Michaelmas term 2007

Course convenor: Bruce Bennett

Venue: A40, County South annexe
Time: Tuesday, 3 - 5.30pm
MA in Culture Media Theory - core course 1
Institute for Cultural Research
Lancaster University

background image: Modified oil painting (Crude oils series), Banksy

Course convenor:
Bruce Bennett
e-mail: b.bennett@lancaster.ac.uk
tel: 01524 594753 (voicemail)
office: B31, County South annexe
office hours: Tuesday 9.30-11.30
Course homepage:
http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/cultres/courses/pg/cult921.php

Course description:
As the first core course on the MA in Culture, Media Theory this module is
intended to introduce you to a number of key approaches to the theorizing
and critical analysis of culture. We will read and discuss work by writers from
a range of disciplines including cultural studies, media studies, gender and
womens studies and continental philosophy.
Among the topics that will be explored are:
concepts of culture
popular culture and the politics of criticism
transculturalism and non-western perspectives on culture and media
economics and cultures of consumption
the body, cultural politics and identity
technology, technicity and culture

Learning outcomes:
Knowledge and understanding
By the end of this module you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and
understanding of:
key debates in the area of Cultural Studies
the historical development of the concept of culture in academic discourse
the relationship between culture and ideology
the ways in which identities are constructed and contested through different
kinds of engagement with culture

Cognitive skills
By the end of this module you will be able to:
identify and critically assess available literature in the field of Cultural Studies
draw on a range of relevant intellectual frameworks to judge the explanatory
adequacy of current and advanced concepts and theories relevant to the field
discuss critically various cultural texts and objects within their specific
historical and social contexts through theoretically informed analysis
select and apply appropriate theories to the analysis of new material and case
studies concerning culture and the media
formulate appropriate research questions for exploring those questions.

Key communication and study skills

By the end of this module you will be able to demonstrate the ability to:
combine material from different sources into a coherent argument.

communicate effectively and coherently in writing

evaluate your own work in a reflexive manner, with reference to current
conceptual debates in the field.
plan and execute research projects independently on different aspects within
the field, and to contribute to advanced scholarship.
study independently, and to tackle intellectual problems creatively and
systematically.
work to an agreed timetable, manage workloads and meet deadlines.

Critical Debates in Cultural Studies (CULT 921)

Course schedule
Week 1
Introduction
Bruce Bennett
Week 2
Studying culture
Bruce Bennett
Reading:
BALDWIN, E. et al, 1999, Culture and Cultural Studies, Introducing
Cultural Studies, London: Prentice Hall, pp. 3-42
HALL, S., 1995, Cultural Studies: two paradigms in BOYD-BARRETT, O and
NEWBOLD, C, eds., Approaches to Media: A Reader, London and
New York: Arnold, pp. 338-47
WILLIAMS, R., 1961, The analysis of culture, The Long Revolution,
Westport: Greenwood Press, pp. 41-71

Week 3
Studying popular culture
Bruce Bennett
Reading:
ADORNO, T., HORKHEIMER, M., 1993, The Culture Industry:
Enlightenment as Mass Deception in DURING, S, ed., The Cultural
Studies Reader, London and New York: Routledge, pp. 31-41
FRITH, S.,1998, The good, the bad, the indifferent: defending popular
culture from the populists in STOREY, J, ed., Cultural Theory and
Popular Culture, Pearson Prentice Hall, pp. 586-601
HALL, S., 2005, Notes on Deconstructing The Popular in GUINS, R, and
CRUZ, O Z, eds., Popular Culture: A Reader, London: Sage, pp. 6471

Week 4
Multi-culturalism and Transculturalism
Scott Wilson
Reading:
MA, E. K-W, 2000, Rethinking Media Studies: The Case of China in
CURRAN, J. and PARK, M-J, De-Westernizing Media Studies,
London and New york: Routledge, pp. 21-34
WATSON, J.L., 2002, 'Transnationalism, Localization and Fast Foods in East
Asia' in RITZER, G., ed. McDonaldization: The Reader, London: Sage

Week 5
Postmodern capitalism and the New Economy
Scott Wilson
Reading:
BATAILLE, G, 1992, The Accursed Share, New York: Zone Books
GOUX, J-J, 1998, General Economics and Postmodern Capitalism in
BOTTING, F and WILSON, S, eds., Bataille: A Critical Reader, Oxford:
Blackwell, pp. 196-213

KELLY, K, 1997, New Rules for the New Economy, Wired, vol. 5, no.9,
Sept. 1997
(Available at: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5.09/newrules.html?
topic=global_economy&topic_set=neweconomy)

Week 6
Bodies and matter
Rebecca Coleman
Reading:
BUTLER, J, 1996, Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex
London and New York: Routledge, Preface pp ix-xii and Introduction,
pp 1-23
BARAD, K, 1998, Getting Real: Technoscientific Practices and the
Materialisation of Reality in differences 10 (2), pp 87-128

Week 7
Bodies and Deleuze
Rebecca Coleman
Reading:
DELEUZE, G and GUATTARI, F, 1987, A Thousand Plateaus:
Capitalism and Schizophrenia London and New York: Continuum
(extracts)
BRAIDOTTI, R, 2000, Teratologies in COLEBROOK, C and BUCHANAN, I,
eds., Deleuze and Feminist Theory Edinburgh: Edinburgh University
Press

Week 8
Technology and Culture I
Charlie Gere
Reading:
DERRIDA, J., 1988, Signature Event Context in Limited Inc. Evanston IL:
Northwestern University Press, pp 1 23
DOOLEY, M and KAVANAGH, L, 2007, 'Death and Diffrance:
Philosophy and Language' in The Philosophy of Derrida, Dublin:
Acumen pp 21 - 65

Week 9
Technology and Culture II
Charlie Gere
Reading:
BEARDSWORTH, R., Thinking Technicity in Deconstruction: A Reader,
edited by Martin McQuillan, Edinburgh University Press, pp 235 -43
STIEGLER, B., 1996, Leroi-Gourhan: linorganique organis, Cahiers de
Mediologie, no 6, 2e Semestre
(We will give you a translation of this but the original is available at
http://www.mediologie.org/06_mediologues/stiegler.pdf)

Week 10
Planning research and essay-writing
Bruce Bennett

Learning and teaching strategy

The module consists of ten weekly seminars lasting up to 2 hours. You are
expected to have completed the set reading for each week when you arrive at
the seminar.

Assessment
You will be assessed by means of a 5000-word course-work essay. You must
devise an essay question yourself, although the course convenor will give you
guidance on the formulation of a research question.
The deadline for submission of the assignment is 4.00pm, 17 th January
2008.
You should hand a hard copy of your essay to the postgraduate co-ordinator,
June Rye in the ICR postgraduate office A32, County South annexe. You
should also submit one electronic copy through the LUVLE site. Both copies
need to be in by the deadline. Details of how to submit work online can be
found on the LUVLE site, and are also available in a booklet from June Rye in
the ICR office.
Assessment criteria
The assessment criteria we use to grade your work can be found in the ICRs
MA handbook and on the course website
(http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/cultres/courses/pg/cult921.php).
Deadline extensions
Working to deadlines and managing your own time are key skills that you
need to develop and employ throughout your degree. You should plan ahead,
search for library resources in good time, and print out your work a few days
in advance of the deadline.
Extensions to submission deadlines of up to a week may be granted at the
discretion of the course convenor if written evidence of illness or other
mitigating circumstances is provided before the deadline. Should you require
an extension beyond a week, you should fill out a request form available from
the ICR postgraduate office. This request will then be considered by the
course convenor. There is an appeals procedure should students feel that
they have just cause to appeal against the deduction of marks for late work.
You must pick up and fill in an appeals form from the ICR office.
Acceptable reasons for
extensions

Unacceptable reasons for

extensions*

illness (you will be asked to

computer failure/printing

provide a medical certificate or

doctors note. Self-certification
forms can be obtained from the
ICR office)
serious personal/family problems

problems/access to computers
pressures of part-time work/paid

work
pressures of other deadlines/heavy

timetables

(you may be asked to write a

formal letter stating the
difficulties)

problems accessing library

resources

* These are the everyday pressures and demands of university work that everyone faces.
They therefore do not constitute acceptable reasons to request an extension. Part of what is
being assessed in any assignment is your ability to plan your time and manage other
academic and personal commitments.

The Universitys penalties for unauthorized late submission of assessments

are as follows:
Up to 7 days late: 10% deduction from the mark that would have been
awarded
More than 7 days late: a mark of zero will be awarded
Plagiarism
Plagiarism consists of copying other peoples work and passing it off as your
own. Under no circumstances should you attempt to pass of the work of other
people as your own. Quoting material (whether verbatim or with slight
modifications) from books, articles, web-pages or other students without
proper acknowledgement is plagiarism and will not be treated lightly. The
penalties for plagiarism extend to exclusion from the university

ICR Code of Practice

The degree scheme expects you to:
to attend seminars
to read for seminars and do any additional readings/tasks specified
to participate in seminar discussions
to take responsibility for your own learning and engage in independent
study/research
to respect others opinions in seminars
to retain all coursework
to keep the ICR office informed of any change to your circumstances (e.g.
address)
to keep yourself informed by regularly checking the ICR noticeboard
You can expect staff to:
provide a course outline for every course, including details on lectures, tutorials,
assessment
return written coursework - if submitted on time - within 4 weeks of submission
(not counting vacation weeks)
be committed to helping you learn
facilitate seminar discussion
be available during their stated office hour
provide advice over resources/ reading/ ideas
In addition:
you may request that any disputed coursework mark be examined by an
independent second reader

 you may examine any records kept on yourself in the ICR office, subject to
restrictions imposed by authors of such information
you may contribute to the programme through your representative on the Staff
Student Consultative Committee, and through evaluation questionnaires for every
course
What staff can't do:
write your essays for you although they can provide advice
be available at any time - check your tutor's office hour
tell you a 'right' or 'wrong' answer - there's no such thing. The emphasis is on
debate, analysis, and evaluation