MA Global Media and Digital Cultures (Online)

This course offers students a broad understanding of a range of issues that the study of global media raise in regard to the changing nature of diplomacy. The course starts by situating the rise of global media within processes of globalization.

This module addresses a crucial element of contemporary Diplomacy and international affairs, the role of digital technologies in practices, processes and language of diplomacy. As such, it will respond to rapidly changing environments for diplomacy and international relations. It will ask whether, how and in which days does the use of digital technologies in public diplomacy, soft power, propaganda, influence and persuasion and link these questions to trends and changes in policies and decision making. In addition, it will adopt a holistic view of processes and practices, considering how both state and non-state actors are using the expanding digital spaces and platforms and what these mean for conventional understanding of diplomacy.

This module addresses a central component of contemporary globalization that is the mass movement of people and the consequent growth of a variety of communities and networks whose lives are played out across and beyond national borders. Media and communications are central to the lives of such collectivities and serve many different purposes: political, cultural, economic. The course takes a transdisciplinary and historical approach to these issues. It introduces students to the key theoretical debates around transnational collectivities, including networks and diasporas, their media practices and uses of communication. It explores issues around identity-formation and representation and the debates about the rise of populist xenophobia after multiculturalist politics for decades in the UK and elsewhere. The course also invites students to think reflexively about your own life trajectory, cultural consumption and identity-formation.

Students will gain an interdisciplinary social science foundation, that brings together theorical grounding in anthropology, sociology and media studies. By engaging with a series of key debates related to transnational communities and their media practices, the students will gain an understanding of the underlying processes which are shaping personal identities and global cultures.

The readings in the module include a mix of seminal articles/work by academics from a diversity of disciplines including media reports and academic articles.

Objectives and learning outcomes of the module

On successful completion of this module a student will be able to:

• Acquire an informed insight into the theories to do with transnational communities and their media
• Understand the key debates about transnational communities
• Develop the skills needed for further independent research, writing and thinking about transnational communications
• Develop the ability to think critically, with reference to theoretical and empirical (historical and/or contemporary) content about transnational communities

Scope and syllabus

Topic list

1. Introduction:  module overview and discussion of themes
2. Space, place and identity
3. Imagined threats and “migrant crises”: borders, politics and the media
4. Transnational religion and digital communications
5. Social media and the diasporic everyday
6. Ethnic minority media
7. Diasporas and hate speech
8. Multiculturalism: politics, policies and the media
9. Multiple identifications in the metropolis: London and beyond
10. Diasporas, nationalisms and political mobilization
11. Diasporic cinema
12. New social movements as global networks

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This module offers insight into key issues in the study of gender and conflict in the Middle East. It provides a focus for students interested in women’s studies, feminism, sexuality and gender, while also offering a gendered approach to the study of conflict in the Middle East.

Global Diplomacy: Global Citizenship and Advocacy.

This module explores the development of government policies in non-Muslim countries towards Muslim minority communities, from the colonial era to the present day. It focuses on eight countries: Britain, USA, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, India, and Singapore, using these as case studies to explore the issues raised in both western and non-western contexts. In all cases the importance of colonial legacies for understanding the contemporary situation of Muslims in these countries is a focal point for reading and discussion. In addition, the module offers a theoretical approach to Muslim minorities more generally, expanding on some of the key themes and issues covered in the introductory module for the Programme. Upon completion of this module, students will have acquired the methodological expertise to apply themselves to the study of other Muslim minorities in different geographic locations living under different jurisdictions.

All modules are subject to availability and are subject to change from session to session.

Suggested reading

Fetzer, Joel S. and Soper, J. Christopher (2005) Muslims and the State in Britain, France, and Germany (Cambridge University Press) (Dawsonera)
Yasmeen, Samina and Marković, Nina eds. (2014) Muslim Citizens in the West: Spaces and Agents of Inclusion and Exclusion (Ashgate Publishing Limited) (Dawsonera)

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Muslim Minorities in a Global Context (Online)

This module will tackle the important topic of Cultural Diplomacy, an increasingly vital component of public diplomacy and international relations. The module will investigate the role of culture as a soft power tool to be used as a solution for bridge building and international dialogue, with the consideration that the 21st Century world’s challenges, such as migration, radicalization and climate change are largely culture based.

The module will address the theories of culture and diplomacy and their relationship to one another, whilst asking the questions: ‘how has globalization changed the way in which diplomacy is practiced?’ and ‘how can the use of culture foster more effective diplomatic practices?’.

The Cultural Diplomacy module will focus on a study of the key traditional building blocks of cultural diplomacy – public diplomacy, propaganda and soft power – to enable students to gain an in depth understanding of where cultural diplomacy fits within the larger international affairs arena, and to equip them with the skills they need to develop as cultural diplomacy practitioners.

Students will additionally gain an understanding of the non-state actor led practice of cultural relations and the key actors engaged in this field, including artists, citizens, NGOs, corporates and academics, allowing students to develop a well rounded academic foundation in the complex field of cultural diplomacy.

All modules are subject to availability and are subject to change from session to session.

Suggested reading

Bound, K, Briggs, R, Holden, J and Jones, 2007. Cultural Diplomacy. London. Demos. Available from: www.demos.co.uk/publications/culturaldiplomacy
Nye, J.S. 2008. Public Diplomacy and Soft Power. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 616. Public Diplomacy in a Changing World pp. 94-109

Disclaimer

Important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules

The Middle East has long been an area of interstate conflict and an important area for proxy conflict of global great powers as well as regional actors. This module will investigate the Diplomacy and Power politics of key regional and Global actors in the Middle East region and how they leverage these to achieve their national objectives. This module will also engage with key international organisations such as the UN and Arab League. It will focus on the region from the End of the Cold War to the present day.

Objectives and learning outcomes of the module

On successful completion of this module a student will be able to:

• Acquire an informed insight into the theories to do with media and religion
• Understand the key debates about media and religion in the digital age.
• Develop the skills needed for further independent research, writing and thinking about issues on Development in the present context
• Develop the ability to think critically, with reference to theoretical and empirical (historical and/or contemporary) content about the relationship between Media and Development

Scope and syllabus

Topic list

1. Introduction: module overview and discussion of themes
2. History of media and religion
3. Media, religion and debates on technological determinism
4. New media old debates – dissemination and dialogue
5. Tradition, space and place in media and religion
6. Orality, image, text and performance in media and religion
7. Media rituals and audiences in media and religion
8. Religion, digital media and the dark side of media and religion
9. Religion, media and contemporary politics
10. Religious movements in the contemporary world
11. Mediating religion
12. Future trends in media and religion
    

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Important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules

This module provides an introduction to the history of debates around the relationship between media and development. The course challenges the assumptions behind the media and development industries, as well as development studies, and offers new ways of addressing and analysing about these issues. The approach balances critical theoretical analysis of the hegemony implied by the ideas and practices of development with the practical issues surrounding the use of contemporary media, including notably digital technologies, for a range of developmental purposes.

By the end of the module, students would have acquired knowledge and understanding of the dynamics and debates about the role of media and Information Communication Technologies in development processes. Specifically they should be able to critically examine the discourses of development, the role of national and international organizations, NGOs, citizens in defining and producing development, and the emergence of critical and alternative paradigms for sustainable societies. In addition, students will acquire critical knowledge of the key theoretical issues surrounding the role of media and Information Communication Technologies in development processes; be able to analytically disaggregate economic, political, social and cultural strands of development and the nature of mediated practices within each.

The readings in the module include a mix of media and development theory with a good mix of case studies that would be useful for analysis.

Objectives and learning outcomes of the module

On successful completion of this module a student will be able to:

• Acquire an informed insight into the theories to do with media and Development
• Understand the key debates about Development
• Develop the skills needed for further independent research, writing and thinking about issues on Development in the present context
• Develop the ability to think critically, with reference to theoretical and empirical (historical and/or contemporary) content about the relationship between Media and Development

Scope and syllabus

Topic list

1. Introduction:  module overview and discussion of themes
2. The coming of Modernity
3. The Other in Development Theory
4. Decoding Development
5. NGOs and Media: The relationship
6. MDGs and SDGs: Why one prevails over the other
7. Citizen Journalism and Development
8. Construction of the INGO
9. Case study: Red Cross and Green Peace and their positioning
10. Digital, Activism and anti-Development warriors
11. Development today: Mainstream Media, Philanthropy and Pet Causes
12. Development to Climate Change: How did we get here

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Important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules

This module introduces students to the main theoretical arguments, approaches and debates at the intersection of global media and gender studies. It will explore the history of the field rooted in Western feminist media studies, postcolonial as well as intersectional critiques, and contemporary debates in global media and gender studies.

Case studies and examples may address the following topics and issues: the online presence of feminist Afropolitan identities and the case of writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; secular Iranian feminist hashtags such as #MyStealthyFreedom and Western right-wing and Islamophobic re-appropriations; the dominance of white men in war reporting; the role of algorithms in upholding racist and sexist beauty norms; ISIS online propaganda and exploitation of women; virtual dating and game apps in East Asia with a particular focus on the highly successful Chinese mobile game Love and Producer; post-feminist Muslim empowerment and international marketing campaigns such as the Nike Pro Hijab; women’s media uses in the Arab Spring; gendered representations and polymedia uses by Filipina labour migrants as well as Syrian refugees.

By addressing such case studies, and linking them to theories from cultural, gender and global media studies, this module aims to critically explore a) the gendered, racial and capitalist dimensions of whose voices – discursive and embodied – are heard, silenced or misused in diverse global media; and b) the role of (digital) media in shaping, upholding or contesting dominant gender ideals.

Objectives and learning outcomes of the module

On successful completion of this module a student will be able to:

1. Acquire an informed insight into the relationship between gender and media in the digital age
2. Understand the relationship between theory, practice across key issues in media and gender
3. Develop the skills needed for further independent research, writing and thinking about media and gender.
4. Develop the ability to think critically, with reference to theoretical and empirical (historical and/or contemporary) content about media and gender

Scope and syllabus

1. Introduction I: Gendering global media dynamics: Western feminisms, postcolonial critique and intersectionality
2. Introduction II: Mediating gender: Space, visibility and voice
3. Representing racialised, gendered and nationalised bodies in film, advertisement and political campaigns
4. Gender, self-representation and post-feminism: Diversity, global capitalism and empowerment in the digital age
5. Women as producers: Female journalists and film-makers and authority over content
6. Gender, apps and sexuality: Dating and gaming
7. Global hashtag movements and their discontent: Feminist activisms, toxic masculinity and misogyny in digital spaces
8. Women as agents of change: Media, socio-political change and moments of liminality
9. Media, migration and diaspora
10. Reporting war: Gender, media, race and conflict
11. Gendering media and development: media infrastructures, mass media and ICT’s
12. Recap: Applying a gendered lens to the study of global media and communications: Opportunities and challenges

Disclaimer

Important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules