Communication, Media and Culture

Communication, Culture and Organisations (compulsory for single honours; alternative compulsory for combined honours)

This module focuses on the importance of communication within organisations from both an individual and company perspective. Corporate identity and culture will be examined to understand the complexity of the modern workplace. How do companies brand themselves and their employees? Do we lose a sense of identity within corporations or find ourselves through a sense of belonging to an organisation with a strong culture. This module will emphasise the positive ways to encourage better communication through an understanding of issues that cause misunderstandings and conflict and suggest ways to facilitate better intra organisational communication.

Persuasive Communication (compulsory for single honours; alternative compulsory for combined honours)

This module asks the question: what are the strategies and techniques that allow us to decode and communicate our knowledge of the world, and of ourselves, to a variety of public and professional global audiences? It answers this question by exploring the creative processes and techniques of the encoding of persuasive messages, with an emphasis on messages that are clear, attractive, well-crafted and ethical. Students will develop speaking and writing skills useful in both academic and employment contexts.

Audiences, Users and Producers (compulsory for single honours; alternative compulsory for combined honours)

The aim of this module is to address the role of the audience in mass communication, and how understanding of this has shaped approaches to research. It will examine ways in which the media audience has been conceptualised, from early reception studies, through audience ethnographies to more recent constructionist approaches. Students will consider cultural functions of the media in the contemporary world and the increasingly creative and participative role of the audience in the digital age. Students will also develop understanding of the ways in which audiences have been researched and apply their understanding of theory and method in researching their own and others’ media consumption.

Research Methods (compulsory for single and combined honours)

The aim of this module is to provide you with skills in research methods so that you are equipped to carry out small-scale research projects at university and in the world of work. You will have the opportunity to design and use various data collection methods, such as questionnaires and interviews, and will gain practical experience of data analysis techniques (both quantitative and qualitative). Consideration will be given to important methodological issues such as sampling, reliability, validity and ethics. You will also learn how to carry out a literature review, a key skill for those undertaking a dissertation in their final year.

Design for Online Communication

Designing a successful website requires specialist skills and knowledge. At its best, effective online communication combines theory, technical knowledge and creativity. This module considers issues of design, layout, usability and accessibility in the construction of contemporary websites, and examines what it takes to produce a site that is both aesthetically pleasing and easily navigable. Participants are introduced to the fundamental practical elements of web design, including HTML and CSS, and create a website of their own design using established software applications. No prior experience of web design is required.

Making News

This module looks at the theory and practice of broadcast news. In the first part of the module we look at key issues including newsworthiness, questions of balance and bias, the style and format of television news and the global news environment, including CNN and Al-Jazeera. These issues are related to practice through the analysis of television news bulletins. We also look at the emergence of online news services and citizen journalism. The second part of the module is practice-related and culminates in the opportunity to work as part of a team to produce your own news bulletin.

Language, Culture and Globalisation

This module examines the ways in which language operates in local and global contexts as a means of sociocultural representation. It pursues a sociolinguistic and discourse approach to language to analyse the representation of sociocultural phenomena and to explore the globalization of English as an international language. Topics include language and the sign, language and gender, language and politics, language and standardization, globalization discourses and linguistic imperialism.

Critical Media Literacies

How far have the media made you? Does society shape the media or vice versa? Why do people watch horror films? From consumer identities in Sex and the City to the sociology of Sci-fi, this module offers opportunities to consider how and why you respond to certain texts, to look at the relationship between the media, culture and the consumer, and to become familiar with some of the chief theorists in the field. Taught sessions will involve you in discussion of key critical ideas, and applying them in the analysis of various media texts including film, television, and the press.

Intercultural Communication

This module extends students’ understanding of themselves as intercultural 'self' and 'other'. It examines the processes involved in intercultural contact, including affective, pragmatic and cultural identity components. Students will be shown how to examine their own cultural identity from a critical 'outsider' perspective, and how to use this understanding of their cultural bias in the co-construction of intercultural exchanges and relationships in a culturally diverse world.

Culture, Gender and Sexuality

We all have a gender and a sexuality, and we all live within a cultural environment. Because of this it is all too easy to think that we are already versed in the subject matter of this module and that there is little need for rigorous academic analysis. However, the aim of this module is to encourage students to questions their existing 'common sense' understanding of terms such as gender and sexuality, and to think about the uses to which such terms are put in contemporary culture. In order to do this the module draws on insights from a diversity of disciplines including gender studies, critical theory, queer theory, and feminist criticism.

Writing Technologies

This module examines the impact of the technology of writing on individuals and society. Starting with Socrates' infamous discussion of the origins and doubtful value of writing, the module goes on to examine Marshall McLuhan's complementary analyses of preliterate societies and the profound cultural changes that are brought about by writing and print. Jacques Derrida's deconstruction of this traditional privileging of speech provides a contrasting conception of the fundamental import of writing to human and indeed nonhuman communication. Over the course of the module participants consider the philosophical, historical, cultural and political importance of different writing technologies and modes of written communication, such as handwriting, print, type, text, and hypertext.

Independent Study in Communication, Media and Culture

This module provides for individual or group work on an appropriate, carefully delineated topic, conducted under supervision and with the prior approval of the module leader.

Dissertation

In this module, you undertake independent research on a topic in Communication, Media and Culture that particularly fascinates you. You’ll have the support of an expert supervisor who will help you define a key issue and develop it into a dissertation.

Branded Communication: Collectivity and Identity

What does ‘identity’ mean in a market-driven society? To what extent do we live our lives through brands? And what happens to the values of not-for-profit organisations when they adopt branding techniques developed for businesses? 

These are the types of questions you’ll encounter in this module, which looks at how organisations manage their public images. You’ll examine the practices that support brand image, including advertising, PR and sponsorship, discussing their practical effectiveness and their social implications. You’ll also look at how globalisation has affected branded communication, and at the impacts of developments such as e-commerce and social media. Through this module you’ll develop knowledge that’s relevant in the workplace, but also leads towards a critical understanding of one of the forces that shapes our lives.

Citizen Journalism and Civic Engagement

In this module, you’ll learn about citizen journalism and civic engagement in online contexts. You’ll study the growth of participatory journalism and its changing relationship with the mainstream press. You’ll consider the role of citizen journalism in democratic processes and look at how it can encourage people to become more socially active and informed. As well as engaging with these questions, you’ll develop your skills in information-gathering, interviewing and writing as you work on your own, original piece of op-ed or investigative journalism in the form of a blog or podcast. 

Special Topics in Communication, Media and Culture

This module allows you to engage in depth with compelling current issues in Communication, Media and Culture studies. You’ll take part in student-led discussions and seminar sessions, and develop your portfolio for the research part of this course. You’ll prepare a seminar presentation, giving you the chance to hone your skills in reviewing and evaluating a set of readings and in communicating your findings.

Subject to Culture: Individuality and Identity

We all like to think that we’re unique, with our own personality and identity, beliefs and ideas.  But are we really all so different, or are we subject to a variety of cultural and social pressures that determine who we are? 

Examining a range of objects and artefacts that you and your group have chosen, you’ll consider new and challenging ways of thinking about your place in culture, and about how culture places itself in you. From masks to mind-viruses, from plagues to prisons, from cyborgs to subversive sexualities, in this double honours level module we’ll investigate how we’re all subject to culture.