MCS 101: Media & Cultural Studies - Part I Courses - Undergraduate -Sociology at Lancaster University

MCS.101: Media & Cultural Studies

In a global environment in which communications and media play an increasingly central role in all areas of human life, the study of media becomes increasingly vital. Media and Cultural Studies programmes examine the complexity of cultural life providing the conceptual tools with which we can understand the production of messages, images, signs and symbols. Degrees in this subject area have many different titles. Some degrees are more academically or theoretically orientated and others offer more practical skills-based components.

The Media and Cultural Studies degree at Lancaster is an academically oriented programme which connects up theory with contemporary and historical examples. We see the link between theory and practice as crucial and emphasise the ways in which the complexity of cultural life both requires and shapes theory.

Course Aims

The Media and Cultural Studies 101 Course aims to enable you to critically examine and analyse a range of media and culture forms and practices; you will be encouraged to place these forms and practices within their social, cultural and institutional contexts (e.g. when, where and how were these forms and practices constructed, and for what purposes?) and to recognise and assess the conventions, messages and processes through which media and culture operate (e.g how do the conventions of an advert contribute to its meaning? Are conventions converging in new media forms like websites?).

The course introduces you to competing theoretical ideas and concepts which you put to work to interpret and critically assess a range of data, information and communication involving diverse media forms and sources, such as visual materials (e.g. films and photographs), digital and electronic sources, music and sound recordings, fashion and bodily inscriptions, print media and journalism.

In addition to these subject specific aims, the course also aims to enhance other knowledges and skills. You will read and evaluate complex and challenging scholarly texts from primary and secondary sources, for example, and explore the relevance of key theories to contemporary examples of media and culture. You will work and present your ideas in different ways, including essays and exam answers, presentations and group projects. By the end of the course you should be able to interpret and analyse different contemporary media and cultural phenomena with confidence, and to support your views with academic sources.

FACEBOOK: An Invasion of Privacy

This media campaign was created by some of our first year Media and Culture students who were thinking about ideas of privacy on Facebook.

What do you think about this subject?

If you 'Liked' our Facebook page what would we we learn about you?

Director Dr Rebecca Coleman says:

"Media and Cultural Studies is about our everyday lives. It takes things that we usually take for granted and studies them critically. Today we live in a media culture. While we often assume that the meaning of much of the cultural material around us is obvious and transparent, this course aims to demonstrate that we are constantly making sense of the patterns of meaning of our everyday engagement with media."

Key Facts

Length: 25 weeks

Course Structure: The course is divided into five blocks and taught over three terms via:

Lectures: One two-hour lecture per week
Seminars: One 50 minute seminar per week which will provide links between lectures, readings and assignments
Screenings: Film screenings take place in Lent term are discussed in lectures and seminars
Independent learning: It is expected that you spend at least 10 hours of independent learning on MCS 101 per week. (Individual help can also be provided during your seminar tutor's office hours)

Assessment: Is from a combination of coursework and formal examinations and is weighted at 60% for coursework and 40% for the exam.

Admissions Contact: Sociology Admissions

Undergraduate Menu

MCS.101: Media & Cultural Studies

Course Aims

FACEBOOK: An Invasion of Privacy

Director Dr Rebecca Coleman says:

Key Facts