working both individually (summative assignments) and in small groups (formative
assignments).
29
This module will include exposure and specific session on the following:
 Digital media theory.
 Media planning.
 Digital photography.
 Desktop publishing.
 Vector graphics.
 Bitmap graphics.
 2D and some 3D animation.
 Video compression.
 Authoring processes.
 Design and layout; visual language.
 Professional practice.
 Working in the media industry.
 Planning and working to deadlines.
Taught time will be divided between lectures and lab-based work where students will be
exposed to working practices and various software. Lectures will cover broader contexts
and ask students to think about wider, societal concerns of digital media. Students will
also have access to dedicated resources in the form of Technical Demonstrators (TDs) who
will support the technical development contexts.
At the end of this module a student will be able to:
1. Understand how digital media are produced.
2. Appreciate the workflow of digital media production.
3. Undertake and apply research to their idea development and
final product.
4. Design and create effective digital media using a variety of
software and assets.
Assessment Scheme
Formative:
1. A presentation to peers and tutor (half-way through the
module).
2. Portfolio review (at 4 points during the module).
Summative:
1. A media-rich project (1750 word equivalent that will include
a project to be negotiated with the tutor).
2. A portfolio of material highlighting; planning, research,
context and production (1750 words or equivalent: up to a
maximum of 20 portfolio pages).
3. A reflective essay that draws together theory and practice
(1500 words).
How assessed**
S1 and F1
S2 and F2
S2 and S3
S1
Weighting %
0%
0%
35%
35%
30%
Roberts-Breslin, J. (2011). Making Media: Foundations of Sound and Image Production.
London: Taylor & Francis.
Chapman, N. P., & Chapman, J. (2009). Digital Multimedia (Vol. 4). Chicago: Wiley.
Couldry, N. (2012). Media, Society, World: Social Theory and Digital Media Practice. London:
Polity.
Creeber, G., & Martin, R. (Eds.). (2009). Digital Culture: Understanding New Media.
Columbus OH: McGraw-Hill International.
Learning Resources
1. All resources will be placed on Minerva.
2. Access to specialist sessions with TDs, ensuring a basic level of digital practice is
30
attained.
31
Level 5 Modules
32
Code
MC5110
Title
Media Cultures: Concepts and Practices
Subject area
Pathway
Single, Major, Joint Minor
Level
5
Credits
40
Contact time
Pre-requisites
MC4010
Acceptable for
Elective in UGMS
None
Core/Optional
Core
Module Leader
Matt Freeman
Description & Aims
This module challenges you to identify and critically explore media cultures through
practice-based research. Engaging with contemporary debates in media research,
wider popular forums, and group dialogue, you will be encouraged to creatively
examine media cultures through a range of media-making practices.
This module stresses dialogue between the academic study of media and the wider
social relevance of these concepts. Approaches and perspectives from industry, policy,
charity and government are drawn on to ensure that your knowledge, research and
making skills have an applied dimension.
This module presents the opportunity to: develop scholarly and industry research skills;
develop and present ideas; work in teams with the support of academic researchers,
industry speakers, technical demonstrators, careers advisors and library professionals;
engage with a range of media tools and techniques to produce a cross-media
presentation; and reflect on your personal development in terms of global citizenship
and employability.
33
This module draws on a range of teaching and learning methods including lectures,
seminars, workshops, media-making labs, field visits, and industry talks.
You will explore concepts related to media cultures such as, ‘identity’, ‘power’,
‘celebrity’, ‘environment’, ‘fandom’, and ‘global village’, and via a research and
development stage develop a project proposal that will then be pitched to your peers.
Teams will then identify an appropriate way to communicate their ideas and
commentary on this concept by participating in media-making workshops designed to
help them in producing a cross-media presentation. An engagement and evaluation
stage will follow allowing students to gain feedback and reflect on their personal and
professional development.
The syllabus is structured around three main blocks:
Block One: Research and Development
In block one, concepts will be identified and explored through lectures and seminars.
You are then supported in producing a contextual overview and literature review.
Following research skills workshops covering different scholarly and industry ways of
developing ideas, you will present a proposal for a cross-media presentation that
creatively and critically explores your chosen media cultures concept.
Block Two: Comment and Critique
Block two focuses on translating a personal project proposal into a collaboratively
authored cross-media presentation. You will develop a proposal outlining your ideas on
content and media form (e.g. a blog or website; a social media presence; a magazine or
newspaper article; a short video). Following a collaborative selection process, one
proposal will be carried forward through a production planning stage to final
completion. Through workshops with industry speakers and technical demonstrators,
students will be supported in understanding appropriate communication tools and
techniques and gaining the necessary media-making practice skills.
Block Three: Engagement and Evaluation
Block three is an opportunity for you to evaluate your cross-media presentations and
engage in personal development reflecting on your research and practice skills and
questions of global citizenship and employability.
How assessed*
34
On successful completion of this module you will be able to:
1.Critically examine media culture debates and issues within
their wider social contexts.
2.Apply a range of scholarly and industry research approaches to
identify and develop project ideas.
3. Develop project proposals within a collaborative peer review
context.
4. Document production choices and planning processes.
5. Apply a range of media-making skills to produce a
presentation.
6.Evaluate your research and media-making practices.
7. Reflect on your personal and professional development to
identify strengths, areas for improvement, and future actions.
1, 2, 8: Project
proposal
1, 3, 4, 5, 8:
Presentation
6, 7, 8: Journal
8. Engage in personal academic planning, including managing your
time effectively to meet set deadlines.
Assessment Scheme
Weighting %
Summative Assessment
Project proposal
Cross-media Presentation
Reflective Journal
25%
50%
25%
Formative Assessment
providing formative support. Structured feedback sessions will
be built into your learning to allow reflection on each element of
Your module portfolio will entail both an assessed item, but also
an opportunity for formative reflection.
35

Creeber, G. and Martin, R. (2008) Digital Cultures. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Croteau, D., Hoynes, W. and Milan, S. (2011) Media/Society 4th edition. London: SAGE

Devereux, E. (2007) Understanding the Media 2nd edition. London: SAGE.

Dewdney, A. and Ride, P. (2013) The Digital Media Handbook 2nd edition. London:
Routledge

Gauntlett, D. (2011) Making is Connecting. Cambridge: Polity.

Hodkinson, P. (2010) Media, Culture and Society. London: SAGE.

Lee-Wright, P. (2009) The Documentary Handbook. London: Routledge

McKay, J. (2013) The Magazines Handbook 3rd edition. London: Routledge.

Orlebar, J. (2011) The Television Handbook 4th edition. London: Routledge.

Priest, S.H. (2010) Doing Media Research 2nd edition. London: SAGE.
Learning Resources
Library: Multiple copies of relevant books; access to journals.
Broadcast and Publishing Lab
Code
MC5010
Title
Commissioning and Work in the Media
Subject area
Creative Media Practice in Media
Communications
Pathway
MC
Level
5
Credits
40
ECTS
20
Contact time
78 hours plus events/tutorials
36
Pre-requisites
None
Acceptable for
None
n/a
Core/Optional
Optional
Module Leader
Terence Rodgers/Lesley Gittings
Description & Aims
Students will research media commissioning, the distribution process and employability
within the sector. They will look at current and emerging trends in areas of the media in
which they have particular interest (agreed via negotiation with the tutor). They will
research and create material on these topics, and present their work in small groups, as a
video documentary.
The students will take on roles/ tasks to organise and run a media event designed to
provide professional development opportunities for people seeking employment in the
broadcast media, e.g. BTEC students or recent entrants to the profession. This will include
managing a budget and demonstrating technical ability.
Students will find and complete a minimum of 5 days work based learning within the
Media business. With this knowledge they will build a CV suited to the sector in which
they hope to work.
This will set them up well for the third year of their course.
The module is delivered over 26 weeks through a series of lectures, group workshops,
tutorials, guest speakers and field trips. Term 3 will see the culmination of work, when a
Media Event is organised and hosted by the Year 2 group.
The student will have opportunities to work individually as well as in a small and large
group capacity.
Workshops or briefs will be designed throughout the course to enable the student to
develop new and existing skills in areas of researching career opportunities, team working,
writing effective CV’s, interview techniques, self evaluation and the creative and practical
process of event planning.
Work placement will vary according to the particular aims and interests of the individual
student and the expectations of the host. However, the student will normally undertake
one or more of the following:
Shadowing /observing work
Working individually on a small project
37
Working as a member of a team
This work placement will be evaluated by the student in the form of a personal reflective
diary as well as an online blog of their experience.
How assessed*
Upon successful completion of the module students will be
able to:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the
Research folder
commissioning process and distribution
mechanisms in the media.
2. Develop a range of research skills.
Documentary
3. Produce a group documentary about an aspect of
media production.
4. Identify areas of personal strength and weakness, CV
including practical and transferable skills.
5. Create an effective CV
6. Develop event planning and management skills CV
(speaker and customer liaison, budget planning,
time management)
Event diary
7. Co-organise and deliver a day conference or
similar event - including drafting and editing
promotional and other material e.g. web site.
Portfolio
Fliers, etc.
8. Acquire and develop networking skills via
organisation of, and participation in, the event
project.
Reflective diary/blog
9. Undergo and evaluate a 5-day (minimum) work
based learning media placement.
Assessment Scheme for module
Weighting % of whole
module
Formative assessment is continuous through project
tutorials, critiques and peer evaluation
Summative assessment:
Assignment 1:
Group documentary
Assessed outcomes 1,2,3
Assignment 2:
Media Event
Assessed outcomes 6,7,8,.
Assignment 3:
Professional Practice Development 4,5, 9
50%
50%
Pass/Fail
The "Guardian" Media Directory: 2009, Guardian Books, 2009 [annual purchase]
Broadcast Weekly magazine for television professionals
Available online through the library
Figgis M: Digital Film Making
38
Rosenthal Alan: Writing , Directing and Producing Films and Videos
Friedman Susan: Meeting and Event Planning for Dummies, ed, On Air: The Guardian Guide
to a Career in TV & Radio, Guardian Books, 2004
Conway, Des, The Event Manager's Bible: The Complete Guide to Planning and Organising a
Voluntary or Public Event, How to Books, 2006
Kent, Simon, Careers and Jobs in the Media, Koogan Page, 2005
Skillset’s Broadcast freelancer service at
http://www.skillset.org/funding/broadcast/freelancers/article_4258_1.asp
Wagen, Lynn van der, Brenda Carlos,
Event Management for Tourism, Cultural, Business and Sporting Events, Prentice Hall, 2005
Fanthome, Christine, Work Placements: A Survival Guide for Students, Palgrave, 2004
On line resources from BBC web sites re. commissioning:
,http://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/
Channel 4’s commissioning website:
http://www.channel4.com/corporate/4producers/
Filmography:
Sky 1 Ross Kemp: Return to Afghanistan
Man on a Wire – Ardis Campbell, David Demato, David Frank Aaron Haskell
Learning Resources
Broadcast Lab – a dedicated production centre, equipped with editing workstations for
postproduction etc. The lab has technical support and offers a range of practical
workshops on production equipment and software. (Students have access to a wide range
of production equipment, bookable via Minerva.)
Minerva – support materials such as pdfs, screencasts.
Library – all recommended books are available along with other suitable sources. There
are a wide variety of DVDs, videos and audio CDs too.
Code
MC5015-40
Title
Digital Cultures
Subject area
Media Communications/ Creative Media Practice
Pathway
Level
Single, Major, Joint Minor/Creative Media
Practice
5
Credits
40
39
Contact time
Pre-requisites
n/a
Acceptable for
n/a
Core/Optional
Optional
Module Leader
FMC team
Description & Aims
This module will lead students through a critical and practical examination of digital
cultures and look at some key characteristics of digital media design. These
characteristics will include the digital production processes, digital design, and theories
linked to human-computer interaction, computer-mediated communication and how
people digest and use digital information. Key practical aspects of the course will enable
students to identify and apply digital media design into making a product that will draw
on their area(s) of study/expertise.
Theoretical aspects of the module will explore: digital narratives; ethics and legal aspects
of working in a digital fora; methods of developing material for a variety of platforms;
and new/upcoming digital material. Digital cultures in the context of this module will
also include digital art, installation (kiosk), and other innovative forms of digital
production. In particular, students will be exposed to case study’s where projects will be
de-constructed and examined in detail. This will, in part, build on Digital Natives (year 1)
and explore more advanced technical aspects of digital production (i.e. programming,
design, development, portfolio work).
A greater understanding of key technologies, such as, augmented reality, distributed
media,
multiplatform TV/media, digital media/cultures to support and improve people lives,
will
also be developed and included in this module. Some key texts, therefore, will include:
Managing Interactive Media, Digital Storytelling, The New Digital Storytelling, Making
Media and Adobe Director.
Exploration of key figures in the developing digital cultures will be examined and
explored, including: education, journalism, entertainment, commercial, engineering and
disabilities. More broadly, the societal impact will be explored (i.e. economics, politics),
as will lead theorists in the area of digital cultures.
This module aims to equip students with an in-depth understanding of digital cultures,
their impact on society, and designing an artefact that draws on the principles discussed
and developed in lectures. It does this by:
a) Identifying key characteristics of digital media production and the range of skills
required to be successful in understanding digital cultures;
b) Analysing the practical and cultural contexts in which digital media cultures are
embedded;
c) Apply theoretical frameworks and best practice in their endeavours to produce a
digital media artefact.
40
This module will aim to provide students with historical and cultural accounts of digital
cultures and digital production from a variety of contexts. Key concepts relating to
design, visual aesthetics, digital narrative, digital production and distribution will all be
covered. These aspects will then be applied in the ensuing seminars and technical labs,
where the students will work in small groups to design, implement and distribute a
digital media artifact. This will draw upon an aspect of digital culture previously debated
in lecture sessions (i.e. an education artifact, an interactive book for children, augmented
reality product building on place-making, etc.). Lectures and seminar discussions will be
supported by the use of appropriate audio and visual material and a suitable range of
background reading, with reference to additional reading and digital artifacts as may be
required. These, and additional resources to encourage debate and research both within
and outside the classroom, will be made available through the online learning
environment and in classes.
How
assessed*
On successful completion of this module a student will be able to:
1. Interpret and evaluate digital cultures across a spectrum of 1,2,3: Essay
and portfolio
industries, identifying and evaluating key characteristics;
2. Employ appropriate design and development work related to4,6: Research
their product
Presentation
3. Identify methodologies utilised in the development of cultural
4,5,6: Group
artefacts;
product and
4. Display their awareness of the origins of ideas for digital
individual
production by referencing sources of inspiration and sources essays
of content in their work;
5. Conduct and produce appropriate techniques for creating a
media rich interactive project; applying key principles of HCI
and CMC.
6. Present and evaluate work to peers at various stages of
development and provide sound justifications for decisions
made
Assessment Scheme
Weighting %
41
Summative Assessment:
1. Essay and portfolio (5000 words + the start of a portfolio of
work) Portfolio to include clear ideas for inspiration,
identifying examples of digital media, in culture, for their
proposed idea.
2. Research presentation (10-15 mins. presentation):
Group presentation conveying your ideas, approach and
proposed idea to be developed. Taking into account
methodologies, inspiration, ideas, examples, visual style,
etc. All material should be appropriately referenced.
3. Group product and individual essays (artefact + 1,500 word
evaluation):
50%
20%
30%
A final artefact that demonstrates a digital artefact that explores a
theme related to a digital culture. Aspects that will need to be
evaluated include: appropriateness, design, place in digital society,
and quality. These benchmarks should be measured by the
students against their criteria (drawing on lecture material).
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Iuppa, N. (1997). Designing Interactive Digital Media. Focal Press: USA
Doueihi, M. (2011). Digital Cultures. Harvard University Press: USA.
Nayar. P. K. (2010). The New Media and Cybercultures Anthology. WileyBlackwell: UK.
Silver, D., Massanari, A. & Jones, S. (2006). Critical Cyberculture Studies.
NYU Press: USA.
Messaris, P. & Humphreys, L. (2006). Digital Media. Peter Lang Publishing;
2nd New edition.
Alexander, B. (2001). The New Digital Storytelling: Creating Narratives with
New Media. Praeger.
Handler-Miller, C. (2009). Digital Storytelling: A creator's guide to
interactive entertainment. Focal Press; 2nd Edition: UK
Learning Resources
SELECTED DIGITAL MEDIA PROJECTS:
1. iPhone applications (i.e. “1112’)
2. Internet games
3. Educational projects
details to follow
Code
MC5016-40
Title
Everyday Media Making: Hackers, Makers and Craftivists
42
Subject area
Film and Media: Media Communications
Pathway
Media Communications: Single/Joint/Major/Minor
Level
5
Credits
40
ECTS
20
Contact time
Pre-requisites
None
Acceptable for
None
Core/Optional
Optional
Module Co-ordinator
James Newman
Description & Aims
During the previous century, the production of culture became dominated by
professional elite producers. But today, a vast array of people are making and sharing
their own ideas, videos and other creative material online, as well as engaging in real
world crafts, art projects and hands-on experiences. Accordingly, the starting point for
this module is that media making should no longer be treated as a special case or an
extraordinary activity. As David Gauntlett argues in Making is Connecting (Polity 2011),
we are seeing a shift from a ‘sit-back-and-be-told culture’ to a ‘making-and-doing
culture’. People are rejecting traditional teaching and television, and making their own
learning and entertainment instead.’
Taking inspiration from the DIY media and Maker movements, this module helps you
think beyond the typical limits of media production (video production, blogging etc).
Following the work of scholars such as Gauntlett, you are encouraged to consider how
you might harness forms and tools such as Machinima, hardware hacking, animation,
comics, Lego and knitting, in their media making. Central concerns for this module are:



demystifying the processes of production; broadening the range of tools and
creative opportunities by utilizing ‘hi-’ and ‘low-tech’ solutions
encouraging experimentation and learning through iteration, failure and
reflection
making use of everyday media making opportunities for creative interventions.
Throughout the module, you will undertake a variety of projects developing different
creative, and making skills. Projects will be negotiated and respond to student interests,
personal development plans, and contemporary social, cultural, political and economic
issues. In this way, and following the intent of the Maker movement, the module allows
you to take control of your own learning by taking ownership of projects you have not
only designed but also defined
43
Example projects and areas of activity include:




rapidly prototyping and iterating solutions to brief-led problems e.g. using
machinima for previsualisation
socially-engaged media making or ‘craftivism’ e.g. comics tackling environmental
issues;
designing innovative hardware interfaces (e.g. using Arduino/MaKey MaKey)
taking into account user experience as well as usability and accessibility
building Rube-Goldberg machines with hardware or software (e.g. Garry’s Mod,
Meccano or Lego) to explore design complexity
The module is organised around a series of lectures, workshops and Maker Lab sessions.
Lectures introduce the key topics, concepts and debates that frame and inform your
making activity – e.g. contemporary debates around socially-engaged making, craftivism,
making and connecting. By exploring examples of everyday, DIY, and experimental
media making, these sessions will begin to highlight the range of media, tools and forms
of creative expression available to you.
Workshops will feature discussion and analysis of issues raised in the lecture; review,
evaluation, and exploration of the week’s course reading material; provide space for
discussion and critique of your ongoing creative media making.
The Maker Lab sessions will give you opportunities to develop your technical and
creative skills. Simulated ‘hackathons’ will require you to creatively respond to specific
tasks in limited time with limited resources – e.g. design and build a 5-player physical
interface to control the game Rakette in 45 minutes using only the materials provided in
the room (e.g. a laptop, a bowl of fruit, tin foil, graphite pencils)
Lectures and seminar discussions will be supported by the use of appropriate audio and
visual material and a suitable range of background reading, with reference to additional
reading and digital artifacts as may be required. These, and additional resources to
encourage debate and research both within and outside the classroom, will be made
available through the online learning environment and in classes.
How assessed*
On successful completion of the module, you should be able to:
1. Critically discuss media making as a site for social, cultural,
political engagement
2. Interpret creative and technical briefs
3. Effectively plan the production of original media products
4. Deliver products utilizing appropriate media making skills
and tools
5. Critically reflect on your own media making analysing your
creative decisions
6. Evaluate and offer critique on the work of others
Assessment Scheme
A2
A1 and A2
A1 and A2
A1
A2
A2
Weighting %
Formative
44
Summative
Assessment 1: Media Making Projects
Throughout the module, you will undertake a variety of media
making tasks that will require you to harness different tools and
respond in a range of creative modes.
Projects will be negotiated at the outset of the module and will be
shaped by your personal development plans and contemporary
issues. Full details of all projects and assessment criteria will be
published on the module’s Minerva VLE pages.
Some projects will be set in the form of briefs that will ask you to
interpret both creative and technical requirements (e.g. create a
promotional package for the Creative Commons organization;
design a needlessly complex interface for Pac-Man using an
Arduino’), while others will ask you to respond to themes (e.g.
‘climate change’; ‘retro’) giving you freedom to choose the form and
format of your creative response. Depending on projects, some
items might be created with limited time/resource constraints (e.g.
in the style of a ‘hackathon’ as outlined above).
Total 50 %
Total project weighting equivalent to 5000-words.
Assessment 2: Project Documentation
The documentation will be guided and shaped by the specificities of
projects but should include elements such as an ongoing
commentary detailing creative reference points and decisions;
background research; annotated illustrations; treatments; records
of peer reviews. Where appropriate, materials such as storyboards
and narrative trees should be included (equivalent 4000 words).
Total 50%
All project documentation will conclude with a 1000-word
commentary reflecting on personal and professional development
throughout the module.
Suggested essential and supplementary readings will be provided for each weekly
theme. Suggested key texts include:
Gauntlett, D. (2011) Making is Connecting: The Social Meaning of Creativity, from DIY and
Knitting to YouTube and Web 2.0, Cambridge: Polity.
Hatch, M. (2013) The Maker Movement Manifesto: Rules for Innovation in the New World
of Crafters, Hackers, and Tinkerers, McGraw-Hill.
Lowood, H. and Nitsche, M. (eds) (2011) The Machinima Reader, Cambridge, Mass: The
MIT Press.
Montfort, N. (2005) Twisty Little Passages: An Approach to Interactive Fiction,
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Montfort, N., Baudoin, P., Bell, J., Bogost, I., Douglass, J., Marino, M., Mateas, M., Reas, C.,
Sample, M. and Vawter, N. (2012) 10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10, Cambrdge,
MA: MIT Press.
45
Learning Resources
Module Reading and Resource Pack.
FMP department labs, hardware and software resources: e.g. AV production
software; MaKey MaKey hardware, TWINE interactive fiction authoring software. Pens,
pencils, Lego bricks, fruit, wool.
Minerva VLE: Lecture materials; reading lists; links to external resources; links to
online journals.
Library: Multiple copies of relevant books; hard copies of journals including
Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies; New
Media and Society; Media History; Critical Studies in Media Communication.
Code
MC5002-20
Title
Music Cultures, Media and Markets
Subject area
Pathway
Level
2
Credits
20
ECTS
10
Contact time
Pre-requisites
None
Acceptable for
Elective in UGMS
None
Core/Optional
Optional
Module Co-ordinator
Andy R. Brown
Description & Aims
Music Cultures, Media and Markets looks at the music industry as an economic, cultural,
commercial and mediated set of interactions. The music industry is a major commercial
and cultural player in the global media environment, connecting with customers, fans and
listeners every second of the day via radio, music television, download and CD sales and
mobile (MP3 and car radio) and stationary modes of listening (CD, DVD, PC and TV). This
module traces the relationships between global, national and local production,
composition, recording and distribution of the music text; how it is communicated,
interpreted and consumed. It also asks why recorded popular music and its modes of
distribution and exhibition have been subject to so much cultural commentary and
controversy over issues such as commercialism, taste and talent, youth culture, style,
46
politics and social change.
Overall the module will offer an account of popular music as ‘produced’ by a conflux of
structural, cultural and economic forces and factors, including industries, institutions,
medias, markets and consumers, identity and explain a comprehensive range of concepts
necessary to the building of various theoretical, historical and comparative models and
frameworks in the study of popular music and media industries, and help you to develop a
critical understanding of how methods of evidence collecting, critical comparison and
theory testing can deepen and enrich understanding of particular aspects of the study of
popular music cultures and media industries.
The module is delivered through a combination of lectures and seminars that are
structured around key themes in the exploration of popular music, including history,
industry, production, mediation, consumption, subculture, globalization and the
impact of new media technologies.
Seminar and workshop sessions will involve: Small group-based activities designed to
clarify concepts, to build analytical understanding and to apply ideas to different forms of
evidence, from media sources, samples and data, to writing and sound recordings. The
review, evaluation, and exploration of the week’s course reading material; class and group
analysis of popular music sound and video samples, images, music journalism and
broadcast materials, recorded performance and
events, etc. Class and group debate of popular music media related issues and examples
How assessed*
On successful completion of this module you should be able to:
1. Demonstrate knowledge of two or more case studies of popular
music and their social and institutional history.
2. Identify at least two competing perspectives on popular music
culture and media, including key concepts and terms, types of
analysis and organising theories.
3. Apply a range of conceptual theories to a selection of empirical
materials and provide a verbal and/or written account of their
‘fit’ or lack of ‘fit’ with such materials.
4. Evaluate the merits of at least two kinds of approaches to popular
music cultures and media through a demonstration of the
integration of theory, method and application in the formation of
key topics covered by the module.
5. Analyse and communicate complex ideas effectively through
written and other forms.
1, 2, 3.
Critical
Investigation
1, 2, 3, 4.
Essay/Media
Report
5.
Essay/Media
Report
6.
Individual and
group formative
assessment
6. Critically reflect on your learning and research methods both
Assessment Scheme
Weighting %
Summative
Critical investigation of a published ‘popular music history’
(selected from the prescribed list or by agreement with tutor)
50%
47
(2500wds)
Essay selected from course titles or Media Report option
(2500wds)
Formative
While all feedback on summative work should be
understood as providing formative support,
workshops will include opportunities for peer
reflection on the research process. Where specific
learning requirements are identified, formative
assessment activities will be developed to meet those
needs.
50%
Wall, T. (2003) Studying Popular Music Culture. London: Arnold
Longhurst, B. (2007) Popular Music and Society. 2nd Edition. Oxford: Polity.
Bennett, A., Shank, B., and Toynbee, J. eds. (2005) The Popular Music Studies Reader.
London: Routledge.
Cateforis, T. ed. (2007) The Rock History Reader. London: Routledge.
Learning Resources
Minerva VLE: Lecture materials; reading lists; links to external resources; links to online
journals.
Code
MC5003-20
Title
Journalism and Citizenship
Subject area
Pathway
Single, Joint, Major, Minor
Level
5
Credits
20
ECTS
10
Contact time
Pre-requisites
None
Acceptable for
Elective in UGMS
None
Core/Optional
Optional
48
Module Co-ordinator
Andy Brown
Description & Aims
This module explores questions of journalism and citizenship across a range of topics and
engages with the multiple ways through which news and information are framed. You will
develop an understanding of the ways in which news and information are constructed and
contested, and be able to debate contemporary issues of citizenship and political
communications.
This module explores different forms of journalism and how these intersect with questions
of politics and citizenship, through lectures, seminars and student-led workshops. This
module opens with broad questions on democracy and the mediation of information. The
following block explores journalism, news and political processes. Specific topics include:
changing understandings of journalism, investigative journalism, spin and the packaging of
politics, the blurring between newspaper sources and public relations, party politics,
public opinion, and the use of online technologies in the ‘democratisation’ of politics.
The second block opens by questioning the construction and contestation of citizenship.
Tensions across professional news and citizen journalism will be identified and case
studies exploring the contributions of bloggers to coverage on a diversity of events will
examined. Following this contextual overview, the research journal assessment will be
introduced. Drawing on contemporary coverage from diverse sources (newspapers, blogs),
the research journal will focus on specific topics (such as war, terrorism, protest
movements, moral panics, environmental issues) and explore their mediation.
The research journal will also be a vital resource for the student-led seminars. For this
assessment, each specific topic identified for the research journal will be the basis for a
seminar that you will organise and facilitate as part of a group.
How assessed*
1, 2.
Essay
1. Describe and analyse diverse forms of news
production and the intersections of journalism and
political processes.
2. Evaluate academic literature on and apply it to the
study of news discourse across a range of relevant
case studies.
3. Produce a research journal synthesising news
discourse on course topics and relevant course
49
2, 3.
Research Journal
4.
Workshops
readings.
4. Facilitate seminar workshops as part of group.
5.
Essay/Workshops
5. Analyse and communicate complex ideas
effectively through written and other forms.
6.
Individual and
group formative
assessment
Assessment Scheme
Weighting %
Summative
Essay (1,250 words)
25%
Research journal (2,500 words)
50%
Student-led workshops
25%
Formative
All feedback on summative work should be understood as providing
formative support. Structured feedback sessions will be built into
your learning to allow reflection on each element of assessment.
Where specific needs are identified, formative assessment activities
will be included to support your learning. Formative assessment
specific to the seminar workshops includes discussing the
organisation of teaching sessions and the preparation of related
discussion materials.
Specific readings will be stated. The following are relevant for this module:
Allan, S. ed. (2005) Journalism: Critical Issues. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Allan, S. (2006) Online News. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Atton, C., and Hamilton, J.F. (2008) Alternative Journalism. London: Sage.
Lewis, J., Inthorn, S. and Wahl-Jorgensen, K. (2005) Citizens or Consumers? Maidenhead:
Open University Press.
McNair, B. (2007) An Introduction to Political Communication. 4th Edition. London:
Routledge.
50
Learning Resources
Minerva VLE: Lecture materials; reading lists; research databases (e.g. NewsBank and
MediaTel); links to external resources; links to online journals.
Code
MC5004-20
Title
Television, Representation and Gender
Subject areas
Media Communications, Film and Screen Studies
Pathway
Level
5
Credits
20
ECTS
10
Contact time
Pre-requisites
None
Acceptable for
Elective in UGMS
None
Core/Optional
Optional
Module Co-ordinator
Rebecca Feasey
Description & Aims
Television, Representation and Gender aims to provide you with the opportunity to study
the key debates surrounding the representation of gender on the small screen. The
syllabus will begin by identifying a range of dominant gender roles and sex role
stereotypes as they appear in contemporary popular programming, and ask you to
consider the ways in which they can be understood in relation to wider debates about
feminism, femininity and the much touted crisis of masculinity. It will go on to explore
the representation of girl power in children’s animation before looking at critical writing
on the portrayal of sex, romance, domesticity and cosmetic surgery on television. The
module will conclude by investigating depictions of male friendship, sporting
masculinity and fatherhood in television texts. Television, Representation and Gender
will identify a range of debates and encourage you to evaluate the strengths and
weaknesses of such literature in relation to a range of contemporary popular texts. The
assessments will test your ability to analyse extant literature in the field, your skills in
applying such work to relevant television texts and your capacity to communicate your
51
ideas effectively in a range of written and verbal formats.
Television, Representation and Gender will cover a number of key debates relating to the
representation of gender in contemporary television programming, with each debate
being introduced in a formal lecture and then challenged, considered and reconsidered
in the ensuing seminar. Each debate will require looking at the relevant lecture slides,
the essential reading, a range of further readings as outlined in the module handbook
and the introduction of relevant extra materials. The Minerva site for the module will act
as a research centre and will contain both weekly support materials (lecture slides,
further reading, links etc.) and broader research materials such as links to academic
journal articles, feminist texts and radical men’s magazines.
How assessed*
1. Identify appropriate academic and popular media research
material.
1, 2, 3, 4.
Essay
2. Critically evaluate published academic writing on television,
representation and gender.
3. Apply different periods of feminist debate to specific
television texts.
4. Apply extant literature concerning the sociology of
masculinity to a range of popular programmes.
5. Analyse and communicate complex ideas effectively
through written and other forms.
6. Critically reflect on your learning and research methods
both individually and, where appropriate, as a collective
process.
Assessment Scheme
1, 2, 5, 6.
Research Project
Individual and
group formative
assessment
Weighting %
Summative
Essay (2,500 words)
50%
Research Project
50%
Formative
52
Arthurs, J. (2004) Television and Sexuality: Regulation and the Politics of Taste.
Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Brunsdon, C., and Spigel, L. eds. (2007) Feminist Television Criticism. Maidenhead: Open
University Press.
Feasey, R. (2012) From Happy Homemaker to Desperate Housewives: Motherhood and
Popular Television. London: Anthem
Feasey, R. (2008) Masculinity and Popular Television, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University
Press.
Rosalind, G. (2006) Gender and the Media, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Johnson, M. ed. (2007) Third Wave Feminism and Television: Jane Puts It in a Box.
London: I.B. Tauris.
The F-Word: http://www.thefword.org.uk/
Achillesheel: http://www.achillesheel.freeuk.com/
The Scholar & Feminist Online: http://www.barnard.edu/sfonline/blogs/
Learning Resources
Code
MC5005-20
Title
Stardom and Celebrity
Subject areas
Pathway
Level
5
Credits
20
ECTS
10
Contact time
Pre-requisites
None
53
Acceptable for
Elective in UGMS
None
Core/Optional
Optional
Module Co-ordinator
Rebecca Feasey
Description & Aims
Stardom and Celebrity aims to provide you with the opportunity to study the key debates
in the field of academic star studies and celebrity culture from a number of critical
perspectives. The syllabus will begin by identifying changes in the notions of fame,
renown and recognition from the emergence of the star system through to the
contemporary culture of celebrity, and ask you to consider the ways in which such
changes can be understood in relation to wider academic debates concerning class,
gender, performance and cultural value. It will go on to explore the notion of synergy
and the cross-over star, before looking at critical writing on images, branding and the
celebrity commodity. The module will conclude by investigating both the production
and reception of celebrity reporting. Stardom and Celebrity will identify a range of
contemporary debates and encourage you to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of
such literature in relation to a range of relevant case studies. The assessments will test
your ability to analyse extant literature in the field, your skills in applying such work to
relevant star texts and your capacity to communicate your ideas effectively in a range of
written and verbal formats.
Stardom and Celebrity will cover a number of key debates concerning the changing
nature of fame in both the British and American context, with each debate being
introduced in a formal lecture and then challenged, considered and reconsidered in the
ensuing seminar. Each debate will require looking at the relevant lecture slides, the
essential reading, a range of further readings as outlined in the module handbook and
the introduction of relevant extra materials. The Minerva site for the module will act as a
research centre and will contain both weekly support materials (lecture slides, further
reading, links etc.) and broader research materials such as links to academic journal
articles, celebrity gossip blogs, film review sites and star biographies.
How assessed*
1, 2, 3, 5.
1.
Identify appropriate academic and popular media research
material.
2.
Apply appropriate theoretical ideas, debates and concepts to
specific film stars and celebrity case studies.
3.
Critically evaluate published academic writing on film
stardom and the contemporary culture of celebrity.
4.
Critically evaluate the production and reception of celebrity
reporting.
5.
Analyse and communicate complex ideas effectively through
written and other forms.
6.
Critically reflect on your learning and research methods both
54
Essay
1, 3, 4, 6.
Research Project
1, 3, 5, 6.
Research Project
6.
Assessment Scheme
Individual and
group formative
assessment
Weighting %
Summative
Essay (2,500 words)
Research Project
50%
50%
Formative
Your module portfolio will entail both an assessed item, but also an
opportunity for formative reflection.
Evans, J., and Hesmondhalgh, D. eds. (2005) Understanding Media: Inside Celebrity.
Holmes, S., and Redmond, S. eds. (2006) Framing Celebrity. London: Routledge
Holmes, S, and Redmond, S. eds. (2006) Stardom and Celebrity: A Reader. London: Sage
Marshall, D. ed. (2006) The Celebrity Culture Reader. London: Routledge
Pringle, H. (2004) Celebrity Sells. London: John Wiley.
heatworld: http://www.heatworld.com/
PerezHilton.com: http://perezhilton.com/
Celebrity Studies: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/rcel
Learning Resources
55
Level 6 Modules
56
Code
MC6001
Title
Dissertation
Subject area
Pathway
Level
6
Credits
40
ECTS
20
Contact time
Workshops and Individual Tutorials
Pre-requisites
Acceptable for
MC5001-40 Media Power and Audiences
None
As Listed by UGMS
Core/Optional
Core (Single)
Module Co-ordinator
Andy R. Brown
Description & Aims
The Media Communications Dissertation represents an exciting opportunity for you to
originate, develop, and bring to successful completion a study of your own choosing within
the field of Media Communications research and scholarship.
The design of the module means that during semester one you will receive the benefit of a
number of taught sessions and workshops on aspects of theory, method and research,
leading to the presentation of your research proposal and supporting folder in assessment
weeks 12-14.
In the second part of the module you will go on to conduct your investigation, working in
liaison with your assigned tutor, who will guide your through the stages leading up to the
analysis and presentation of your findings and the writing-up of your final dissertation
document.
All students taking the module will therefore receive appropriate support and guidance at
every stage. However, the Dissertation that you develop and research will be wholly
owned by you and therefore offers the opportunity for the
demonstration of your individual motivation, time management, problem solving,
ingenuity and originality. Therefore, depending on the effort that you put into it, your
dissertation thesis can demonstrate that you have achieved a high level of understanding
and academic excellence in a selected aspect of the field of Media Communications enquiry.
The module aims to enable students to develop empirical knowledge of the structures,
57
processes and impacts of Media Communications in the contemporary media economy;
encourage students to approach Media Communications as interrelated and contextualised
‘moments’ of media production, media representation and media reception. To promote an
understanding of Media Communications as an interdisciplinary field that makes use of
different – often
contending - theoretical approaches and methodologies; equip students to critically engage
with published Media Communications studies and to conduct applied analyses of their
own.
Finally, to develop the skills and competencies that can enable students to progress to:
postgraduate study in the subject area of Media Communications and its cognate areas
and/or to pursue successfully courses of graduate training and/or to enter the world of
graduate employment and to promote/enhance skills for life-long learning.
The module will be delivered via a combination of taught sessions, workshops and
individual tutorial supervision, according to the following schedule.
Part One: Workshop Sessions Overview
Weeks 1and 2: The Research Process: An overview




Receive Handbooks and Research Proposal Form (via e-mail accounts and
Minerva)
Allocation to Research groups by Topic Supervisor
Supervisors guide individual students through initial stages and agree research
plan (hypothesis or research question + initial reading list).
Dissertation Module co-ordinator files all proposals and posts list of topics on Dept.
notice board and Minerva.
Week 3: Using Concepts and Theories
Week 6: Using Methods 1: Researching People
Week 7: Using Methods 2: Researching Texts
Week 10: Putting Your Research Presentation Together
Weeks 11-15: Individual Presentations
Part Two: Dissertation and Supervision
Week 16: Overview of Researching and Writing Up Your Dissertation
Week 20: Analysis and Presentation of Findings
Week 24: Problem Solving and Advice Sessions
Week 26: Presenting your Dissertation
Week 28: Submission of two hard copies and Electronic Version via Minerva TurnItIn.
How assessed*
58
On completion of this module you should be able to:
1. Show evidence of having conceived, designed and
conducted a research project into an area
appropriate to the study of Media Communications.
2. Demonstrate an awareness of relevant Media
Communications literature and debates in relation to
a chosen topic of inquiry.
1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 10.
Presentation and
Folder
1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 10.
Written
Dissertation
3. Critically engage with relevant theoretical
frameworks and debates and demonstrate the use of
an appropriate method and awareness of
methodological issues.
4. Show evidence of having written document that
reports the stages of development of your research,
involving proposal/rationale, theory, methodology,
investigation and findings.
5. Demonstrate an awareness of academic conventions
in the presentation of the dissertation, including
clear layout and structure, use of appropriate
language and conformity to the Harvard reference
system.
6. Apply and demonstrate independent learning skills.
7. Analyse and communicate complex ideas, theories
and methodologies through written and verbal/visual
forms.
8. Demonstrate a knowledge of and experience in
personal planning of an academic and developmental
nature.
9. Critically reflect on your experience as an
independent learner and a researcher.
10. Critically reflect on the application of motivation and
responsibility in relation of the delivery of a
significant project outcome.
Assessment Scheme
Weighting %
Summative
Assessed Presentation + Research Folder
(a) Research Folder
Divided into the following sections:
a.
Research question and Rationale
b.
Concept and theory discussion
c.
Key Reading List (min. 10) + annotation (min. 2)
d.
Research Plan (how research question will be tested.)
59
25%
(b) Assessed Presentation
To successfully pass Part One of the Dissertation all students are
required to provide a 10 minute structured PowerPoint presentation
or talk based around the four (a-d) elements of their Research Folder,
which reflects their research activities in weeks 1-11. They will then
be required to respond to critical questions/observations from their
Supervisor (+ at least one other member of academic staff)
10,000 word Written Dissertation
75%
Formative
In Level 6 formative assessment is embedded in the engaged
partnership between you and your tutor. Feedback and advice will be
given to you in relation to your learning and research activities and
assessment tasks as you progress through the module.
Deacon. D., Pickering, M., Golding, P., and Murdock, G. (2007) Researching Communications.
2nd Edition. London: Edward Arnold.
Hansen, A. Cottle, S., Negrine, R., and Newbold, C. (1998) Mass Communication Research
Methods. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Hart, C. (2001) Doing A Literature Search. London: Sage
Jensen, K. B. (ed.) (2002) A Handbook of Media and Communication Research: Qualitative
and Quantitative Methodologies. London: Routledge.
Walliman, N.S.R. (2000) Your Research Project: A Step-by-Step Guide For the First-Time
Researcher. London: Sage.
Learning Resources
journals.
Code
MC6002-40
Title
Creative Enterprise Project
Subject areas
Media Communications, Film and Screen Studies, Cultural
Studies, Creative Studies
Pathway
Level
6
60
Credits
40
Contact time
Variable
Pre-requisites
MC5001-40 Media Power and Audiences
Acceptable for
None
None
Core/Optional
Optional
Module Co-ordinator
Mimi Thebo, Department of Creative writing and Publishing
Description & Aims
This is a module in which students take their subject knowledge into the wider world in
student-led projects. The students are supported to:
 Investigate the context in which you will be working,
 Find your own planning methods,
 Use the planning methods to plan and manage your projects (including cost/income
projections),
 Execute your projects,
 Capture your work into assessable artefacts.
The module will use a mixture of lectures, workshops, individual tutorials and group or
individual active learning.
How assessed
1.
2.
On completion of each section of the module you will
be able to:
1. An awareness of the range of issues necessary to
consider when planning and carrying out a project.
2. The ability to demonstrate that awareness in the form
of analysis and research.
3. A practical and analytical grasp of the methodology,
social context and the organisational politics of
project management.
61
1, 2, 7
Planning Portfolio
6, 8, 10
Presentation-Pitch
3, 4, 5, 9
4. The ability to identify their own training needs.
Project
5. The confidence and direction necessary to carry out a
project successfully.
6. The understanding of how to present their project
plans and progress to others in an attractive,
convincing and entertaining manner.
7. An ability to contextualise their subject knowledge
through practical contact with the creative/cultural
industries and commissioning contexts.
8. The ability to develop presentational skills to pitch
ideas to tutors, creative business employers.
9. Ability to adapt an idea to the demands of
circumstance, and how to deal with setbacks.
10. An ability to work effectively as a member of a
team, both in class and group work and in
professional settings.
Assessment Scheme
Weighting %
Summative
Planning Portfolio
25%
Presentation-Pitch
25%
Project Submission
50%
Formative
will be included to support your learning. Your Planning Portfolio
and Presentation will be subject to informal and supportive peer
review. Your Project submission will entail both an assessed item,
but also an opportunity for formative reflection.
Set text:
Parrish, D. (2007) T-shirts and Suits: A Guide to the Business of Creativity. Liverpool:
Merseyside, ACME.
Students will also be asked to use texts on Project Management from a wide variety of
titles available in the Newton Park Library. Three indicative texts are below:
62
Schwalbe, K. (2005) Introduction to Project Management. London: Thomson Course
Technology.
Bowdin, G. (2006) Project Management. London: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Baguley, P. (2003) Teach Yourself Project Management. London: Teach Yourself
Learning Resources
Minerva VLE: Workshop materials; reading lists; links to external resources.
Library: Multiple copies of relevant books and periodicals.
Code
MC6003-20
Title
Media Technologies and Change
Subject area
Pathway
Level
6
Credits
20
ECTS
10
Contact time
39 (2 hours per week for 20 weeks plus 6 weeks tutordirected research time)
Pre-requisites
None
Acceptable for
Elective in UGMS
None
Core/Optional
Optional
Module Co-ordinator
Stephen Manley
Description & Aims
Media Technologies and Change responds to the fact that we are living in an era in which
technological change seems to be accelerating at an astonishing rate. The module invites
you to think seriously about some of the many issues that are thrown up by the arrival of
new communication technologies and their impact on our lives. It explores the historical
development of a range of these technologies and their possible impacts – for better or
worse - upon society, culture and global relations. ‘Traditional’ societies were
characterised by oral communications and the development of literacy was restricted to
elite groups. Modern industrial societies have been identified with the development of
technologies of print, film and broadcasting / entertainment aimed at the ‘masses’. Now
the advent of computers, digitalisation and cable and satellite delivery systems has
63
increased the quantity, velocity and formal characteristics of ‘information’ to the extent
that it is said that we are now in a ‘third age’.
To enable you to understand, contextualise and critically evaluate the nature and ‘effect’ of
these historical / cultural / technical transformations, the module will
explore critical and methodological approaches to its theorisation. We will look at:
‘medium theories’; ‘technological determinism’ v ‘social shaping’ explanations for the
development of new communications technologies; the potential of technologies to enable,
democratise, inform and entertain in a vibrantly democratic ‘public sphere’, or conversely
to impoverish and ‘dumb down’ culture; to ‘collapse’ time and space; to systematically
monitor and control society through systems of surveillance; the significance of the
‘convergence’ of previously disparate media forms; culture(s) of home-based leisure and
consumption - an individualised and ‘private sphere’ of existence in an increasingly
globalised world.
As well as engaging with often abstract theoretical models, the course looks at specific
media practices (these may include film making / photography / music production); the
histories of particular technological forms, and at the ways in which users actually engage
with technologies. We therefore look at empirical approaches, which strive to offer an
understanding of the interface between user and technology and changing patterns of
consumption.
The module is organised around a series of 2 hour lecture / workshops. Lectures introduce
the module’s main topics, concepts and debates. These overarching themes will provide
contextual and analytical frameworks, which can be explored and applied to the analysis of
a range of media technologies. Seminar / workshops will feature discussion and analysis of
issues raised in the lecture; review, evaluation, and exploration of the week’s course
reading material; and delivery of student presentations.
How assessed*
On successful completion of the module, you should be able to:
1. Evaluate technological developments and media practice in
relation to theoretical perspectives on the nature and impact
of a range of technologies.
2. Conceptualise media communication technologies and
their deployment in cultural practices in relation to
broader socio-historical processes.
1, 2, 3.
Essay
2, 4, 5, 6.
Presentation
3. Communicate complex ideas effectively through written
work.
4. Conduct an independent research project into a media
format.
5. Organise and present the results of research in the form
of a case study of a particular media format.
6. Communicate complex ideas effectively through a
seminar presentation.
Assessment Scheme
Weighting %
64
Summative
Essay (3,750 words)
75 %
Presentation (1,250 word script and slides).
Students will undertake research into a media technology format (a
contemporary, historical or even obsolete ‘gadget’) and offer an
individual presentation which contextualises it by deploying a
theoretical model, which the course has engaged with.
25%
Formative
providing formative support. Structured feedback sessions will
be built into your learning to allow reflection on each element
of assessment. Where specific needs are identified, formative
Suggested readings will be provided for each weekly theme and a core reading pack will be
made available. However, general introductions can be found in the following books:
Lax, S. (2009) Media and Communication Technologies. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Van Loon, J. (2008) Media Technology: Critical Perspectives. Maidenhead: McGrawHill/Open University Press.
Lievrouw, L. et al. (2006) The Handbook of New Media. London: Sage.
Berker, T. et al. eds. (2006) Domestication of Media and Technology. Maidenhead: Open
University Press.
Winston, B. (1998) Media Technology and Society: A History: From the Printing Press to the
Superhighway. London: Routledge.
Learning Resources
Module Reading Pack.
journals.
Library: Multiple copies of relevant books; hard copies of journals including Convergence:
The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies;
New Media and Society; Media History; Critical Studies in Media Communication.
65
Code
MC6005-20
Title
Videogames
Subject areas
Film and Screen Studies, Media Communications
Pathway
Level
6
Credits
20
Contact time
Pre-requisites
39 hours (2 hours per week for 20 weeks plus 6 weeks
tutor-directed research time)
None
Acceptable for
Elective in the UGMS
None
Core/Optional
Optional
Module Co-ordinator
James Newman
Description & Aims
Wired Up will encourage you to unpack what they, the contemporary audience, and the
community of game studies scholars understands by computer and videogames and
‘interactive entertainment’. This interrogation will offer opportunities for you to explore a
range of issues including for example, ‘interactive’ and ‘ergodic’ structures, playercharacter-gameworld relationships, configurative performance and performativity, and
representations both within and surrounding computer and videogame products. In
covering a range of approaches, the module will encourage you to scrutinise videogames
via the concepts of play, audience and fandom, as well as considering them as products of
an increasingly formalised and integrated global industry. You will engage with a variety of
sources including academic game studies, mainstream and specialist press, and the
critiques and commentaries of industry and practitioner communities.
The module aims to provide opportunities to draw upon and critique your personal
experiences of computer and videogames; explore the industry and its products;
encourage first-hand participation and engagement with the object of study so as to
further the application of critical theoretical perspectives; equip you with an empirical
grounding often lacking in extant approaches to the study of computer and videogames;
and enable you write critically about videogames for a variety of
audiences
The module is split into three main content blocks. The first deals with definitional issues
and explores the complexities and contours of ‘videogame’, ‘video game’, ‘interactive
narrative’ and ‘computer game’ as well as investigating the emergence and expansion of
the global development and publishing industries. Block two deals with the videogame
both as text and as simulation. Lectures and seminars will examine game structures,
aesthetics, representation, narrative and the configurative performances of play that
66
reshape the game in real-time. In exploring this range of issues, you are encouraged to
consider both narrativist and ludological approaches to game studies and to contrast and
synthesise the perspectives of a range of scholars in relation to specific case studies. The
module’s final content block examines players as audiences and, in particular, explores the
mainstreaming of the activities and practices of fandom into the fabric of gameplay. By
examining the textual production of fans including walkthroughs, FAQs, superplay and
speed runs, you gain insight into the cultures of play and playfulness that surround and
support video gaming.
How assessed*





Critically discern the distinctive forms and qualities of a range
of computer and videogames. Critically locate videogames and practices of play in their
contexts Analyse popular and taken-for-granted assumptions and
discourses relating to computer and videogames and their
use. Critical analyse the issues surrounding the preservation of
videogames as complex digital objects Write about videogames in a variety of modes suitable for
different audiences.
Writing Portfolio
1, 3, 5
OHF
1, 2, 4, 5
Assessment Scheme
Weighting %
Summative
1. Videogame Writing Portfolio
50%
2. Object History File entry for ‘The National Videogame Archive’. OHF
should include, for example, catalogue entry, background research
and commentary on the significance, history, influence and impact of
the object.
50%
Formative
will be included to support your learning.
Clarke, A. and Mitchell, G. eds. (2007) Videogames and Art. Bristol: Intellect Books.
Consalvo, M. (2007) Cheating: Gaining Advantage in Videogames. Cambridge, MA: MIT
Press.
Dovey, J. and Kennedy, H.W. (2006) Game Cultures: Computer Games as New Media,
Newman, J. (2008) Playing with Videogames.London: Routledge.
Newman, J. (2004) Videogames. London: Routledge.
Indicative Online Resources
67
Digital Games Research Association
http://www.digra.org/
Game Studies: the international journal of computer game studies
http://gamestudies.org
Game Research
http://www.game-research.com/
Games and Culture
http://gac.sagepub.com/
Eludamos. Journal for Computer Game Culture
http://www.eludamos.org/
ELSPA (Entertainment and Leisure Software Producers Association)
http://www.elspa.com/
ESA (Entertainment Software association)
http://www.theesa.com/
TIGA
http://www.tiga.org/
GameFAQs
http://www.gamefaqs.com/
Ludology.org
http://www.ludology.org/
The National Videogame Archive
http://www.nationalvideogamearchive.org
Learning Resources
resources; links to online journals; online collaboration resources for sharing materials.
Library: Multiple copies of relevant books; hard copies of appropriate journals.
Code
MC6006-20
Title
Popular Music Journalism
Subject area
Pathway
Level
6
Credits
20
Contact time
Pre-requisites
None
Acceptable for
Elective in UGMS
None
Core/Optional
Optional
68
Module Co-ordinator
Andy R. Brown
Description & Aims
Popular Music Journalism examines classic and contemporary music journalism and its
changing relationship to the music industry, the consumer lifestyle and specialist magazine
sector, and broad and narrow cast media: from chart to niche radio formats, video rotation
channels and music TV, social networking and video-posting sites, net based fans sites and
blogs. It traces the rise of critical rock journalism and the personality music journalist and
culture critic - from the underground press to Rolling Stone - to its heyday in the
phenomena of the UK ‘inkies’: Melody Maker, Sounds and New Musical Express and the
celebrated writings of rock mavericks, such as Nick Kent and Charles Shar Murray, the
punk sensibility of Julie Burchill and Tony Parsons or the self-conscious, post-modernist
word-play of Paul Morley and Simon Reynolds.
The post-rock era has not only seen the rise of a diverse range of music genres and youth
movements – from grunge, metal, hip-hop and rap, r&b and new pop, dance and
electronica – but also the transition to a diversified music press, organised around
particular niche defined music markets and consumers (Q, Mix-Mag, Vibe, Kerrang, Mojo,
etc.) and linked to a range of multi-media platforms, backed by big media players, such as
Bauer, IPC and Future publishing. The module offers students an up to date survey of this
changed music journalism landscape and asks whether the rise of niche markets, house
styles and tabloid formats, signal –as some claim - a transition from cultural criticism to
consumer guidance and a consequent loss of autonomy and critical authority of the music
journalist?
The design of the module allows students a range of ways to investigate, write about and
critical assess popular music and the popular music writing ‘industry’, from: classical
styles of ‘rock journalism’ to the pastiche of post-rock writing and
publishing, including editorials, topical feature writing, album and live reviews to
consumer guides, blogs and the use of social networking and other net-based sites as
forms of music promotion and consumer feedback.
Popular Music Journalism will be delivered through a pattern of workshop-based sessions
that will involve a combination of teaching/group based activity and discussion/feedback
elements based around the core themes of the module. The themes are comprised of: (a)
history of popular music journalism; (b) literary and new journalism; (c) Bourdieu’s field
theory and competing sociological models; (d) examination of distinctive styles e.g. Nick
Kent; (e) case study material based on distinctive coverage, e.g. Punk and New Wave,
Grunge, Brit Pop, Indie, etc. (e) analysis of industry restructuring and conditions of
employment; (f) the tabloidisation debate applied to shift from newspaper to magazine
formats (branding, multi-media, etc.) and (g) niche consumerism and lifestyle magazines
(e.g. Mojo, Uncut, Classic Rock, Kerrang, etc.).
How assessed*
By the end of this module students should be able to:
1.
2.
3.
Outline a history of the rise, market dominance and
decline of classic rock music journalism.
Identify competing theoretical models of the formation
of the rock journalism field and its influence.
Assess the relative merits of different styles of music
69
1, 2, 3, 5.
Critical Analysis
1, 2, 3, 4.
Investigation/Presentation
4.
5.
6.
criticism and their cultural and institutional origins
Evaluate arguments about the tabloidisation of music
criticism and writing.
Offer a range of criticisms of classic and contemporary
music journalism styles.
Demonstrate a competence in the composition and/or
critique of popular music writing.
Assessment Scheme
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
Essay/Think Piece
Weighting %
Summative
Critical analysis of contemporary or classic record review
(1250 words) and Popular music publishing industry
investigation/presentation (PowerPoint and commentary)
Essay selected from course titles or contemporary
‘Think Piece’ (2,500words).
50%
50%
Formative
While all feedback on summative work should be
understood as providing formative support, workshops
will include opportunities for peer reflection on the
research process. Where specific learning requirements are
identified, formative assessment activities will be developed
to meet those needs.
Jones, S. ed. (2002) Pop Music and the Press. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Lindberg, U., Gudmundsson, G., Michelsen, M., and Weisethaunet, H. (2005) Rock Criticism
from the Beginning: Amusers, Bruisers and Cool-headed Cruisers. New York: Peter Lang.
Rolling Stone. (2007) Cover to Cover: 40 Years of Rolling Stone 1967-2007. Searchable
Digital Archive (CD-ROM Pack). New York: Bondi Digital Publishing.
Cateforis, T. ed. (2007) The Rock History Reader. London: Routledge.
Learning Resources
journals.
Code
MC6007-20
Title
Power, Pleasure and Feminist Film Criticism
Subject areas
Pathway
70
Level
6
Credits
20
ECTS
10
Contact time
Pre-requisites
None
Acceptable for
Elective in UGMS
None
Core/Optional
Optional
Module Co-ordinator
Rebecca Feasey
Description & Aims
Power, Pleasure and Feminist Film Criticism aims to provide you with the opportunity to
study the key debates in feminist film theory as they relate to notions of exhibitionism,
visual display and the spectacular body. The syllabus will begin by identifying the ways in
which Hollywood has objectified women for the male gaze and disavowed the active
female subject. It will go on to negotiate the universalism of this thesis by looking at the
ways in which more recent theorists have explored the possibility of an active,
investigating female in contemporary genre texts. The module will conclude by exploring
extant literature relating to the dialogue between the female spectator and the silver
screen. The module will identify a range of historic and contemporary debates and
encourage you to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of such literature in relation to a
range of relevant filmic examples. The assessments will test your ability to analyse extant
literature in the field, your skills in applying such work to relevant film texts and your
capacity to communicate your ideas effectively in a range of written and verbal formats.
Power, Pleasure and Feminist Film Criticism will cover a number of key debates concerning
the representation of gender in mainstream Hollywood film, with each debate being
introduced in a formal lecture and then challenged, considered and reconsidered in the
ensuing seminar. Each avenue of enquiry will require looking at the relevant lecture slides,
the essential reading, a range of further readings as outlined in the module handbook and
the introduction of relevant extra written and filmic materials. The Minerva site for the
module will act as a research centre and will contain both weekly support materials
(lecture slides, further reading, links etc.) and broader research materials such as links to
academic journal articles and film review sites.
How assessed*
1. Identify appropriate academic and filmic research material.
2. Critically discuss competing debates in the history of feminist
71
film theory from the second-wave to the post-feminist period.
3. Critically evaluate published academic writing on
representations of gender in narrative cinema.
4. Apply appropriate feminist film theories, ideas and debates to
specific mainstream Hollywood texts.
5. Communicate complex ideas effectively through seminar
Presentations.
1, 2, 3, 4.
Essay
1, 2, 3, 5, 6.
Critical Review
6. Reflect on your learning, both individually and as a collective
process.
Assessment Scheme
Weighting %
Summative
Essay (2,500 words)
75%
Critical Review
25%
Formative
will be included to support your learning.
Abbot, Stacey and Jermyn, Deborah (2008) Falling in Love Again: Romantic Comedy in
Contemporary Cinema, London: I.B. Tauris
Chaudhuri, S. ed. (2006) Feminist Film Theorists. London: Routledge.
Creed, B. (2005) Phallic Panic: Film, Horror and the Primal Uncanny. Melbourne: Melbourne
University Press.
Ferriss, S., and Young, M. (2008) Chick Flicks: Contemporary Women at the Movies. London:
Routledge.
Gabbard, Krin and Luhr, William (2008) Screening Genders, Rutgers: The State University
Press
Gronstad, Asbjorn (2008) Transfigurations: Violence, Death and Masculinity in American
Cinema, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press
Learning Resources
Module Reading Pack.
72
Library: Multiple copies of relevant books, hard copies of appropriate journals and copies
of specific film titles.
Code
MC6012-20
Title
Community Media
Subject area
Pathway
Media
Level
6
Credits
20
ECTS
10
Contact time
Pre-requisites
39 hours (2 hours per week for 20 weeks plus 6 weeks tutordirected research time
None
Acceptable for
Elective in UGMS
None
Core/Optional
Optional
Module Leader
Richard White
Description & Aims
This module explores the theory and practice of community media. You will develop an
understanding of how diverse media technologies are used in the practice of community
media-making by a range of individuals and organisations in different social and cultural
contexts. Through this module you will learn from and engage with real-world projects
and have in-depth and hands-on opportunities to see community media in action.
This module has a strong focus on outreach and application, and community media aims,
forms, and projects will be examined through: global, national, and local case studies;
workshop sessions with media practitioners; and planning and developing a community
media project.
The module opens with broad questions around the role and importance of community
and alternative media in relation to civil society, community development, fan cultures,
and social movements. Through a blend of lectures, seminars, case study workshops and
sessions with media-makers, you will develop an in-depth understanding of key aims and
established and emerging debates.
Building on this, you will be supported in developing your own project ideas. Workshops
and peer review sessions will help you situate and refine your project. In relation to the
broad aim of understanding how community media foregrounds marginal voices and
73
operates as an alternative to commercial and/or mainstream media, there is significant
scope in the issues you address and the media forms you use (for example, radio, video,
print, web, and social media).
Through group discussion and deliberation, a number of projects will be carried forward
to the development and production stage. This will require research (for example, to set
out the rationale and aims) and planning (for example, skills assessment and evaluation of
tools and platforms available) in working towards a negotiated project outcome. Projects
will be documented and evaluated, and by the end of the module you will have played a
significant part in critically analyzing and making community media.
How assessed*
1. Describe and analyse different forms of community and alternative
media.
2. Evaluate contextual material such as academic literature, case
studies, policy reports, and apply these in relation to specific projects.
3. Develop a community media project from research and planning to
production and evaluation.
4. Engage with a range of practitioners and stakeholders to position
and evaluate a community media project.
5. Communicate complex ideas effectively through written and other
forms
individually, and, where appropriate, as a collective process
Assessment Scheme
Essay
1, 2, 5, 6
Presentation
1. 2, 3, 5, 6
Portfolio
3, 4, 5, 6
Weighting %
Formative:
will be included to support your learning. Formative assessment
specific to the seminar workshops includes discussing the
organisation of teaching sessions and the preparation of related
discussion materials.
Summative:
Essay
25%
Presentation
25%
Portfolio
50%
Specific readings will be stated. The following are relevant for this module:
Coyer, K., Dowmunt, T., and Fountain, A. (2007) The Alternative Media Handbook. London:
Routledge.
Dowmunt, T. (1993) Channels of Resistance. London: British Film Institute
Howley, K. (2010) Understanding Community Media. London: SAGE.
Lievrouw, L.A. (2011) Alternative and Activist Media. Cambridge: Polity.
74
Rennie, E. (2006) Community Media: A Global Introduction. Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield
Publishers
Learning Resources
Minerva VLE: Lecture materials; reading lists; research databases (e.g. NewsBank and
Mediatel); links to external resources; links to online journals.
75

Media Communications Course Handbook

Transcription

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