• Contemporary issues in Media and Cultural Studies [MS7000]
• Knowledge and Methods in the Social Sciences [MS7001]
• Processes and Structures in Mass Communications [MS7002]
• The Study of Mass Media Audiences [MS7003]
• Research Methods and Management [MS7004]
• Research Methods and Management [MS7005]
• The International Context of Mass Communication [MS7006]
• Managing and Communicating [MS7007]
• Film as Mass Communication [MS7010]
• Global Cinema [MS7011]
• Transnational Relations and Communications [MS7022]
• Theories of Globalization and New Media [MS7023]
• Graduate Seminar: Identities and Boundaries [MS7024]
• News Management, Communication, and Social Problems [MS7027]
• Technology, Culture and Power: Global Perspectives [MS7028]
• Advertising and Cultural Consumption [MS7030]
• The Digital Economy [MS7033]
• Media, Celebrity and Fandom [MS7035]
• International Political Communication [MS7034]
• Analysing Media Outputs [MS7301]
• New Media Concepts and Theories [MS7302]
• New Media Cultures [MS7303]

Contemporary Issues In Media And Cultural Studies MS7000

This module introduces some of the key issues shaping current research in the fields of media and cultural studies.  The module focuses on key theoretical perspectives and empirical research on: the two fields of media and cultural studies; the ways in which processes of globalization and individualization shape contemporary culture; characteristics and critiques of mass, popular, consumer, and promotional cultures; and the interconnections between media representations and the construction of identity, with special focus on the body, gender, race/ethnicity, and national identity.

Processes and Structures in Mass Communications MS7002

This module explores several different perspectives on the organisation of the mass media, and suggests different frameworks for the analysis of the way such organisations operate both nationally and in an international context. It examines the relationship between social theory and the study of mass communications. The course includes a study of the history and structure of the mass media, both in Britain and internationally. It explores the impact of new media and communication technologies and it examines research into media production, the problem of creativity and control and the sociology of media occupations, including journalism.

The Study of Mass Media Audiences MS7003

This module traces the developments in models of and approaches to the study of media audiences. From early concerns about propaganda and powerful media ‘effects’, through the ‘limited effects’ paradigm to the return to notions of powerful media, the course examines such issues as media and attitude change, persuasion, campaigning, violence, political agenda-setting, socialisation, and audience uses and gratifications. The module culminates in an examination of contemporary theories of consumption and audience interpretation.

Research Methods and Management MS7004

This module introduces students to the key research methods and approaches used in the study of media and communication processes. It reviews the development of methods, examines their application to the study of media and communication, and sets out the context and background to various research and theoretical traditions. Students get an opportunity to apply selected research methods in practice, and are introduced to the use of computers in social science data analysis.

Research Methods and Management II MS7005

This module provides students with the ability to evaluate research findings, and shows in practical terms the potential and problems of different research methods. Questions of research policy, funding, organisation, design and management are discussed. A continuation of the Semester 1 module, the module involves further examination of research in practice.

Transnational Relations and Communications MS7022

This module examines globalization and communications from the perspective of changing relationships between political, economic and technological processes.  It sets out the major ways in which the state, international institutions and NGOs are part of reconfigured processes of political authority and identification.  It examines key concepts related both to these changes, and the diverse roles of technology in these and other processes of globalization.  It considers the arrival of the information age, the nature of the Internet and new forms of politics associated with it.

Theories of Globalization and New Media MS7023

This module focuses on the global expansion of capitalism, the shift from industrial to service and information economies, and the significance of the ‘cultural’ as an expanding arena of production and consumption.  It examines the rise and spread of global media conglomerates, the diffusion of new technologies of communication and the manner in which old political, cultural and social boundaries, particularly those of the nation, are being challenged by new networks of an emerging global civil society and by transnational communities.

Graduate Seminar: Identities and Boundaries MS7024

The graduate seminar and the assignment for it are focused on practical web research skills. The interactive sessions are designed to enable tutors and students to exchange perspectives on these skills and reflect on boundaries and identities in the context of globalization in the information age. The module explores multiple perspectives, which take account, for example, of questions of place, culture and gender, and the ways in which identities and boundaries are integral to critical understanding of globalization and communications. It includes discussion of how we think about the authoritative nature of different kinds of online information, and problems of reliability and validity confronted when undertaking web research, and ways of thinking about and tackling them.

Knowledge and Methods in The Social Sciences MS7001

This module introduces students to the skills and knowledge required at Master’s level in social science subjects for quantitative and qualitative research design, data collection, management and analysis. The module is taught over Semesters 1 and 2.

Managing and Communicating Research MS7007

This module provides an introduction to social science research and to provide appropriate training for the conduct of postgraduate research in professional, academic and research skills.

Analysing Media Outputs MS7301

This module will provide an overview of the key quantitative and qualitative approaches to the analysis of media output with a critical discussion of the quantitative/qualitative divide and convergence. Outputs will be grouped thematically in terms of genres, media and historical change, entertainment content, advertising, news reporting, as well as new media outputs. The most appropriate tools for analysis and interpretation of the various types of output will be examined along with the major research questions and hypotheses posed in relation to them. Classical questions will include the extent to which outputs reflect and influence 'reality', their level of objectivity and accuracy and engagement in stereotyping, and how far they can inform models of audience effects. In completing the module, students will gain an in-depth understanding of quantitative and qualitative forms of media text analysis, how to select and apply appropriate theoretical and methodological approaches to media texts, and how to construct their own study of media output.

New Media Concepts and Theories MS7302

This module offers a broad but in-depth introduction to theories of the new media. It covers approaches to understanding technology and its role in society. It explores theories such as the network society, information society and post-industrial capitalism. It compares new to mature media, and discusses concepts such as media convergence and multi-platform media. Finally, it considers the changes in everyday life introduced by the new media, and examines employment and work in the network society, as well as the role of new technologies in shaping shelves and identities. Throughout the module, students will be exposed to important and critical works, and will be encouraged to think critically about the opportunities, potential and dangers of the new media.

New Media Cultures MS7303

This module adopts an applied approach to the new media. As a practice-based follow-up to the MS7302 module, this module will examine closely the specific cultures that have developed around the new media. The module will look at changes in the practices of journalism through blogs and citizen journalism. It will cover the new and important changes in the construction of gendered and political identities in online media. In addition, the module looks as the changing patterns of production and consumption through reference to the online market, while also exploring the changing experiences of the ‘internet natives’, children and young people. It further looks at the way in which creative output has changed in an ‘age of digital reproduction’. At the same time, the new media have brought on new divisions and separations and along with them new antagonisms, which will also be explored in this module.

The International Context of Mass Communication MS7006

This module examines the international flow of media products, and the implications of such flows for cultural change in both developed and developing societies.  It traces the colonial legacies through to current debates regarding the globalization of communication. The option also critically assesses a number of approaches to international mass communication: imperialism, representations (of nations) western/non-western perspectives, development and communication rights.  Completion of the module should provide students with a critical knowledge of the key paradigms and current debates that are central to the study of international communication.

Film as Mass Communication MS7010

This module examines some of the main critical approaches to the study of film as mass communication, looking at a number of key debates and issues that have emerged in film studies over the past hundred years. Starting with an examination of the ways in which meaning is constructed and communicated in film texts through cinematic codes and conventions, the module will proceed to explore a range of selected films in relation to issues such as ideology, spectatorship, narrative, genre, star images, and film adaptation.

Global Cinema MS7011

This module examines works from different national cinemas (excluding Britain and the US) to consider how cinema is progressively both more global in its perspective and yet, contradictorily, more regional in its subject matter. Looking at films from Australia and New Zealand, the Chinese nations, Spain, South America and Africa, Global Cinema will ask if there is such a thing as National Cinema any more and address how cinema has become one of the most powerful tools of globalisation since its inception in 1895.

News Management, Communication and Social Problems MS7027

This module examines the role and dynamics of the media in the social construction and representation of a range of - often controversial - issues, problems, and events. Using theories of power, legitimisation, ideology and hegemony and drawing particularly on a constructionist approach to the analysis of media and communication, the module explores how news sources influence, manipulate, and frame media coverage, examines how journalistic practices and organisational constraints influence the selection, definition and representation of social problems, and discusses the social implications of the media coverage of controversial issues. Key areas of problem definition explored in the option include: international conflict and war reporting, terrorism, the environment, race and ethnicity, and crime.

Technology, Culture and Power: Global Perspectives MS7028

The Internet has prompted fresh thinking about the social implications of technological change. What kind of communications revolution does it herald and what are the conceptual tools we need to understand it? These are central questions addressed by the module, which examines how the interaction of technological and cultural processes helps to explain power in the global system. It explores the new realm of virtual politics and the complexities of cultural exchange in the contemporary media and services era. Assessments are linked to a broader discussion of processes of globalization and the role of technology within them.

Advertising and Cultural Consumption MS7030

This module is an opportunity to look critically at consumption and advertising. The lectures will examine various perspectives on consumption, the consumer, the market and the advertising industry.

The Digital Economy MS7033

This module examines the nature of the digital economy, its virtual characteristics, and the ways in which these reshape the communications economy as a whole. Its context is a consideration of the role of information and communications technologies (ICTs) in social transformation. It includes an examination of the Internet environment and the major players within it, including corporations, governments and key civil society actors such as NGOs. Conglomeration developments in the commercial world concentrating on multi-media capacity are discussed. The module investigates the distinctions and linkages between profit-oriented and non-profit-oriented endeavours and the new political economy of the digital age. Focus is placed on different approaches to empowerment within the digital economy and questions of autonomy, creativity and connection in relation to the use of ICTs.

International Political Communication MS7034

This option focuses on political communication in a global context. It comparatively examines the developments in political communication in so-called mature democracies and in a selection of new democracies. It highlights certain common trends and features such as political marketing, personality politics, attack journalism, party professionalisation and citizen disengagement. Overall the option seeks to provide students with an insight into the theoretical arguments and empirical research in the field of political communication.

Media, Celebrity and Fandom MS7035

This module seeks to demonstrate a critical understanding of the relationship between modernity, the development of the mass media, and the rise of celebrity culture.  It focuses on the ability to summarize and evaluate a range of key theories relating the history and development of ‘celebrity’ both as a concept and as a social practice and seeks to provide an understanding of the complex relationship between the production of media celebrities and their consumption by media fans.

Digital Journalism MS7036

This module examines the recent developments in the news industry and new media journalism. It looks at the various new forms of journalism and news outputs that have evolved out of new media, while also examining some of the transformations in the production of news within traditional news organisations. The module discusses how the role of journalism is challenged in a radically changing media environment. It further looks at the way in which digital news production impacts upon working practices and techniques as well as on the news product. Finally it examines how increased audience participation, information sharing and the emergence of alternative news sources define the new news ecology for the 21st century.