MDS-30017 - Module Specification
School of Humanities
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2021/22

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2021/22

Visual representations of leisure activities help to construct the ways we perceive ourselves and our cultural identity. This module explores how different leisure practices shape our everyday lives and identities, and reinforce particular cultural relations related to class, taste and power. It has a particular focus on the role of the media, and how particular media ¿ such as advertising, reality TV and holiday selfies ¿ shape how we understand and experience leisure.

We consider various critical perspectives about the relationship between leisure and the media and locate them through a look at a range of particular historic and contemporary examples and contexts of leisure, such as the carnival, the seaside, shopping, tourist destinations, fast food and fine dining.

Looking at specific examples and locations will help us to see how particular representations and ethnographies may be used to assist in an understanding of our relationship with the media and our leisure. Examples will be drawn from local as well as national and international contexts, as a basis for assessed work as well as to foster an exploration of the relationship between the local and the global and what we `do¿ and how we think when we engage in leisure activities.

-To develop understanding of various critical approaches to the media.
-To use forms, practices and spaces of leisure as contexts for understanding various critical approaches.
-To understand how various visual media are used and act to communicate and shape cultural identity.
-To be able to apply an understanding of visual media and critical approaches to relevant contexts.

Intended Learning Outcomes

recognise and explain various critical and contextual approaches to the media


: 1,2
analyse how various visual media are used and act to communicate and shape cultural identity: 1,2
apply an understanding of visual media and critical approaches to relevant contexts: 1,2
use forms, practices and spaces of leisure as contexts for understanding various critical approaches: 1,2
examine how, particularly, visual media can be used to communicate and express ideas and concepts: 2

Study hours

24 hours teaching (lectures, seminars, online activities)
42 hours project preparation
42 hours essay preparation
42 hours self/guided independent study

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment