6 ECTS credits
150 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 1021438CER for all students in the 1st semester at a (C) Bachelor - specialised level.

Semester
1st semester
Enrollment based on exam contract
Possible
Grading method
Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
Can retake in second session
Yes
Enrollment Requirements
Students who want to enroll for this course, must have passed for ‘Media, Culture and Diversity’ and must have obtained at least 30 ECTS-credits on bachelor level.
Taught in
English
Partnership Agreement
Under interuniversity agreement for degree program
Faculty
Faculty of Social Sciences & SolvayBusinessSchool
Department
Communication Sciences
External partners
Universiteit Gent
Educational team
Florian Vanlee (course titular)
Activities and contact hours
39 contact hours Lecture
111 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
Course Content

Aim of the course

The aim of this course is to make the students familiar with the domain of both the theory and the analysis of popular media culture and cultural media studies. The central idea is that (mass) media plays a crucial role in the construction and determination of the ideology, taste and culture.

Contents

This course consists of three parts :

  1. In the introduction, the issues are stated and the basic concepts, like culture, high/low culture, mass culture and popular media culture are defined.
  2. In the second part we deal with the development of the theory of popular media culture and thinking about popular media culture, together with attention for the divers paradigms or perspectives like the postwar British (later international) cultural studies perspective. During this part, we constantly refer to concrete research.
  3. In the last part, the perspectives are applied to several cases.

 

Course material
Handbook (Required) : Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, An introduction, Storey, J., 8de, London: Routledge, 9780367820602, 2021
Additional info

Teaching methods

Group work, lecture, microteaching, project, self-reliant study activities.

This course combines two work forms:

  1. Lectures that focus on the field of cultural media studies, the contextualisation of the different perspectives and the paradigms and research methods with illustration of the concepts used.
  2. Guided self-study in which the students themselves gain knowledge by processing the provided knowledge of the handbook. During the lectures, the knowledge that is provided in the handbook is contextualised and is provided with illustrations based on case studies.

Learning materials and price

Handbook: Storey, J. (2015). Cultural Theory and Popular Culture. An introduction (7nd ed.). London: Routledge. PowerPoint hand-outs available via Minerva. Potentially additional texts available via Minerva For free downloadable or electronically available material, an amount of 5 eurocent per page needs to be counted. Estimated total price: 35 EUR

References

Strinati, D. (1995). An introduction to Theories of Popular Culture. London: Routledge. Barker, C. (2000). Cultural Studies. Theory and Practice. London: Sage. Lewis, J. (2002). Cultural Studies. The Basics. London: Sage.

Learning Outcomes

General Competences

  1. To gain basic knowledge of and insight in the theory of the popular media culture and cultural media studies, as well as in the current state of research.
  2. To gain basic knowledge of and insight in the socio-scientific research methodology concerning popular media culture.
  3. To gain basic knowledge of and insight in the relationship between popular media culture and the society.
  4. To be aware of the social role and relevance of the cultural media studies and of the associated ethical, socio-cultural, juridical and economical questions.
  5. To form a scientifically based verdict and to take a stand in issues concerning popular media culture.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 60% of the final mark.
Other Exam determines 40% of the final mark.

Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Written Exam with a relative weight of 100 which comprises 60% of the final mark.

    Note: open-ended questions

Within the Other Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Visual Essay Assignment with a relative weight of 30 which comprises 30% of the final mark.
  • Participation with a relative weight of 10 which comprises 10% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

Periodical evaluation (60%): written exam with open-ended questions
Non-periodical evaluation (40%): visual essay assignment (30%) and overall participation (10%)

If you pass the section "non periodical evaluation", this component should not be retaken at the second examination period. However, you always have the right to use your full second examination opportunity if you do not yet pass the entire course. The last exam result achieved counts when calculating the final result.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark
The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context

This offer is part of the following study plans:
Bachelor of Social Sciences: Communication Studies