Module Information

Module Identifier
FM10220
Module Title
Studying Television
Academic Year
2024/2025
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 2
Reading List
Other Staff

Course Delivery

 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment Report  A summary of a key concept in television studies 1000 Words  40%
Semester Assessment Essay  2000 Words  60%
Supplementary Assessment Report  A summary of a key concept in television studies 1000 Words  40%
Supplementary Assessment Essay  2000 Words  60%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

Explore the ways in which television content may be related to wider historical, cultural, political and social contexts.

Understand the purposes of the key theories and concepts that have dominated the academic study of television and be able to apply these theories and concepts to televisual examples.

Analyse televisual texts effectively and thoroughly

Draw critically upon a range of scholarly reading in the field of television studies and incorporate this into written assignments

Brief description

This module will offer a comprehensive introduction to the academic study of television, by introducing students to some of the key questions and theoretical debates that characterise both the historical and contemporary concerns within the field of television studies. The module will introduce students to key topic areas that have dominated discussion and debate in television studies, and will enable them to apply key theories to relevant televisual examples.

Aims

The aim of the module is to present a broad knowledge base of television by means of an analysis of a range of issues from the academic study of the medium, the history of television, structures and policy, television as text, the relationship between television and audiences and an introduction to the application of cultural theory to the study of television.

Content

Lectures and seminars will cover the following topics:

Television: a medium in its own right
TVI: early television
TVII: Televisuality
TVIII: Post-TV?
Television and ideology
Television's audiences
Television and postmodernism
Television and genre

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Communication * Students' written communication skills will be developed (e.g. appropriate language and style, accuracy, precision and ability to be concise). * Opportunities will be given, through seminar sessions, for students to develop confidence in using their speaking and listening skills when communicating their ideas.
Improving own Learning and Performance * Students will be able to develop their skills of information location and retrieval. * Students will be given opportunities to develop effective note-taking skills. * Students will develop their critical thinking skills. * Through group discussion, students will be given opportunities to develop an awareness of the opinions of others and reconsider initial ideas if necessary.
Information Technology * Students will be given the opportunity to develop their authorial and note-taking skills when planning and preparing for the written assignments, and will be encouraged to develop their note-taking skills in lectures. * Students will be given opportunities to develop their skills in searching for relevant reading and other materials through the University's Voyager Library Catalogue, the University electronic resource, Joey, and through the newspaper database, Lexis-Nexis. * E-mail and Blackboard will be the main forms of communication and information-sharing in this module, so students will be encouraged to actively engage in these processes.
Personal Development and Career planning * Students will be given the opportunity to evaluate current knowledge and skills and set targets for self-improvement. * Students will be encouraged to take increasing responsibility for managing their own learning. * Students will be encouraged to build upon the knowledge gained from lectures through developing skills in self study (supported by the general and specific reading lists and other resources distributed throughout the module).
Problem solving * Students should be able to identify tensions and debates in the field, and will be encouraged to critically reflect on the process by which academics arrive at particular theoretical interpretations of particular television programmes.
Research skills * Students will be able to develop their skills of information location and retrieval. * Students will be able to develop their textual analytic skills, and to learn to analyse texts in a focused and purposeful manner.
Team work * All seminar sessions will involve group work where students will be able to collaborate through discussion, and then feed back their ideas to the seminar group as a whole.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 4