Course Resources Archive
MCC324: Mycasting : Celebrity Culture and Everyday Life
| Module Title | Mycasting : Celebrity Culture and Everyday Life |
|---|---|
| Module Code | MCC324 |
| Module Tutor | Ian Hepworth |
| School | Media |
| CAT Points | 15 |
| Level of Study | 6 |
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Co-requisites | None |
| Restrictions | None |
| Brief Description | The module explores and critically evaluates a range of theories and perspectives on the ordinary/extraordinary relationship of celebrity in everyday life and shifts in that relationship over time. Students will consider changes in the construction, role, function and power of celebrity from the postwar (broadcast) era to the present (broadcasting, narrowcasting and mycasting) era. This subject considers those shifts in relation to the increased incorporation of celebrity culture into everyday life. |
| Indicative Syllabus | A chronology of case studies on the construction of celebrity drawn from cinema, television and popular music will form a background for students to examine the audience’s ability to ‘talk back’ to celebrity and to reproduce themselves as celebrities through mycasting. In doing so students will critically examine: • The impact of shifts on the ordinary/ extraordinary binary that the literature attributes to the role of the celebrity and star in popular culture and its impacts upon traditional media formats and genres; • The extent to which a combination of the tabloid revolution instigated by Rupert Murdoch in Britain in the 1970s and the arrival of multichannel cable/digital television in the 1980s/1990s has informed the emergence of new subjectivities and new hybrid media forms in contemporary screen media. • The emergence of hybrid media forms through ‘mycasting’, namely the extension of media celebrity practices, previously confined to stars in mass media industries, to ordinary people, made possible through the increased integration of digital networks and online communities into offline communities locally and [G]locally. |
| Learning Outcomes | i. Knowledge and Understanding On completion of the module students should be able to: a) Apply a variety of approaches (including queer theory, semiotics, textual analysis and cyber theory) to critically analyse developments in celebrity culture through screen media. b) Evaluate and apply theoretical concepts (e.g. intertextuality, genre, star-image, spectatorship, modernism and postmodernis m) and explain the issues these raise for contemporary screen media. c) Critically evaluate and contrast developments in the role of celebrity in post-war screen media to contemporary screen media, and to relate these to wider claims about a shift from modernism to post modernism d) Analyse the ways in which the convergence of various contemporary screen media have intersected with everyday life to produce hybrid media forms such as webcasting and ‘mycasting’ e) Critically examine mycasting as an aspect of contemporary celebrity and new subjectivites in contemporary screen media and the fragmenting of audiences along lifestyle and income lines locally, globally and [g]locally. ii. Skills At the end of the module students should be able to demonstrate that they: a) Have acquired secondary and primary research skills through demonstrating a detailed knowledge of module content b) Have gained skills of critique and evaluation by understanding the key theoretical debates surrounding media and celebrity culture c) Have developed and are able to employ appropriate frameworks for scholarly research and identify and explore relevant research problemsd. Can communicate research findings cogently and clearly in written assessments. |
| Learning and Teaching Activities | Staff/student contact: approx 20% Please note – staff/student contact may vary from the norm in modules with larger or smaller student numbers |
| Assessment (For further details see the Module Guide) | 001: 50% Coursework: PORTFOLIO 002: 50% Coursework: 2000 WORD ESSAY |
| Special Assessment Requirements | None |
| Indicative Resources | The Library Catalogue contains full details of the current reading list for this module. Further details may also be found in the Module Guide. |
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