Culture and Society
| Code | School | Level | Credits | Semesters |
| MLAC1154 | Media, Languages and Cultures | 1 | 20 | Full Year Malaysia |
- Code
- MLAC1154
- School
- Media, Languages and Cultures
- Level
- 1
- Credits
- 20
- Semesters
- Full Year Malaysia
Summary
The module provides an introduction to the key methodologies and topics of cultural studies and unpacks the theoretical and empirical issues related to the analysis of everyday life. The approach to cultural studies is addressed through the key themes of culture and the circuit of culture; semiotics and discourse analysis; ideological hegemony and resistance. The main areas of culture studied in the module are consumption, advertising and the market; popular culture and leisure; mass media; race and ethnicity; and sexuality, gender and the body. Through this module, students will also learn to theorise and represent the day to day forms of existence, manifested through the different cultural experiences and texts.
Target Students
Compulsory module for first year International Communication Studies students. Available as subsidiary to all Year 1 and Year 2 students not registered on the above BA. Available to JYA/Erasmus students.
Classes
- One 2-hour lecture each week for 24 weeks
Activities may take place every teaching week of the Semester or only in specified weeks. It is usually specified above if an activity only takes place in some weeks of a Semester
Assessment
- 40% Coursework 1: 1 essay (2500 words)
- 60% Group Project: Presentation and reflexive essay (1500 words)
Assessed in both autumn & spring semest
Educational Aims
To familiarise students with the discipline of cultural studies and question the taken-grantedness of the ‘everyday’ in societyTo enable students to undertake basic cultural analysis;To develop a critical understanding of key areas of culture and society;To appreciate the relation between particular cultural phenomena and the representations of everyday life, and their broader context.Learning Outcomes
A. Knowledge and understanding of:
- Theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of culture and epistemological problems associated with archiving and representing the everyday;
- Key areas of contemporary culture.
B. Intellectual skills - the ability to:
- Engage in close analysis and interpretation of cultural phenomena;
- Critically assess different cultural interpretations;
- Relate concrete particulars to complex wholes;
- Collate and process broad and varied modes of information effectively.
C. Professional skills - the ability to:
- Articulate knowledge and understanding of cultural and theoretical concepts relating to cultural studies;
- Write accurately and grammatically;
- Construct and communicate a sustained cultural analysis, verbally and in writing.
D. Transferable skills - the ability to:
- Communicate effectively in writing and other forms of communication including archiving, documentary, filmmaking, illustration, photography;
- Work productively with others;
- Retrieve and process information.
Conveners
- Dag Sigurd Yngvesson