Undergraduate - UnitAZA1279 - Media and society

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.

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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.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Offered	South Africa Second semester 2014 (Day) South Africa OCT-MSA01 2014 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Ms Marianne Louw

Synopsis

The central objective of the unit is to help students understand the relationships between media, culture and society, that is, how media influence and are influenced by social, economic, historical, political and cultural factors in society. It introduces students to how media content is produced, distributed and consumed and also examines the ways in which power and influence are exercised through media in cultural and social life. It also includes introduces the concept of 'new media', and the interplay between youth culture and the media.

Outcomes

In this unit teaching staff aim to provide you with a range of conceptual frameworks for understanding the relationships between media, culture and society.

On successful completion of this unit students should be able to:

Demonstrate an appreciation of the historical development of media industries;
Recognise and be able to apply available frameworks for critically understanding the relationships between media, culture and society;
Demonstrate an understanding of the social, economic, political and cultural factors that shape the production, distribution and consumption of media;
Demonstrate an understanding of the impact of the emergence of the new media on society and on the old media.
Demonstrate an appreciation for the interplay between youth culture and the media.

Assessment

Year Level(s): 1
Essay (1000 words): 20%;
Essay (2000 words): 35%;
Tutorial presentation, attendance and participation: 10%;
Examination (2 hours): 35%