units

ATS2442

Faculty of Arts

18 September 2017 23 December 2024
Monash University

Undergraduate - Unit

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2014 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

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

LevelUndergraduate
FacultyFaculty of Arts
OfferedClayton First semester 2014 (Day)
Coordinator(s)Dr Simone Murray

Notes

Previously coded COM2130

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:

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

Outcomes

Students successfully completing this unit will demonstrate:

  1. Appreciation of the psychological, social and cultural characteristics of print communication and its differences from oral and electronic mediums
  2. Ability to discern longitudinal developments in the history of media and communications and to contextualise contemporary developments accurately
  3. 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
  4. 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
  5. Skill in critically analysing the many interfaces of the book with digital media technologies and accounting for the symbiotic relationship between the two platforms
  6. Solid advanced undergraduate-level competence in locating, analysing and comparing diverse research resources in both print and digital forms
  7. Self-conscious awareness of how the medium used to communicate affects the message communicated, and factoring of this awareness into future learning.

Assessment

Briefing paper (750 words): 20%
Research essay (1350 words): 30%
End of semester exam (1800 words): 40%
Seminar leadership and participation: 10%

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Simone Murray

Workload requirements

One 2-hour seminar per week

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Communications
Literary studies

Prerequisites

First-year gateway units in Communications, or Literary Studies, or Film and Screen Studies, or any other first-year sequence approved by unit Co-ordinator

Prohibitions

ATS3442