55990 Honours Theoretical Frameworks
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Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 12 cp
Result type: Grade and marks
There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Anti-requisite(s): 55995 Honours Seminar in Communication and Society AND 55996 Honours Seminar in Culture and Creativity
Description
This subject draws on concepts and intellectual traditions from across the humanities and social sciences and invites students to apply theories to their research areas and questions. Students examine some of the key theories and methodologies used in the fields of media, communication and cultural studies. They are encouraged to explore the interactions and tensions between theory and practice so that they can act as informed, critically aware and innovative researchers.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
| a. | Evaluate a range of theoretical approaches used in social sciences, humanities and creative practice research. |
|---|---|
| b. | Situate individual research interests within broader themes and areas of professional practice. |
| c. | Develop advanced conceptual frameworks that reflect different disciplinary, cultural and Indigenous knowledge perspectives. |
| d. | Reflect critically on personal knowledge assumptions and how they affect research practice. |
| e. | Communicate about sophisticated theoretical concepts in a clear, logical and persuasive manner in both oral and written form. |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject engages with the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs), which are tailored to the Graduate Attributes set for all graduates of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences:
- Demonstrate an advanced knowledge of professional practice in a specific communication industry or field (1.1)
- Apply theoretically informed understandings of a communication industry in an independent research project (1.2)
- Employ research and inquiry skills to independently locate, gather, organise and analyse information across diverse platforms to inform understandings of a specific communication industry (2.1)
- Exhibit intellectual curiosity, reflexive critical thinking and innovative creative practice and be able to plan and execute ethical research (2.2)
- Demonstrate a strong awareness, knowledge of, and sensitivity to, diversity, equity and global contexts (3.1)
- Critically analyse the crucial place of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples within contemporary Australian politics, history, culture and industry (4.1)
Teaching and learning strategies
This subject is taught in seminars that focus on intensive discussion of ideas raised in the reading material, as well as workshopping of student projects. Students are required to engage actively with the multidisciplinary literature in preparation for seminars and as part of the assessment process. Content delivery takes place online through pre-class activities and recordings that students complete in preparation for the weekly seminar. While there is an emphasis on independent work and inquiry, active student learning will be supported by early and ongoing feedback from both peers and instructors on performance in weekly class activities and through workshopping of assessment tasks.
Content (topics)
This subject explores key theories and theoretical turning points that have informed the development of contemporary communications and cultural studies. The social and historical underpinnings of such concepts are considered, and students are encouraged to engage critically with schools of thought that have proved influential across a range of disciplines and fields of practice. Modules examine theories related to different concepts with broad relevance in cultural studies (e.g. power, identity).
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Research proposal for essay or creative project + positionality statement
| Objective(s): | a, b, d and e | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight: | 15% | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Length: | 800 words including in-text referencing (approximately 400 words for research proposal and 400 words on positionality statement) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Criteria linkages: |
SLOs: subject learning objectives CILOs: course intended learning outcomes |
Assessment task 2: Student-led lesson
| Objective(s): | a, b and e | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight: | 35% | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Length: | 10-minute presentation + leading class discussion | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Criteria linkages: |
SLOs: subject learning objectives CILOs: course intended learning outcomes |
Assessment task 3: Essay or creative project
| Objective(s): | a, b, c and e | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight: | 50% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length: | 3500 words including in-text referencing or creative equivalent | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Criteria linkages: |
SLOs: subject learning objectives CILOs: course intended learning outcomes |
Minimum requirements
In this subject assessment tasks are cumulative so that each task builds understanding and/or skills, informed by formative feedback. Consequently, all assessments must be submitted in order for students to receive feedback. Students who do not submit all assessments will not pass the subject.
References
Books and Edited Collections
Barker, C. 2002, Making sense of cultural studies: central problems and critical debates, SAGE, London.
Barker, C. 2004, The SAGE Dictionary of Cultural Studies, SAGE, London.
Bennett, T. & John Frow. 2008, The SAGE handbook of cultural analysis, SAGE, London.
Bowman, P. 2015, Interrogating Cultural Studies: Theory, Politics and Practice, Pluto Press, London.
Couldry, N. 2000, Inside Culture: Re-imagining the Method of Cultural Studies, SAGE, London.
Devereaux, E. 2007, Media Studies: Key Issues and Debates, SAGE, London.
During, S. 1999, The Cultural Studies Reader, Taylor & Francis Group, London.
During, S. 2005, Cultural Studies: A Critical Introduction, Routledge, London.
Ferguson, M., P. Golding & M. Ferguson. 1997, Cultural Studies in Question, SAGE, London.
Freeman, M. & R. R. Gambarato. 2018, The Routledge Companion to Transmedia Studies, Routledge, New York.
Gauntlett, D. 2014, Making Media Studies: The Creativity Turn in Media and Communications, Peter Lang, New York.
Hartley, J. 2003, A Short History of Cultural Studies, SAGE, London.
Jones, P. & David Holmes. 2011, Key concepts in media and communications, SAGE, London.
Kellner, D. 2020, Media Culture: Cultural Studies, Identity, and Politics in the Contemporary Moment, Routledge, New York.
Kendall, G. & G. Wickham. 2001, Understanding Culture: Cultural Studies, Order, Ordering, SAGE, London.
Lewis, R. & S. Mills. 2003, Feminist Postcolonial Theory: A Reader, Routledge, London.
McRobbie, A. 2005, The Uses of Cultural Studies: A Textbook, SAGE, London.
Miller, T. 2001, A companion to cultural studies, Blackwell, Malden, MA.
Milner, A. 2002, Re-imagining cultural studies: The promise of cultural materialism, SAGE, London.
Oswell, D. 2006, Culture and Society: An Introduction to Cultural Studies, SAGE, London.
Purvis, T. 2006, Get Set for Media and Cultural Studies, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.
Ryan, M. 2010, Cultural Studies: A Practical Introduction, Wiley, Hoboken.
Saukko, P. 2003, Doing Research in Cultural Studies: An Introduction to Classical and New Methodological Approaches, SAGE, London.
Smith, P. 2011, The Renewal of Cultural Studies, Temple University Press, Philadelphia.
Storey, J. 1998, An Introduction to Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, University of Georgia Press, Athens.
Storey, J. 2010, Culture and Power in Cultural Studies: The Politics of Signification, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.
Tudor, A. 1999, Decoding culture, theory and method in cultural studies, SAGE, London.
Turner, G. 2012, What's Become of Cultural Studies?, SAGE, London.
Turner, G. 2020, Essays in media and cultural studies: in transition, Routledge, New York.
Walton, D. 2008, Introducing Cultural Studies: Learning through Practice, SAGE, London.
Journals
Communication, Culture and Critique
Communication, Methods and Measures
Communication Research
Communication Theory
Cultural Analaysis
Cultural Sociology
Cultural Studies
Cultural Studies - Critical Methodologies
Differences
Discourse, Context and Media
European Journal of Communication
European Journal of Cultural Studies
Information, Communication and Society
International Journal of Cultural Studies
Journal for Cultural Research
Journal of Communication
Journal of Cultural Economy
Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies
Journal of Intercultural Studies
Journal of International and Intercultural Communication
Political Communication
Signs and Society
Social Movement Studies
Social Semiotics