Undergraduate - UnitATS3442 - Print cultures: Books as media

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2013 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

print version

6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

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Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	Communications and Media Studies
Offered	Not offered in 2013
Coordinator(s)	Dr Simone Murray

Notes

Previously coded COM3130

Synopsis

The book is the oldest communications medium. It continues to thrive, constantly adapting to changes in the broader media environment. Print Cultures considers the characteristics of print as a medium and the role of the book as an information architecture. It comprises 3 modules:

Theories and Methodologies introduces medium theory, history of the book, cultural policy studies and political economy approaches
Socio-Cultural Dimensions of Books analyses the contemporary international book world, including the roles of publishers, editors, literary agents, booksellers, reading groups and libraries
Book Futures focuses on the book's increasing convergence with digital media.

Outcomes

Students successfully completing this unit will demonstrate:

Appreciation of the psychological, social and cultural characteristics of print communication and its differences from oral and electronic mediums
Ability to discern longitudinal developments in the history of media and communications and to contextualise contemporary developments accurately
Ability to assess the book's continuing place in the contemporary global media environment, and to account for national and regional variations in creative industries and cultural policy
Knowledge of the industrial phases through which books progress between their creation and consumption, and skill in evaluating the impact of various intervening book industry stakeholders
Skill in critically analysing the many interfaces of the book with digital media technologies and accounting for the symbiotic relationship between the two platforms
Superior undergraduate-level competence in locating, analysing and comparing diverse research resources in both print and digital forms
Self-conscious awareness of how the medium used to communicate affects the message communicated, and factoring of this awareness into future learning
Superior capacity for identifying, applying and critiquing a range of theories and methodologies for conceptualising print cultures.