Media, culture, power - theories of mass communications
Proposed to be offered next in 1998
Associate Professor Cathy Greenfield
6 points * 3 hours per week * Berwick
Objectives (i) to introduce the major approaches to mass communications and culture; (ii) to establish the relations of difference and similarity between these approaches; (iii) to describe the historical and social conditions and political consequences of these approaches (iv) to consider the usefulness of these approaches to the description and analysis of mass communications and cultural forms; and (v) to develop capabilities to recognise, distinguish and assess various approaches to mass communications and culture. Upon successful completion of this subject students will be able to (i) demonstrate an understanding of the significance of theories of mass communications and culture; (ii) demonstrate an understanding of the basic assumptions and arguments of the major theories of mass communications and culture (iii) demonstrate an understanding of the relations between mass communications and social relations of power (iv) utilise particular approaches to the description and analysis of cultural and media texts and activities, and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the approaches.
Synopsis The subject considers nineteenth and twentieth-century accounts of the relations between media, culture and power, in particular as these amount to theories of mass communications. These accounts, or the discourses from which they arise, are examined as both forming and contextualising various social and cultural practices. Such analysis enables discussion of the way media contribute to the organisation of social relations and the government of populations. Students will examine arguments from a range of writers, including Arnold, Eliot, Leavis, Adorno, Brecht, Althusser, Hall, Foucault, Bourdieu, Woollacott, Johnson and Hunter, and the different approaches they offer to cultural issues such as television, radio, the economy and public opinion.
Assessment Essay one (2500 words): 50% * Essay two (2500 words): 50%
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