School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies: Study Abroad Modules

For more information visit the School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies website.

Autumn Semester Modules (Level Two)

Advertising and the Consumer Society         MC3457

Semester: Autumn
Length: 1 Semester
Level: 2
Credits: 20

The module intends to furnish the students with the ability to study advertisements semiotically and to make them aware of the processes involved in the construction of advertisements. The course will examine representations of race, gender and stereotype in both print and broadcasting media. Crucially, the course seeks to establish the advertising industry within global, economic, cultural and political frameworks.

Teaching Methods:
Lectures
Seminars

Assessment:
Coursework: 100%

Understanding Journalism II         MC3597

Semester: Autumn
Length: 1 Semester
Level: 2
Credits: 20

This module addresses and analyses the key traditions and theoretical approaches to the study of journalism, as well as the significant scholarly and professional debates about recent developments in journalism, - for example the shift to compact editions and the ‘dumbing down’ debate, the ‘Bollywoodisation’ of war reporting, the prominence of ‘Flat Earth News’ and the growth of citizen journalism - by posing the five questions which typically inform journalists’ inquiries when investigating and writing news stories: Who? What? Where? When? And Why?

Teaching Methods:
Lectures
Seminars

Assessment:
Coursework: 50%
Examination: 50%

Autumn Semester Modules (Level Three)

Writing With Light: Histories of Visual Media         MC3566

Semester: Autumn
Length: 1 Semester
Level: 3
Credits: 20

This module explores The early histories of photography, cinema and digital visual media, Key technological, conceptual and aesthetic developments in visual media and approaches to the analysis of visual media

Teaching Methods:
Lectures
Seminars

Assessment:
Coursework: 100%

Popular Culture         MC3577

Semester: Autumn
Length: 1 Semester
Level: 3
Credits: 20

This module focuses on some of the major themes and topics in the realms of popular culture. It introduces students to the most common examples and forms of what is taken to be popular culture, and examines the film, media, journalistic, political and academic debates associated with these examples.  The module introduces students to the forms and developments of common debates, and develops students’ knowledge of the specific contributions of media and cultural studies scholarship in these areas. In doing so, the module equips students with a developed awareness of popular cultural debates and the specificity of cultural studies orientations to popular culture.

Teaching Methods:
Lectures
Seminars

Assessment:
Coursework: 50%
Examination: 50%

Media and Gender         MC2107

Semester: Autumn
Length: 1 Semester
Level: 3
Credits: 20

This module is organised to provide a conceptual overview of feminist research approaches to the study of the media. Important theoretical and methodological issues and debates will be examined in relation to specific case studies of research that illustrate the media's role in the construction of contemporary gender relations.

Teaching Methods:
Lectures
Seminars

Assessment:
Coursework: 100%

Tele-Fictions         MC3517

Semester: Autumn
Length: 1 Semester
Level: 3
Credits: 20

This module will be focused around the key debates that have framed, and continue to frame, the study of television fiction. Key areas of focus will be how to go about analysing television and its content from an academic perspective, how institutional structures impact upon television content, the periodisation of television drama, key formal attributes such as narrative, genre and aesthetics, and the role of audiences.

Teaching Methods:
Lectures
Seminars

Assessment:
Coursework: 100%

Politics and Journalism         MC3579

Semester: Autumn
Length: 1 Semester
Level: 3
Credits: 20

The module will provide an understanding of the relationship between the mass media and the politics. It will focus on how contemporary political communications work, through examining the media’s role in democracy, and the increasingly personalised and professional nature of politics. The course will also look at a range of case studies, examining the place of scandals in politics, the increasingly close relationship between popular culture and politics, citizenship and the media, and how new technologies are affecting participation.

Teaching Methods:
Lectures
Seminars

Assessment:
Coursework: 60%
Examination: 40%

Media, Racism, Conflict         MC3593

Semester: Autumn
Length: 1 Semester
Level: 3
Credits: 20

The module will critically examine print and broadcast news media, but also current affairs and documentary programming, film and television drama in order to explore a series of questions about radicalised conflict in the media, including how boundaries are drawn between ‘legitimate’ and ‘illegitimate’ cultural identities, the role of policing and counter terrorism and the media’s role in public debates about cultural diversity, national identity and public security.

Teaching Methods:
Lectures
Seminars

Assessment:
Coursework: 100%

Reporting Science, The Environment and Heath         MC3595

Semester: Autumn
Length: 1 Semester
Level: 3
Credits: 20

This module aims to introduce, explore and analyse key issues related to how science, the environment, and health are covered in the news. Students will be introduced to key ideas and theories relating to how and why these stories are reported in the news media

Teaching Methods:
Lectures
Seminars
Workshops

Assessment:
Coursework: 100%

Journalism, New Media and the Public         MC3599

Semester: Autumn
Length: 1 Semester
Level: 3
Credits: 20

This module will explore the relationships between journalism, new media, and citizens’ political participation, following relevant academic debates. Amongst many others, the module will shed light over the following questions: Does journalism foster citizens’ political participation? Does it contribute to citizens’ alleged disenchantment with politics instead? Have new media increased citizens’ political activism? Are social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) contributing to making contemporary politics more inclusive, participatory and democratic?

Teaching Methods:
Lectures
Seminars

Assessment:
Coursework: 100%

Spring Semester Modules (Level 3)

Horror, Fantasy and the Media         MC3512

Semester: Spring
Length: 1 Semester
Level: 3
Credits: 20

This module will introduce a range of theoretical approaches to horror fictions in different media (predominantly film). It will explore the attractions of horror and the fantastic, considering horror both as a genre and as a product of social, historical and industrial forces. The module will also focus on representations of gender, sexuality and monstrosity. It will address the political and cultural functions of horror and the fantastic, examining issues of censorship and the regulation of media industries. The module will also relate generic shifts to shifts in production (e.g. low-budget 'indie' horror in New Hollywood).

Teaching Methods:
Lectures
Seminars

Assessment:
Examination: 100%

Mediating Childhood         MC3585

Semester: Spring
Length: 1 Semester
Level: 3
Credits: 20

This module considers the historically complex relationship between media and childhood in western societies. It will examine a number of longstanding debates on media and children with the aim of understanding contemporary views and responses to children’s media use, representation, production and regulation.

Teaching Methods:
Lectures
Seminars

Assessment:
Coursework: 100%

Cultural Agency: Theory and Practice         MC3587

Semester: Spring
Length: 1 Semester
Level: 3
Credits: 20

This module explores questions of cultural agency: What is agency? What are the ways that one might intervene into culture and politics? In posing these questions, the module focuses on the relations between culture and politics, examining the cultural dimensions of the political and the political dimensions of culture. It covers key contemporary theories of cultural politics, and analyses specific examples drawn from the realms of popular culture, especially since 1968.

Teaching Methods:
Lectures
Seminars

Assessment:
Coursework: 100%

Doing Media Research: Approaches and Methods         MC3551

Semester: Spring
Length: 1 Semester
Level: 3
Credits: 20

This module will provide an introduction to the theoretical principles of media research, as well as developing skills for undertaking your own research on the influence and use of media in society.  The module teaches the necessary skills for data collection and analysis, as well as for critiquing published research. It will thus provide a foundation for all second year students before you embark on third year modules which require primary research, or for those intending to write a dissertation.

Teaching Methods:
Lectures
Seminars

Assessment:
Coursework: 100%

Cult Media and Fandom         MC3511

Semester: Spring
Length: 1 Semester
Level: 3
Credits: 20

This module explores how the cult status of texts and icons is shaped and defined by producers, audiences and intermediaries, eg. niche and specialist media. It examines how cult distinctions can be theorised sociologically, and examines a range of cult media through textual analysis, focusing especially on cult film and cult icons. Introducing theoretical approaches to fandom and representations of fandom, the module explores fan activities, considering fans not just as readers or consumers, but also as tourists, users of new media, and impersonators of their favoured icons.

Teaching Methods:
Lectures
Seminars

Assessment:
Examination: 100%

Cinema and Place         MC3529

Semester: Spring
Length: 1 Semester
Level: 3
Credits: 20

This module aims to allow students with a strong interest in cinema to further develop their knowledge, research skills and analytical abilities within a specialized field of enquiry. It will not teach a prescribed set of approaches to cinema and place; instead, the module will take the form of a guided exploration of a variety of ways of thinking about constructions, functions and meanings of different environments in cinema. Students are expected to contribute their own ideas and perspectives to the subject.

Teaching Methods:
Lectures
Seminars

Assessment:
Coursework: 100%

Photographs Revisited         MC3574

Semester: Spring
Length: 1 Semester
Level: 3
Credits: 20

You are required to tell a story about a Cardiff person (or group of Cardiff people) past or present. This story will be one of your own discovering, a narrative which reveals itself to you when you explore one or more of the many photographic archives which exist in or around, this city. The module has a practical element and it also requires you to develop techniques of photographic analysis and criticism. These you will be encouraged to apply imaginatively to the photographs you choose to study.

Teaching Methods:
Lectures
Independent Study

Assessment:
Coursework: 100%

Language, Media, Manipulation         MC3581

Semester: Spring
Length: 1 Semester
Level: 3
Credits: 20

This module looks at techniques from Critical Discourse Analysis, an offshoot of linguistics, that can be used to analyse written and spoken language.  These techniques allow us to reveal how language can be used to persuade in ways that would not necessarily be detectable on a casual reading or listening.  Critical Discourse Analysis looks at the smaller details of lexical and grammatical choices in language in order to reveal what broader messages are being communicated.  

Teaching Methods:
Lectures
Seminars
Workshops

Assessment:
Coursework: 100%

Global Post-Colonial Culture         MC3598

Semester: Spring
Length: 1 Semester
Level: 3
Credits: 20

This module explores the ongoing histories and consequences of imperialism, colonialism and globalisation on the development and features of cultures everywhere. It examines the effects of colonialism and globalisation on specific cultures and societies and looks at the significance and effects of migrations, border crossings and the flows, exchanges and encounters of ideas, beliefs, practices and powers on individuals and groups in a range of contexts.

Teaching Methods:
Lectures
Seminars
Workshops

Assessment:
Coursework: 100%