BA (Hons) Media & Cultural Studies

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Full-time: 3 years
Part-time: 4 years minimum
Awarding Body: HETAC

The BA (Hons) Media & Cultural Studies is an exciting new degree that combines two increasingly popular fields of study. Cultural Studies began in Britain in the 1950s and later had an enormous impact on the United States and Europe. As a focus of study, it broke historically with elite conceptions of culture and focused, instead, on popular cultural forms and the whole life-ways of individuals in contemporary society. Cultural Studies combines elements of sociology, literary and film studies with qualitative and ethnographic research methods to allow students to critically engage with such topics as globalisation, ethnicity and race, the body, sexuality, religion and politics, to name but a few. Uniquely, this programme also allows students to engage with themes such as the origin of culture, language and violence.

The mass media, including cinema, television, radio, the printed media and the Internet have a pervasive influence on contemporary society. Consequently, Media Studies examines the global expansion of the mass media and investigates the way it shapes our understanding of world around us. The contemporary world is subject to major cultural shifts related to globalisation, the evolution of consumer culture, and the changing relationships between state and media institutions. It is precisely this rapidly evolving relationship in today’s global culture that the twinning of Media & Cultural Studies seeks to interrogate, examine and explain.

 
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Year 1

Semester 1

Introduction to Media Studies

Introduction to Media Studies

Students will be introduced to foundational critical concepts and essential methodologies used throughout the Media Studies programme. This module gives students grounding in key processes of production, text and consumption and provides a comprehensive introduction to the political, economic and cultural significance of the media, while also tracking the historical evolution of the mass media. Films and television programmes will be screened throughout the module and their analysis will form an essential part of the module.
Reading the Image: Introduction to Semiotics

Reading the Image: Introduction to Semiotics

This module introduces students to the discipline of semiotics, highlighting the significance of signs in the world around us and the symbolic nature of human communication. Students will examine the way in which the images, employed by and communicated through the media, are laden with meaning that operates in a variety of complex ways. This work will lay the groundwork for future modules, such as Social Impact of Mass Media, to be undertaken by the student. Screenings of various films and television programmes is an essential component of this module.
Qualitative Research

Qualitative Research

The aim of this module is to assist the student in developing critical understanding of a range of research methods appropriate to media and cultural studies. On completion of the module students will be able to critically evaluate cultural and media studies research methods and Apply appropriate methods for answering particular research questions in cultural and media studies.
Introduction to Cultural Studies

Introduction to Cultural Studies

In essence, cultural studies can be defined as an attempt to understand how culture functions in the modern world: how cultural productions work and how cultural identities are constructed and organised within an increasingly complex world of intermingling communities, state power, mass media and globalisation. This module identifies the key theoretical bases of cultural studies, enabling students to discuss topics such as The Marxist Tradition, Postmodernism, Formalism and Structuralism in a more informed manner.
Exploring Cultural Differences

Exploring Cultural Differences

This module will discuss basic terms, concepts, and methods required in the study of culture and cultural meanings. Intercultural, cross-cultural, historical and interdisciplinary themes that are a part of the construction of "differences" are all examined throughout the module and students are introduced to keynote research in the discipline of cultural studies, which explores and opens up the notion of cultural difference.
Culture and Violence

Culture and Violence

This module explores the origins of human violence, as well as different expressions of violence, the interpretive nature of violence in terms of cultural and ideological symbolism. Popular culture in many guises – cinema, literature, art and music, will be investigated as vehicles for violent expression in culture. Geographic focus will range from Europe to South America to the Middle East and Africa, and as such regional and self-reflexive texts will be used to illustrate the various incarnations of violence in society from an insider’s point of view.

Year 2

Semester 1

The Politics of Representation I

The Politics of Representation I

Analysing media texts from diverse areas of the world, this course interrogates conventional representations of various “minorities” throughout mass media. Students will be introduced to key theories such as Feminism, construction of masculinity on screen, the representation of gender, race & ethnicity, and sexuality in film and television. Using a wide variety of texts and films, this course will enable students to understand the ideological implications of media stereotyping of minorities & key debates surrounding the issue of alternative identity construction.
Broadcasting Culture

Broadcasting Culture

This course provides students with an overview of the evolution of broadcasting in Ireland, offering an informed perspective on both the historical traits of Irish broadcasting and the current broadcasting environment in Ireland. Students will be made aware of the most significant elements of pertinent broadcasting legislation in an examination of Irish media policy, as well as tackling issues such as audience viewing habits, public service broadcasting and Irelands place in media globalisation.
Introduction to Media Production

Introduction to Media Production

This module introduces students to the practical skills involved in media production. Film, television broadcasting, radio/sound industries, web design and digital photography are just some of the potential areas covered throughout this module, as students will develop practical skills in media production such as technical/ software competency, research methods and presentational and communication skills.
Culture and Colonialism

Culture and Colonialism

Throughout this module, students will be given an overview of the history and agenda of colonialism – surveying it through a variety of media, literature photographs, histories, etc. to uncover the cultural dimensions of exploration, conquest and settlement. Irish history and the colonial legacy on this island will be studied from a cultural studies perspective. The student will come to have an understanding of key texts on colonial history, literature and culture, Europe’s colonial heritage and Ireland’s colonial status.
Culture & the Body

Culture & the Body

This module is designed to introduce the student to historic and current theoretical debates in relation to critical and phenomenological accounts of the human body cross-culturally. In particular, concepts of body image, gender, neo-primitivism and fashion as expressions of bodily modification and adornment are explored. Students will survey a variety of approaches to body studies using a range of disciplinary perspectives this course will survey. Readings are drawn from anthropology, cultural studies, literary criticism, philosophy, gender studies, social history, sociology, psychology, medicine, science/technology studies, and science fiction.
Globalisation and Identity I

Globalisation and Identity I

This module acts an overview to the topic of globalisation and the theories that inform it. Students will critically engage with the notion of globalisation - exploring the origins of globalisation, defining exactly what it is and be introduced to key debates in globalisation theory and the work of key thinkers. The purpose of this module is to illuminate the notion of globalisation, as well as addressing the key issues that surround it, such as international trade, economic growth and welfare, global income inequalities, technological change and the nature of work, competitiveness, labour migration, and international debt.

Year 3

Semester 1

Media Production II

Media Production II

This module is designed to enable students to consolidate and enhance skills obtained in Introduction to Media Production. Students will be afforded the opportunity to experience the hands-on techniques and processes related to specific communications and media technologies. Areas delved into throughout this module include Advanced Web Design, News writing for radio and television, Interviewing and newsgathering and Computer-assisted reporting.
Master Class: New Media & Society

Master Class: New Media & Society

This module provides an intensive examination of the processes of production related to new media technologies and their role in specific social and cultural contexts (with particular emphasis on the indigenous Irish industry). The differences between traditional media forms and emergent, new technologies will be a constant focus throughout this module, enabling students to articulate the differences between media forms from various eras, and be able to place them in their specific socio-cultural contexts.
Current Issues in Irish Media

Current Issues in Irish Media

Focussing on current issues and concerns within the Irish media industries, this module aims to provide students with informed analysis of key issues from those working within the relevant industries, such as film, television, radio and journalism. Students will develop a thorough knowledge of the main issues pertinent to the Irish media industry - involving problems of media funding, broadcasting legislation and infrastructure, and film and TV documentary production.
Social Theory I: Classical Social Theory

Social Theory I: Classical Social Theory

The purpose of this module is to introduce students to the classic literature on social theory that has underpinned cultural studies. Students will become acquainted with Marxism, sociological readings of capitalism, and the work of the Frankfurt School. Trends and debates in Social Theory will be explored during the semester and students will engage personally and critically in theoretical discourse at a scholarly level.
Culture, Gender & Sexuality

Culture, Gender & Sexuality

In this module, students will be introduced to a range of related and complementary fields of inquiry variously described as women’s studies, gender studies, feminist theory and queer theory, among others. Students will explore some of the many ways in which gender has operated and continues to operate as a central—and contested—way of defining and understanding people and societies, enabling students to identify and participate in the key debates surrounding gender studies discourse.
Culture, Politics and Power

Culture, Politics and Power

This module aims to investigate political ideologies across a number of different cultures. The many ways in which culture mediates, moulds and tempers political policy will be explored throughout the module, illuminating for students the frameworks behind politics and power cross-culturally. Other areas of interest, for example, the State, nationalism, political borders (vis-à-vis cultural and geographic borders) as well as the ways in which multiculturalism via immigration transforms political agendas will al be addressed during the course of the semester.

 

Year 1

Semester 2

Media and Ireland

Media and Ireland

This module is designed to introduce students to Irish national media. The evolution of media in Ireland, through press, radio and television, over the last century will be examined. Ireland’s current media landscape and all major institutions within will be analysed to give the student a clearer understanding of Irelands media forms. Students will also be introduced to debates concerning the relationship between Ireland’s national identity and Ireland’s media output.
Social Impact of Mass Media

Social Impact of Mass Media

This module builds on key methodologies that comprised Introduction to Media Studies and exposes students to core issues surrounding the social impact of the mass media, particularly in the area of audience reception. The module is designed to illuminate to students the effect that the mass media has upon society. Students will be given a historical overview of research into the social impact of mass media, and will become aware of the key theoretical models that underpin the study of media impact. Students will become familiar with the problems associated with studying mass media and gain an understanding of the various methods used to investigate the social impact of mass media.
Visual Culture

Visual Culture

This module acts as a broad overview into how vision has come to be the most dominant of the senses. We will examine how history and convention has altered the way we look at the world - from perspective in the Renaissance world to sculpture, painting, Television and the Internet. Students will be introduced to issues of race, gender and sexuality and come to see how these issues intersect with visual culture and media.
Music and Popular Culture

Music and Popular Culture

This module aims to explore numerous topics such as the relationship between music world and listening-viewing audience; musical styles, trends in popular music, popular performers and entertainers and what they reveal about popular culture. Students will develop a better understanding, and ability to define, popular culture and popular music and will come to understand key aspects of the workings of the Music Industry in terms of technology, mass media, representation and globalisation of sound. This course introduces students to diverse musical styles and genres while developing their ability to critically listen to, discuss, and analyse music.
Ethnicity and Racism

Ethnicity and Racism

The aim of this module is to assist the student in developing critical understanding of ethnicity and racism from the perspective of cultural studies. Students will explore the conceptual confusion around 'race'; examine case studies dealing with identity, ethnicity and the politics of diversity; the politics of multiculturalism and equality, the state’s responses to racism; and the dimensions of ethnicity as it intersects with nationalism, genocide, social movements and population movements. Students will be provided with a concise outline of the history of research on ethnicity and racism from the perspective of cultural studies. Particular attention will be given to issues of ethnic diversity and racism in Ireland.
Material Culture and Consumption

Material Culture and Consumption

This module acts as an introduction to the study of material culture and consumption, beginning with discussing basic terms, concepts and methods required for this study. Students will come to see how objects and design may be seen as a way of articulating relations of power, gender, cultural difference and belief across cultural lines and will develop the ability to articulate key critical perspectives on modern architecture, design and material culture.

Year 2

Semester 2

The Politics of Representation II

The Politics of Representation II

An extension of Politics of Representation I, this course is designed to stimulate discussion & deeper understanding of key critical concepts, methods & debates relating to the politics of representation, providing students with a platform for more in-depth examination of issues & debates raised in Politics of Representation I. In specific, it will examine later developments in Feminist film theory and Queer theory, as well as paying particular attention to the construction of “Irishness” on screen.
Local and Global Media

Local and Global Media

The effects of globalisation of the media are illuminated in this course. Students will investigate the concept of globalisation; what exactly it entails, how contentious it is and how it has shaped global media. The course will give the student an ability to articulate the position of various different views on the issue of globalisation of the media.
Media, Law & Ethics

Media, Law & Ethics

This course is designed to give students a broad overview of the regulatory and legal environment for media in Ireland and international media. Students will familiarise themselves with legal issues, pertinent to contemporary global and Irish media, such as libel, defamation and contempt of court. Throughout this course, students will become aware of the workings of the Irish Constitution and it’s relevance to all working in Irish media. Also, students will develop an awareness for, and ability to spot, the main legal issues for broadcast and print media.
Post-Colonial Literature and Theory

Post-Colonial Literature and Theory

Here, students will build on their knowledge of the history of colonialism, developed in ‘Culture and Colonialism’. In this module the student will explore the political and psychological impact of new nations grappling with their various colonial pasts, by analysing a variety of media – literature, photographs, histories, etc. of said countries. The module aims to illuminate debates about freedom and identity that continue to define nature of the human animal at the beginning of a new century. Particular attention will be given to exploring Ireland’s history as ‘post-colonial’ from a cultural studies perspective.
Culture & Religion

Culture & Religion

This module is designed to examine religion as a mode of communication that articulates people’s world-view and concepts of the supernatural. The student will come to understand religion as an ideology that supports the social order, although as a form of social consciousness it can also be used to resist a given political system. A range of topics and religious behaviour including "folk" religious practices, "practical benefits" will be discussed throughout the module.
Globalisation and Identity 2

Globalisation and Identity 2

This module aims to explore how the understanding of globalisation built in “Globalisation and Identity I” may be brought to bear on the cultural dimensions of globalisation and on identity. The module will outline the dimensions of global population movement and students will come to understand how media, finance, political power and identity circulate and inform one another. Particular attention will also be given to Ireland and the study of the effects of globalisation on this country.

Year 3

Semester 2

State Media

State Media

This module examines how specific historical, economic and political forces shape media institutions and how these factors determine the relationship between social institutions, government bodies, and the media. Particular attention will be addressed to the role of the Irish state in the media and cultural industries indigenous to this country. Theoretical claims that students encounter on this module will be further illuminated with case studies of media coverage of global events (e.g.; Gulf War, Falklands Conflict, media representation of Vietnam)
News, Journalism, Documentary

News, Journalism, Documentary

This module provides a critical overview of the history of news production in Ireland and an analysis of current affairs productions, including television and documentary. It examines in detail the processes surrounding the production of these programmes and their political motivation. While there is a strong emphasis on the Irish media industry and Irish case studies, time is also devoted to international contextualisation.
Socio-Linguistics

Socio-Linguistics

The course will introduce the students to key concepts in linguistics, and will help the students appreciate language as a social medium of communication. The particular linguistic problems to be discussed will include duality of patterning, displacement, open-endedness, stimulus-freedom, arbitrariness and linguistic iconicity, literal and metaphoric use of language; the grammatical structure of language, including syntax, gender, and number; and linguistic semantics, that is, how language produces meaning, how meaning is related to words and grammar, and to what extent language represents or constructs reality.
Social Theory II: Postmodernism

Social Theory II: Postmodernism

This module is designed to develop ideas and issues explored in Social Theory I. Key trends in the social and cultural theoretical discourse will be explored. Specifically, the module aims to discuss the introduction and spread of post-modernist theories and beyond with a view to examining the state of the discipline today, aiding the student in developing critical and conceptual tools that will enable them to engage in their own analyses.
Cultural Studies Thesis or

Cultural Studies Thesis or

This module is designed to assist the student in their preparations for their final year Thesis projects. A series of final year project seminars will be held during the first four weeks of the academic year. These support seminars will address practical research problems such as identifying and defining a workable research question. Students will then have a two-week preparation period to develop a research brief, comprising of a short report in which the student must show that initial work has begun on the project. Key areas of this report include a Topic/Title and the research approach to be used.

 

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