Undergraduate - UnitAHT2207 - Popular culture and contemporary communication

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 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.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture
Organisational Unit	Department of Fine Art
Offered	Caulfield Second semester 2015 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Associate Professor Rex Butler

Notes

This unit was formerly coded TAD2207

Synopsis

All forms of media, as powerful and persuasive communicators of ideas, beliefs and stereotypes in our contemporary world, will be analysed. Answers will be sought to many questions including: Who speaks? Who listens? Who is silenced? Who profits? What are the social, environmental and ethical responsibilities of visual communicators? Is it permissible to appropriate other visual practitioners' images and ideas? What are the points of connection and divergence between popular culture and contemporary art? Semiotics, structuralist and post-structuralist theories will be used in an attempt to decode and interpret images.

Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will:

be familiar with the salient ideas and methodologies of semiotics, and how these may contribute to an understanding of art and design
be familiar with the salient ideas and differences between structuralist and post-structuralist thought, and be able to make connections between these ideas and art and design practice
be able to use semiotics to critically decode and analyse the images and texts of popular culture
have an awareness and understanding of the cultural roles and responsibilities of professional communicators in today's society
comprehend all OHS&E requirements in this unit area.

Assessment

Assignment 1,500 words (40%)
Research essay 2,500 words (60%)

Workload requirements

12 hours per week including 3 contact hours and 9 hours of independent study or equivalent.

Chief examiner(s)

Associate Professor Rex Butler

Prerequisites

12 credit points at first year level in Art History and Theory, or Theory of Art and Design, or Visual Culture, or permission from Unit Coordinator

Prohibitions

TAD3207, TAD3217, AHT3207