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Module Specifications

Archived Version 2014 - 2015

Module Title Media Audiences and Consumption
Module Code CM536
School School of Communications

Online Module Resources

Module Co-ordinatorDr Barbara O'ConnorOffice Number
NFQ level 9 Credit Rating 10
Pre-requisite None
Co-requisite None
Compatibles None
Incompatibles None
Description

This module addresses the importance of audience studies for media studies and for society, culture and politics more generally. It aims to familiarise students with a broad range of theories and methods used in the study of film and television audiences in both a historical and contemporary context. It does so by focusing on the relationship between media texts and audiences, the social and cultural contexts of reception, and the ways in which meanings are generated for, and by, audiences. Through an examination of these elements, the module addresses the issues of media effects, influences and pleasures.

Learning Outcomes

1. Demonstrate a detailed understanding of a range of key theoretical and empirical approaches to audiences.
2. Identify the range of relationships that exist between the media and their audiences.
3. Evaluate different theoretical and methodological approaches to the academic study of audiences.
4. Examine the role of a specific film or television audience through conducting an audience research project.
5. Apply abstract knowledge of media audiences to empirical contexts.



Workload Full-time hours per semester
Type Hours Description
Lecture24Theories and methodologies of film and television audiences
Seminars12Discussion of class material and student research projects
Independent Study66No Description
Directed learning148Selection and completion of an audience research project
Total Workload: 250

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Overview of debates and issues in audience studies Audiences, publics and imagined communities.
Power, Ideology and Meanings: Encoding/Decoding: The 'active audience': reading and resistance: The Pleasures of the Text: Women's Genres Fan cultures and identity construction Reading genres: television news/ public information Audiences, History and Cultural Memory Contexts of viewing: domesticity and home Contexts of viewing: crossing cultures : 'New Media' and the disappearing audience?

Assessment Breakdown
Continuous Assessment100% Examination Weight0%
Course Work Breakdown
TypeDescription% of totalAssessment Date
Reassessment Requirement
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories;
1 = A resit is available for all components of the module
2 = No resit is available for 100% continuous assessment module
3 = No resit is available for the continuous assessment component
Unavailable
Indicative Reading List

  • Gillespie, M (ed): 2005, Media Audiences, Open University Press,
  • Brooker, W. and D. Jermyn: 2003, The Audience Studies Reader, Routledge, London,
  • Abercrombie, N and B. Longhurst: 1998, Audiences: A Sociological Theory of Performance and Imagination,
  • Ruddock, A.: 2001, Understanding Audiences: Theory and Method, Sage, London,
  • Staiger, J.: 2000, Perverse Spectators: The Practices of Film Reception, New York University Press,
  • Kuhn, A.: 2002, An Everyday Magic: Cinema and Cultural Memory, I.B. Tauris, London,
  • Askew, K. and R.R. Wilk: 2002, The Anthropology of Media: A Reader, Blackwell, Oxford,
  • Morley, D.: 1980, The 'Nationwide' Audience, British Film Institute, London,
  • Morley, D: 1986, Family Television: Cultural Power and Domestic Leisure, Comedia, London,
  • Kelly, M.J. and B O'Connor: 1997, Media Audiences in Ireland: Power and Cultural Identity, University College Dublin Press, Dublin,
  • Hay, J., L. Grossberg and E. Wartella: 1996, The Audience and its Landscape, Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado,
Other Resources

None
Programme or List of Programmes
GDSMSGraduate Diploma in Social Media Studies
IFPSMSIFP Social Media Studies
MSMSMA in Social Media Studies
MTVMA in Film and Television Studies
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