Media, Communication and Society
| Code | School | Level | Credits | Semesters |
| ARTFF032 | Foundation Arts | 0 | 20 | Full Year UK |
- Code
- ARTFF032
- School
- Foundation Arts
- Level
- 0
- Credits
- 20
- Semesters
- Full Year UK
Summary
A solid, critical understanding of ‘media’ and ‘the media’ – and their roles in society – is important for any degree programme within the Faculty of Arts. The ability to communicate effectively and to engage critically with other people’s communications is crucial to functioning well in the university context and in society more broadly, and ‘media’ are fundamentally about communicating in a range of different ways, from academic essays and presentations to websites, podcasts and videos. This module will explore what is meant by the terms ‘media’ and ‘society’, considering ways in which people and organisations (including in the university context) use various media to inform and influence society. The module will consider how we comprehend, and communicate through, different media, including the more traditional academic media of essays and presentations. Students will develop their communication skills through a variety of media using a range of tools, including digital ones, and learn how to engage critically with these. We will focus on various ways in which spoken and written words, images, audio and video are used to communicate and will help students to use each of these in their own communications.
Coursework assessments will replace all failed assessment components at the reassessment stage.
Target Students
Available for Foundation students in the Faculty of Arts only
Classes
- One 1-hour workshop each week for 20 weeks
- One 2-hour seminar each week for 20 weeks
Assessment
- 50% Coursework 1: Communication portfolio
- 50% Coursework 2: Media portfolio
Assessed in both autumn & spring semest
Educational Aims
This module aims to engage students theoretically and practically with various media and a range of tools, digital and other. It is designed to help students assess critically how ‘communication’ is facilitated by different media and tools – both positively and negatively. It also aims to explore the relationship between media and society, and the opportunities different media tools offer for students’ own communication, whether through the more ‘traditional’ university media of essays and presentations, or through digital media like websites, podcasts and videos. It is intended that students should develop a critical and reflective approach to media, and to the use of various digital tools, contributing to their digital capabilities generally and their media literacy in particular. This will include students developing their own communication skills in various media, from academic essays and presentations to such things as images, audio and videos.Learning Outcomes
It is expected that by the end of the module, students will be able to:
(Knowledge and understanding)
1. explain what 'media' are and how media communicate meaning to different audiences;
2. explain the importance of media literacy in the Faculty of Arts and more broadly;
(Intellectual skills)
3. assess the contemporary significance of various media and digital tools;
4. reflect on the use of different media and digital tools for communication in a variety of contexts;
(Transferable skills)
5. use different media and digital tools to communicate appropriately in different contexts;
6. demonstrate media literacy appropriate for academic study and the workplace.
Conveners
- Dr Douglas Ingram