MRes Humanities - extra - Keele University
humss school banner

 

Media, Communications & Culture

MRes - Media Communications and Culture

We have particular expertise in the following areas:

  • Cultural Theory (particularly the Frankfurt School, gender theory, masculinity, postmodernism, post-colonialism)
  • Globalisation, Environment and Cyberculture (ideas of humanness, cyborgs, consumerism, capitalism, animal rights and ecology)
  • Cultural History (of the seventeenth-, eighteenth-, nineteenth- and twentieth centuries)
  • Film Studies (particularly British post-war cinema, European cinema of the twentieth century and Film music)
  • Moving and Still Image Production (especially around notions of cultural identity, stigma and discrimination, and the visual representation of marginalised groups and ‘otherness’)
  • Media Studies (particularly media representations of crime and deviance, and the cultural politics of identity)

The modules offered within Media, Communications and Culture are as follows:

Cultural Theory (MDS-4001)

The module aims to introduce students to and further develop their knowledge of cultural theory appropriate to the field of Media, Communications and Culture. It enables students to explore the major movements in cultural theory, including film theory. Students will examine key issues in twentieth-century cultural theory and explore the complexity of these issues in relation to social and cultural change. The module will introduce students to the theory and practice of reading culture in general as well as various specific forms and modes of cultural self-representation. Authors and topics to be considered may include Cultural Materialism, Cultural History, Subcultures, Cybercultures, Cultural Geographies, 9/11, Globalisation, Postmodernism, Postcolonialism, (Post-) Feminism, Psychoanalysis, Ecocriticism, The Frankfurt School, Michel Foucault, Slavoj Zizek, Laura Mulvey, Judith Butler and Stuart Hall.

Assessment:
4,500 word essay

Individual Research Orientation (MDS-40003)

The module aims to further students’ understanding of the research area or topic which has been chosen as the theme of the dissertation. It will comprise individual study, directed by a reading programme drawn up by the student and their prospective supervisor, and the student will work with their supervisor to plan and develop an essay topic. A literature review will usually be completed to enable the student to situate their projected work within current disciplinary debates.

Assessment:
4,500 word essay

Dissertation

The MRes culminates in the production of a 20,000–25,000-word dissertation. The topic for the dissertation is developed by the student in consultation with a supervisor.

Instead of the Dissertation, MCC students may choose to undertake a Media Project, supervised by a member of the discipline. The nature of this project and balance between practical and critical components will be negotiated and agreed with the supervisor and approved by the appropriate research committee, but at least 25% of the submitted work will comprise an accompanying critical essay.

Assessment:
20,000–25,000-word dissertation
or, a media project + critical essay

Other options:

Where appropriate to the research topic, up to 60 credits of other relevant training can be substituted for the ‘Individual Research Orientation’ and/or ‘Cultural Theory’ modules can be taken from other Masters programmes. Methods of assessment and submission dates must be agreed with the supervisor and Director of MRes in advance. If relevant, some modules may be taken from the Social Sciences Research Training Programme.

For further information, please contact :
Dr Nick Bentley, School of Humanities, Keele University, Staffordshire, ST5 5BG.