MP4028 - Approaches to Media, Culture and Communication

You will learn via a variety of mechanisms. These include lectures, seminars/workshops, online activities (where appropriate) and independent learning.
Lectures will provide the contextual and theoretical information you need to understand the module’s themes and approaches. The lecturer will provide examples that will demonstrate how to apply relevant critical techniques, and to stimulate your engagement with the course material (by, for example, presenting various challenges and conflicts raised in the field).
Workshops will provide space for you to interrogate and discuss the ideas raised in the lectures, both with your peers and with the tutor. These sessions are oriented around discussion questions and activities to stimulate your engagement and will accommodate tasks related to research and writing skills and your final assessment.
Outside of the taught sessions, you will be expected to engage with module-relevant reading in preparation for the sessions. An electronic reading list is supplied via the e-Learning Portal, which will guide you towards appropriate resources, although you are encouraged to explore the wider library catalogue to engage with additional sources too. During your independent working time, it is also expected that you will apply the ideas raised in the reading and the taught content to contemporary media examples beyond those cited in the lectures.
Where appropriate, additional materials will be supplied on the eLearning Portal. These independent activities will facilitate your development as you progress through the module, laying a foundation for your assessed work.

You will be supported by the module lead; they will introduce the module at the start of the semester and offer advice and guidance throughout. Your learning is mapped out via documentation on Blackboard Ultra, the Northumbria University online electronic learning portal; this is accessible online on and off campus. The e-Learning Portal will include guidance notes and key dates to help you organise and plan your time. It will also include teaching materials, announcements and updates, and detailed information on assessment. You will have a university email that we contact you through.
We support your learning by providing on-going feedback (Formative and Summative) through the range of teaching and learning approaches offered. We ask you to submit your work electronically, and we will supply feedback via Turnitin. You will be able to compare your feedback across modules so that you can assess your development as you progress through the programme.
Formative assessment is offered throughout the module, and summative assignments will receive written feedback within 20 working days of assignment submission. Every tutor has set weekly feedback and tutorial hours, wherein you can seek advice on your academic progress.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
• KU1: You will gain a critical understanding of mass communication and culture and demonstrate this through analysis of media objects
• KU2: You will be able to account for a number of broad historical, cultural and theoretical contexts that situate both media objects and academic responses to those objects

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
• IPSA1: You will gain experience of displaying your awareness of methodological constraints and considerations that underpin academic study
• IPSA 2: You will gain experience of collaborative academic discussion, evidencing instances academic understanding

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
• You will be able to display the attitudes and skills needed to engage and work constructively, sensitively and ethically in conjunction with people from various socio-cultural backgrounds and with divergent skill-sets

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT:
To prepare you successfully to undertake the summative assessment(s) on this module, formative assessments will be set by the module team. These may take the form of in-class tasks or projects, developmental activities undertaken between classes, or learning exercises/activities set over a longer period. Feedback (written and/or oral) will be provided to help you learn from, reflect on, and develop in light of these formative assessments.

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
A single 2500-word essay worth 100% of the overall module grade.

Using a media object of your choice, analyse the extent to which it engages with one of the issues/debates taught on this module.

Your essay must include:
• A clear introduction;
• A clear argument supported by evidence (examples from scholarship, screen media analysis) throughout;
• Clearly written sentences and paragraphs;
• Adherence to the Harvard referencing system;
• A conclusion, offering a summary and identifying scope for further analysis;
• A bibliography (not included in the world count)

You will receive formative feedback from your peers and the module tutor during the seminars throughout the course, allowing you to apprehend how your critical skills are developing. You will receive a detailed commentary and a summative mark on your written work in accordance with the assessment criteria (supplied on the eLP). Under normal circumstances, you will receive written feedback on your summative submissions within 20 working days. The feedback will normally be supplied electronically as part of the ESAF process. This feedback will provide a detailed account of your skills, critical engagement and communicative ability, as well as supporting future learning by indicating areas for development. You can also request additional verbal feedback on your submissions by arranging a meeting with the module tutor.

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This module examines the relationship between media, communication and culture (broadly defined). Each week you will explore a different cultural issue or debate and assess its significance to the contemporary mediascape. Issues that may be addressed include feminism, gender, class, race – all which will be explored alongside examples from screen media and their associated industries. Approaches to Media, Communication and Culture will introduce you to how to analyse media objects in relation to significant cultural concerns and developments at undergraduate level. Throughout the module you will explore key issues in the study of media and communication alongside influential concepts and social movements. Together, we will explore what knowledge is required to contextualise and analyse “media objects”, how one selects and integrates theory into analysis, what primary and secondary sources are considered “legitimate” in academic analysis, and how these decisions are made.