Module Information

This module is designed to introduce students to and familiarize them with some of the important themes encountered in the study of media history. It does this by focusing on three areas in particular: the theoretical, the historiographical and the practical. First, therefore, students will discuss how media history relates to, and differs from, `media studies?, and will investigate how the mass media became a subject of concerted theoretical study (among the `Frankfurt school? and others) in the early part of the twentieth century. Second, they will look at how the history of the mass media has been written, focusing in turn on the historiography of the newspaper press, of film, and of broadcasting. Third, students will be introduced to some of the practical challenges of researching in media archives; this part of the module will involve an introduction to and hands-on exploration of the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales (NSSAW), organised in collaboration with NSSAW staff.

The module is designed to introduce students to some of the important themes encountered in studying media history, and to provide them with a thematic framework for the study of the political, social and intellectual structures which shape the media, focusing primarily on British and Welsh media institutions. We are pleased to be able to run this module in collaboration with the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales, NLW.