GSC2411

Media, culture, power: theories of mass communications

Cathy Greenfield

8 points - Second semester - 3 hours per week (one 1-hour lecture, one 2-hour tutorial) - Gippsland and distance - Prerequisites: GSC1901, GSC1402 or equivalents or permission

Objectives On successful completion of the subject students should know where the main available ways of thinking and writing about mass communications media come from and why they matter. That is, they should be able to demonstrate an understanding of the significance of theories of mass communications and culture and the basic assumptions and arguments of these theories; the relations between mass communications and social relations of power. Students should be able to utilise particular approaches to the description and analysis of cultural and media texts and activities, and articulate the strengths and weaknesses of the approaches.

Synopsis The subject considers nineteenth and twentieth-century accounts of the relations between media, culture and power. This entails knowledge of the historically dominant political doctrinces (liberal-democratic, conservative, marxist) and conceptualisations of society within which accounts of media have been framed. Relatedly, different conceptions of 'the individual', 'the people' and 'the public' are examined. Recent work on the governance of populations and on the role of media in the formative guidance of people's attributes, conduct and social relations is considered as an alternative to these dominant doctrines and conceptualisations. Students will examine arguments from a range of approaches and the different positions they offer on cultural issues such as television, radio, 'the economy' and public opinion.

Assessment internal students Essay one (2500 words): 40% - Essay two (3000 words): 50% - Oral communication contribution: 10%
Assessment distance education students Essay one (2500 words): 40% - Essay two (3000 words): 50% - Dossier work: 10%

Prescribed texts

Subject reader

Back to the 1999 Arts Handbook

GSC2411

Media, culture, power - theories of mass communications

Associate Professor Cathy Greenfield

6 points - 2 hours per week - Flexible learning - Second semester - Berwick

Objectives (i) to introduce the major approaches to mass communications and culture; (ii) to establish the relations of difference and similarity between these approaches; (iii) to describe the historical and social conditions and political consequences of these approaches (iv) to consider the usefulness of these approaches to the description and analysis of mass communications and cultural forms; and (v) to develop capabilities to recognise, distinguish and assess various approaches to mass communications and culture. Upon successful completion of this subject students know where the main available ways of thinking and writing about mass communications media come from and why they matter. That is, they should be able to (i) demonstrate an understanding of the significance of theories of mass communications and culture; (ii) demonstrate an understanding of the basic assumptions and arguments of the major theories of mass communications and culture (iii) demonstrate an understanding of the relations between mass communications and social relations of power (iv) utilise particular approaches to the description and analysis of cultural and media texts and activities, and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the approaches.

Synopsis The subject considers nineteenth and twentieth-century accounts of the relations between media, culture and power. This entails knowledge of the historically dominant political doctrines (liberal-democratic, conservative, marxist) and conceptualizations of society within which accounts of media have been framed. Relatedly, different conceptions of 'the individual', 'the people' and 'the public' are examined. Recent work on the governance of populations and on the role of media in the formative guidance of people's attributes, conduct and social relations is considered as an alternative to these dominant doctrines and conceptualizations. Students will examine arguments from a range of approaches and the different positions they offer on cultural issues such as television, radio, 'the economy' and public opinion.

Assessment Essay one (2000 words): 45% - Essay two (2500 words): 55%

Prescribed texts

To be announced

Back to the 1999 Arts Handbook