units

ATS2446

Faculty of Arts

18 September 2017 22 December 2024

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This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2016 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.

Monash University

6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Undergraduate - Unit

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

Faculty

Arts

Organisational Unit

Communications and Media Studies

Coordinator(s)

Dr Shane Homan

Offered

Not offered in 2016

Synopsis

In this unit students consider the key social, political and technological contexts in the development of the Australian media, and its significance within Australian life. It investigates the growth of the print, radio, television, popular music and cinema industries and accompanying national contexts including media ownership patterns, media policy settings and audience formations/desires. The subject examines both the building of forums for national debate, but also how the media industries assisted in the construction of nationhood. Through the study of different histories of media and approaches to media history, students gain an understanding of contemporary local media landscapes.

Outcomes

On successful completion of the unit, students will be able to demonstrate:

  1. an understanding of the key communication technologies through Australian history and identify the political and social contexts associated with their introduction
  2. an assessment of the complex relationships between governments, audiences and industries in different eras through the use of specific case studies
  3. an ability to critically and independently engage with key debates and issues arising from historical media and successive media/cultural studies interpretations
  4. an ability to apply broader media studies concepts to distinct local contexts
  5. an ability to explain and analyse course concepts and debates in written and oral forms
  6. Third year students will be required to demonstrate a greater depth of analysis and engagement with conceptual frameworks arising from a higher level of independent research.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 80%
Exam: 20%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

See also Unit timetable information

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Shane Homan

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

Communications and media studies

Prerequisites

Twelve credit points of first-year Arts units.

Prohibitions

ATS3446