Global Media and Cultural Industries MA
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Master
In Loughborough
Description
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Type
Master
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Location
Loughborough
Overview
We have a proud history of pioneering work in the critical political economy of communication and in media and cultural policy.
Media and cultural industries are not only important sources of wealth-creation and employment but they can also create inequality through shaping everyday culture and public opinion. The products of media and cultural industries are increasingly produced, governed, and consumed transnationally. ‘Who owns and controls the media?’ and ‘To what ends?’ are crucial questions to answer. How can media and cultural policy encourage greater cultural participation and more inclusive forms of democracy?
The Centre for Research in Communication and Culture (CRCC) brings together Loughborough University’s world leading researchers in media, communication and culture. The CRCC’s innovative MA programmes are informed by this cutting edge research.
In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, our research in this area was ranked second in the UK. In 2018, the QS World rankings rated the University among the top 50 universities in the world for Communication and Media Studies.
As part of our Global Media and Cultural Industries MA programme, you will have the opportunity to undertake a four-week placement over the Easter vacation (April). This experience can be recognised as part of your dissertation research project. You will be given information about the process of finding placements in the ‘employability skills’ taught sessions in Term 1 which forms part of the dissertation module.
If you wish to take up this opportunity you will be supported through the process by the department placements advisor and the careers and employability team. Support from our award-winning careers and employability centre is not restricted to placements and work experience – they provide a variety of services to students on-demand and throughout the year.
What makes this programme different?
Opportunities for work placements
Facilities
Location
Start date
Start date
About this course
Your personal and professional development
Our School of Social Sciences is committed to helping you develop the skills and attributes you need to progress successfully in your chosen career.
Future career prospects
Global Media and Cultural Industries MA is designed to enhance specialist knowledge and methodological expertise of relevance to professionals working in communications, to students interested in media and cultural studies, and those wishing to progress to a research degree in these fields.
Employability is an important part of the curriculum across all of the MA programmes. You will take taught employability sessions which cover finding employment in the media and cultural industries, finding placements, writing CVs and preparing covering letters.
In the second term you will take a Media Landscapes class as part of the dissertation module. In this class visiting speakers from across the media and creative industries will give guest lectures, providing insights into the sector and roles in which they work. This is also an excellent networking opportunity.
You will have the opportunity to undertake a four week placement over the Easter vacation (April). You will be given information about the process of finding placements in the ‘employability skills’ taught sessions in Term 1 which forms part of the dissertation module.
If you wish to take up this opportunity you will be supported through the process by the department placements advisor and the careers and employability team. Support from our award-winning careers and employability centre is not restricted to placements and work experience – they provide a variety of services to students on-demand and throughout the year.
Graduate destinations
Recent graduate destinations include: Bloomberg Businessweek China, Reporter; Brightwire News, Independent Writer; GDAD China, Advertising Planner; Pactera, Software Test Engineer; Zhejiang University of Finance & Economics, Lecturer.
Reviews
-
I really enjoyed this course. The campus is beautiful and the uni is fantastic
← | →
-
This is the best univerity I have ever ever known. Great teachcers and comfortable environment
← | →
-
I had amazing timeand memories in Loughborough. People and facilities here are great.
← | →
Course rating
Recommended
Centre rating
Helina Turbel
Stacie Dzurgba
Annonymous
Student
Student
This centre's achievements
All courses are up to date
The average rating is higher than 3.7
More than 50 reviews in the last 12 months
This centre has featured on Emagister for 14 years
Subjects
- Democracy
- Communication Training
- Team Training
- Employability
- Industry
- Communications
- Project
- Public
- University
- Advertising
- Perspective
- Marketing
- Sociology
- Internet
- Politics
- IT
- Global
- Media
Course programme
What you'll study
- Semester 1
- Semester 2
Media and Cultural Industries (15 Credits)
Media and Cultural Industries (15 Credits)
The aim of the module is to outline the major conceptual and empirical questions raised by work on the political economy of the cultural and media industries and on the sociology and anthropology of cultural and media production, to examine the changes that have taken place in the cultural and media industries under the impact of technological change and marketisation since the 1970s and to explore the questions these changes raise for public policy. Students will be introduced to the major themes and arguments in the political economy of culture and media, the sociology and anthropology of cultural and media production. Changes in the organisation of the cultural and media industries over the last 25 years will be discussed and current debates on public policy in the areas of culture will be explored.
Researching Communications 1: Media Users and Cultural Institutions
Researching Communications 1: Media Users and Cultural Institutions
The aim of this module is to develop knowledge and understanding of a range of methodologies for the analysis of media users and institutions. The module focuses on critically discuss how qualitative, quantitative and mixed methodologies are applied, identifying their strengths and shortcomings.
Understanding Modern Media
Understanding Modern Media
The aim of this module is to develop a critical understanding of key concepts and advanced debates relevant to the understanding of modern media, with a focus on the role of media and communications systems in both the historical formation of modern societies and their contemporary transformations under the impact of the Internet and digital platforms.
Key Debates in Media and Cultural Industries
Key Debates in Media and Cultural Industries
The aim of this module is to introduce students to current popular and political debates and issues relating to structure and function of media and cultural industries. The module will use policy documents, industry reports and stakeholder-produced materials to explore debates on how the cultural industries function, the ways in which they are changing over time, and the intended and actual role of different stakeholders in these developments and debates. The module will include learning on topics such as: BBC charter review; intellectual property policy frameworks; political partisanship; global cultural flows; digital participation; the future of the press; cultural labour; privacy; advertising and branding.
Dissertation (50 credits)
Dissertation (50 credits)
The aim of this module is for the student to develop employability and academic skills relevant to conducting an individual research project and to undertake a piece of research on a communication or cultural topic of their choice, and pursue this research in depth and with rigour. The final project should build on methodological skills developed in earlier projects. The module comprises of different components 1. Study and Employability skills: This is a series of ten lectures running in term one. 2. Media Landscapes: A series of guest lectures from media professionals running in terms 2 and 3 (Feb-June); 3. The Dissertation project conducted in Term 3. Taught sessions will include topics such as referencing, plagiarism, critical thinking, academic writing, research design, finding employment, applying for work, using academic skills in the workplace. Weekly seminar sessions will include regular visits and talks by people working in media industries. The dissertation itself will be based on a topic proposed by the student and subject to the approval of the programme team.
Optional modules
Digital Economies (15 Credits)
Digital Economies (15 Credits)
This module aims to examine the relationship between new social practices and old economic structures; it offers students an introduction to the economic sociology of digital media. The Internet is playing an increasing role in the lives of people around the globe and in the process is transforming many aspects of the ways in which we interact; yet this is a landscape that is contoured in other respects by the structure of the global economic system. The material will be approached by examining the variety of roles that are implicated in the creation, delivery, and consumption of cultural/media products over the Internet, and by examining the symbolic struggles that have occurred over legitimacy in digital culture: for example, we can trace a continuing tension and indeed interaction between the growth of the digital market economy and advocacy of the Internet as a de-commercialised space. While the primary focus will be on contemporary cases, the module will also seek to relate these back to classic issues in economic sociology.
Marketing Politics (15 Credits)
Marketing Politics (15 Credits)
The aim of this module is to introduce students to the marketing of politics by exploring and analysing election campaigns from a contemporary as well as an historical perspective. A major focus is on appreciating and understanding the increasingly important role of advertising, public relations and market research techniques, approaches and personnel in attempts to win and maintain voter support for candidates vying for public office. This will be done through close analysis of developments in countries with some of the most high profile elections, notably the United States and United Kingdom. The US hosts a large and globally influential industry of campaign consultants and their impact both at home and abroad will be reviewed and scrutinized. Here particular consideration will be devoted to the ethical and democratic consequences of the growing use of this kind of 'packaged politics'. The module will include learning on the following topics: theoretical and empirical approaches to political marketing; the selling of the US president in historical perspective; the evolution of British election campaigns; ethical and democratic consequences of 'marketization' of democracy.
Media and Cultural Work (15 Credits)
Media and Cultural Work (15 Credits)
The aim of this module is to acquire an understanding of the major conceptual and empirical questions raised by research of media and cultural work; the changes that have taken place in media and media cultural work under the impact of technological change, marketisation and internationalisation since the 1970s; the extent and nature of inequalities and discrimination in media and cultural work. An indicative list of topics covered in lectures includes the growth in employment in media and cultural industries; the changing character of that employment; the internationalisation of media and cultural labour; the extent and nature of inequalities and discrimination in media and cultural work (for example, on the grounds of gender and ethnicity).
Researching Communications 2: Texts and Digital Platforms
Researching Communications 2: Texts and Digital Platforms
The module is designed to introduce students to state-of-the-art research methods that are applied for the analysis of media and communication content and output, both on traditional as well as on new, digital platforms. Apart from providing the students with critical overview and discussion of strengths and weaknesses of these methods, both quantitative and qualitative, the module enables them to explore their practical application in adjacent workshops.
Key Debates in Media and Cultural Industries
Key Debates in Media and Cultural Industries
The aim of this module is to introduce students to current popular and political debates and issues relating to structure and function of media and cultural industries. The module will use policy documents, industry reports and stakeholder-produced materials to explore debates on how the cultural industries function, the ways in which they are changing over time, and the intended and actual role of different stakeholders in these developments and debates. The module will include learning on topics such as: BBC charter review; intellectual property policy frameworks; political partisanship; global cultural flows; digital participation; the future of the press; cultural labour; privacy; advertising and branding.
Dissertation (50 credits)
Dissertation (50 credits)
The aim of this module is for the student to develop employability and academic skills relevant to conducting an individual research project and to undertake a piece of research on a communication or cultural topic of their choice, and pursue this research in depth and with rigour. The final project should build on methodological skills developed in earlier projects. The module comprises of different components 1. Study and Employability skills: This is a series of ten lectures running in term one. 2. Media Landscapes: A series of guest lectures from media professionals running in terms 2 and 3 (Feb-June); 3. The Dissertation project conducted in Term 3. Taught sessions will include topics such as referencing, plagiarism, critical thinking, academic writing, research design, finding employment, applying for work, using academic skills in the workplace. Weekly seminar sessions will include regular visits and talks by people working in media industries. The dissertation itself will be based on a topic proposed by the student and subject to the approval of the programme team.
Optional modules
Cultural Memory and Heritage Industries (15 Credits)
Cultural Memory and Heritage Industries (15 Credits)
The aim of this module is to introduce students to the politics of cultural memory and cultural heritage in the modern period. The module examines debates around the temporal structures of modernity and the manner in which the past is used as a rhetorical and commercial resource in the cultural industries. The module will critically evaluate the rise of the heritage industries from national and global perspectives. The module will include learning on the following topics: theoretical and empirical approaches to mediated/cultural memory, key debates in memory studies, the structure of the heritage industries from a national and global perspective, the communicative practices of heritage industries (film, television, new media, museums), the impact of digital technologies on cultural memory and heritage industries, the politics of commemoration.
Digital Cultures (15 Credits)
Digital Cultures (15 Credits)
This module fosters students' ability to critically analyse current research and advanced scholarship about digital cultures. It familiarises students with major debates, theories and latest studies on issues, such as young people and digital media, social networking, identities, communities and relationships and online consumption. An indicative list of topics covered in lectures includes the internet and identity, online communities, mobile media, social networking, digital media and romantic/sexual relations, digital media and consumption.
Global Communications (15 Credits)
Global Communications (15 Credits)
The aim of the module is for the student to become familiar with the different theoretical perspectives underpinning the study of the media in the international environment; analyse and summarise existing arguments and critically evaluate evidence provided in course material on global communications; acquire knowledge of key concepts, issues and debates within the literature. An indicative list of topics covered in lectures includes: the media, democratization and political culture; global news and news agencies; global politics of human rights; transnational communities and media consumption; the media and transnational social and revolutionary movements; conflict and communication; the global media and the challenge to the nation state; the struggle for a New World Information and Communication Order.
The Politics of Representation (15 Credits)
The Politics of Representation (15 Credits)
The aim of this module is to develop a critical understanding of current debates and advanced research about the politics of representation and to develop the skills relevant to the analysis of the involvement of media and cultural forms in social inclusion and exclusion. An indicative list of topics covered on the module includes discourse, power, knowledge; Stereotyping and the Other; Spaces of identity and belonging; Nationalism, racism and imperialism; Orientalism; Migration and the media.
Global Media and Cultural Industries MA