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Core Module 1: Approaching Global Media

Dr Pietari Kääpä

In this module you will gain an overview of the various disciplinary approaches taken in the academic understanding of the global media. Drawing on perspectives from Sociology, Cultural and Communication Studies, amongst others, the module will deepen your understanding of the historical, social and political contexts in which the media industries are located, and help to shed light on the contemporary landscape in which they operate.

You will also examine the place of the media industries in creating 'global' society and engage with debates about economic and cultural globalization. The latter part of the of the module you will consider the role of the global media in shaping and transforming a global public sphere. Further examination of the structure and organisation of the media and cultural industries will help to reveal what is at stake in the proliferation of channels and flows of media messages around the globe.

Illustrative bibliography

Appadurai, Arjun. (1996) Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalisation. London and Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Briggs, Asa and Burke, Peter (2009) A Social History of the Media: From Gutenberg to the Internet, 3rd ed, Cambridge, Polity

Castells, M. (2010) The Rise of the Network Society, 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell

Dorfman, A. and Mattelart, A. (1975) How to Read Donald Duck: Imperialist Ideology in the Disney Comic, I.G. Editions, New York.

Kishan Thussu, D. (ed) (2007) Media on the move, London: Routledge

Lash, S. and Lury, C. (2007) Global Culture Industry. Cambridge: Polity Press

Nederveen Pieterse, J. (2009) Globalization and Culture: Global Melange, 2nd ed., Plymouth, Rowman and Littlefied.

Thomas, A. O. (2005) Imagi-nations and Borderless Television, London, Sage.

Tomlinson, J. (2001) Cultural Imperialism. London: Continuum.

Webster, F. ed (2004) The Information Society Reader, London, Routledge

Wise, J. M. (2008) Cultural Globalization: A user’s guide, Oxford, Blackwell.