MA in Media Studies (MAMS)

This module explores key conceptual issues and perspectives in contemporary media theory. Using the 'circuit of culture' as a framing device the module examines aspects of the political economy of media and culture, perspectives on media production and the lived experience of work in the media and cultural industries, media form and aesthetics, the cultural politics of representation in media and popular culture, and approaches to the study of media audiences and cultural consumption.

Radio has been neglected by academic researchers and theorists worldwide but this is changing as the rise of podcasting has led to renewed interest in telling stories through sound. The skills required for successful podcasting and the lessons learned in one hundred years of experience in making compelling audio form the bulk of the learning in this module. The Irish experience of radio provides most of the examples offered and the three sectors of Irish radio are described and analysed. The module focuses on sound, on the role of speech and of music in radio’s output, on programming formats and genres, on the production and listening processes, on radio’s unique relationship with its audiences and on the potential of radio as a tool for social and educational development.

Covering the main developments in Irish Film history, this module concentrates mainly on the period from 1978 to the present. It examines the key themes and tropes defining Irish Film today, focusing on how Irish Film has negotiated the tensions and interplays between global economic and cultural forces and tendencies and the need to represent and critically explore the ‘local’ in Irish culture and society. Key themes are the critical assessment of Irish film-makers’ attempts to plot a course between the historically divergent definitions of ‘film as art’ and ‘film as business’ and an examination of a number of new approaches to Irish film theory which have developed over the last decade.

Sound, whether in the form of music, noise pollution, or natural ambience, as commercial product, artistic or political gesture, has received increasing academic attention in the last decade. This module will introduce the key current debates about sound, drawing upon approaches developed in the fields of media studies, music, critical theory, musicology, ethnomusicology and psychoacoustics. Students will be encouraged to engage with a diversity of theoretical perspectives and methodological research techniques.

The module will employ detailed case studies from a diverse range of sound media, enabling a thorough exploration of their technological, aesthetic and social histories. Examples may include the exploration sound media technologies, the relationship between image and sound in film, experimental sound art and the soundscape movement. It will focus on the social construction of sonic environments, such as workplace 'muzak' and sporting events.

This module introduces students to the research methods which are specific to mass media research, as well as more general social science research methods. In addition to these specific foci, students will be required to familiarise themselves with a variety of academic papers in current mass media research journals which utilise the specific methods under investigation. By applying these methods themselves in a variety of research projects, students will acquire the ability to write up research correctly in a form appropriate to the method in use as well as becoming accomplished in the application of these methods as required. Students will be introduced to the process of preparing a research dissertation. Skills taught will include preparation, project planning and time management. Approaches to preparing a review of relevant literature will also be taught.

This module provides students with a critical understanding of professional screenwriting in industry contexts. It entails engagement with critical debates about the role of the screenwriter and the contemporary script. It introduces students to the art and craft of screenwriting; providing a knowledge of role of the writer in the contemporary screen industries and considers EDII issues in the script development and production process. The principles of drama from concept to page; the development of a theoretical understanding of form and structure; a familiarity with the visual and aural strategies required to communicate with screen audiences are all covered. Students develop a critical understanding of the differing requirements in writing for features, short film and television drama; they encounter a variety of approaches in the creation of a story world and in the creation of character and characterisation; design of dialogue; dramatization of scenes and the mastering professional formatting and style.

The academic study of popular music has become the focus of growing attention in media studies since it emerged in the 1970’s. As a mass-produced and broadcast medium, popular music has been the object of seminal theoretical works, particularly in relation to sub-cultures, gender, politics and consumption. This module will follow the development of popular music studies as a distinct discipline, explaining its engagement with contemporary theoretical currents and historical contexts. Several key areas such as identity formation and community will be explored in detail through case studies, and the module will lead towards current debates on fandom, interactive and creative music technologies.

This module evaluates current theoretical debates concerning the history, specificity and cultural meanings of television drama. It compares, contrasts and assesses a variety of critical approaches to the analysis of television drama’s production, social circulation, consumption and meanings. Syllabus topics include the following: the evolution of form and aesthetics in early television drama of the 1940s and 1950s; the divergent and changing industrial and social contexts of drama production; conceptualising the history of television drama; ‘doing television textual analysis’ - an overview of critical approaches; the impact of channel branding, DVD technologies and ‘television on demand’ on the changing experience of audience reception; US network TV versus subscription TV drama; the politics of gender, class and race in contemporary US television drama; television writers as ‘authors’; contemporary television audiences - the significance of fandom; memory, affect and identity in in television fandom - psychodynamic and related perspectives.

This module examines the implications of the growing interdependence of sport and media for the practices and meanings of sport as a range of popular cultural activities, and for the place of sport in various social relations of power. Drawing upon a variety of approaches from cultural studies, sociology, history and geography, it explores the historical emergence and influence of sport media and their impact on sport; the nationally and internationally varied political economy of sport and media; the discursive construction of and interplay between gender, race and nation in media representations of sport; and the roles of mediated sport in the expression and experience of individual and collective sport fandom. Case studies will include Irish and international examples and will range from film to print and broadcast media.