Module Identifier MC30120  
Module Title GLOBALISATION, CONVERGENCE, DIGITISATION  
Academic Year 2003/2004  
Co-ordinator Dr Jamie Sexton  
Semester Semester 2 (Taught over 2 semesters)  
Pre-Requisite MC10020 , TF10420 Students must have completed one of these two modules as a pre-requisite.  
Course delivery Lecture   20 Hours  
  Seminars / Tutorials   10 Hours  
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Assessment Research project (approx. 3000 words) This combines a group element, assessed for the range of resources appropriately found and sourced, and the division of tasks among the group; and the individual element of critical review of the resources discovered relevant to the agreed assigned task.60%
Semester Assessment Essay (2000 words) For information on due dates for submission of assessed work, please refer to the Departmental webpages on http://www.aber.ac.uk/tfts/duedates.shtml40%

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of this module, students should be able to:
1. critically engage in on-going debates about the meaning, direction and extent of `globalisation? and the role of communication processes within this, taking into account the important political and cultural values at stake in these debates;
2. explore the meanings and implications of `media convergence?, and examine the levels at which this is taking place in relation to key examples;
3. consider the impact of digitization of production, storage and distribution within the above, and critically understand this by comparison with previous changes in media technology.

Brief description

This module is designed to give you a grounding in the very important and highly politicized debates currently on-going about `globalisation?. Its aim is to ensure that you are able to grasp the nature of these debates, and assess both the groundwork of evidence upon which they call, and the (political and cultural) implications of the various positions. Interconnected with this will be an examination of the particular role assigned to media and communications within these conflicting understandings: in, for example, the concept of global brands, notions of cultural imperialism, notions of the information revolution and the information society, and so on. You will also be introduced to research and debates about media convergence, and the increasing interdependence of all media, from ownership through to distribution, and to the part being played in these by the fast introduction of digital technologies for production, storage and distribution of media materials.

Aims

To engage students in understanding the widespread debates about `globalisation?, and to enable them to explore the role of communication and media within global processes;
To explore with them the nature of changes occurring as a result of convergence between media, at many levels including: ownership, cross-fertilisation; textual interdependence; marketing and publicity; and modes of distribution.
To consider the role increasingly being played by digital modes of production, storage and transmission in these processes, including considering how far/in what ways these new technologies may be helpfully understood by reference to previous `new? technologies.

Reading Lists

Books
** Recommended Background
Atkinson, Peter (1998) Convergence of the Telecommunications, Media and Information Technology Sectors HMSO
Beynon, John & David Dunkerley (1999) The Globalisation Reader Athlone
Gudykunst, William B & Bella Mody (2001) Handbook of International and Intercultural Communication Sage
Jameson, Justin (1995) Convergence and the New Media Institute of Public Policy Research
Klein, Naomi (2001) No Logo Flamingo
Standage, Tom (1999) The Victorian Internet Phoenix
Tomlinson, John (1999) Globalisation and Culture Polity
Wasko, Janet (2001) Understanding Disney Polity

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6