The module introduces students to the role of media and communications in processes of globalisation with a particular focus on questions of cultural change. It discusses the cultural implications of global media images and cultural products by exploring audience practices and media representations in different contexts. Topics include, for example, the global dominance of brands, celebrity, media events, and the media coverage of immigration. The first weeks of the module introduce the main theoretical approaches to mediated globalisation. The rest of the module discusses and assesses these approaches by critically exploring the connections between global media products and cultural transformation; changes and continuities in audience practices around the world; and the potential of media representations to transform social interaction across geographical borders. 

• construct arguments, in writing and orally, about the relationship between media and processes of globalisation
• apply key theoretical concepts in order to analyse and discuss contemporary debates on the relationship between media and globalisation
• interpret and critically evaluate the arguments of relevant theorists
• connect their own experiences and practices of media use with the issues covered in the module

The module is taught through a combination of 2-hour lectures and 50-min seminars per week. The lectures introduce the main concepts, theories and debates on the weekly topics in an interactive way and through a variety of audiovisual materials. The seminars will discuss the allocated weekly readings and debate relevant examples. You are also expected to conduct independent reading and research of the relevant sources.

Academic skills:

• The ability to collect, analyse and evaluate with a wide range of information sources, and evidence
• The ability to analyse and critically engage with a wide range of concepts and ideas
• A capacity for independent, conceptual and creative thinking
• A capacity for informed argument and logical reasoning

Subject-specific skills:

• Competence in critically analysing media content and formulating arguments in relation to contemporary media debates
• The ability to recognise the relationship between media theory and empirical examples
• The capacity to identify the main authors and debates in the field of media and globalisation

Transferable skills

• Confidence in employing digital technologies and assessing a range of sources
• An ability to formulate arguments orally and in written form
• An ability to manage time effectively, including setting priorities, juggling competing demands and meeting deadlines
• Confidence in self-expression and exercising one's 'own voice'

Essay 40 %

Short essay asking students to reflect on theoretical debates about the relationship between mediated globalisation and cultural diversity.

Research essay 60%

Students can chose from a list of essay titles, which will ask them to use a specific case study to discuss one of the theoretical concepts covered in the module.

1. Introduction: Theorising media, globalisation and culture

2. Contemporary culture: Between the local and the global

3. The world is our market: The power of global brands

4. Celebrity culture: The new global elite

5. Global media - local audiences

6. Diasporic media and transnational cultures

7. The whole world is watching: Media events and the global public

8. The 'other' in the global imagination

9. 'Feeling the pain of other': Media coverage of humanitarian crises and disasters

10. 'The others among us': Representations of immigration

A list of the essential as well as background readings will be included in the module outline. Essential reading will include one or two book chapters or journal articles every week. There is no key text for the module but the following are just some indicative texts that will be discussed in the seminars:

Boyd-Barrett, O. (2014). Media imperialism. London: Sage.

Dayan, D. & E. Katz. (1992). Media Events: The Live Broadcasting of History. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Klein, N. (2000). No Logo: No Space, No Choice, No Jobs. London: Flamingo.

Philo, G., Briant, E., & Donald, P. (2013). Bad news for refugees. London: Pluto.

Ritzer, G. (2015). The McDonaldization of society (8^th edition). Los Angeles: Sage.

Orgad, S. (2014). Media representation and the global imagination. Cambridge: Polity Press. Chapter 1, Media representation and the global imagination: A framework.

Pickering, M. (2005). Stereotyping: The politics of representation. London: Palgrave.

Ritzer, G. (Ed.). The Blackwell companion to globalization. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.

Silverstone, R. (2007). Media and morality. Cambridge: Polity.

Turner, G. (2013). Understanding celebrity. London: Sage.