FT2TCC: Television and Contemporary Culture

Module code: FT2TCC

Module provider: Film, Theatre and TV; School of Arts and Comm Design

Credits: 20

Level: Level 2 (Intermediate)

When you'll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Dr Tonia Kazakopoulou, email: a.kazakopoulou@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s): BEFORE TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST TAKE FT1ATT (Compulsory)

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 27 June 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

The module builds upon the analytical frameworks developed in Part 1, expanding the engagement with issues of genre, globalisation, industry and representation. It has a central aim of interrogating the construction of critical and contextual frameworks that underpin television studies. Students will explore television’s international flows, build a picture of national industrial practices, and analyse digital media practices and platforms. Students will be expected to develop a critical understanding of conventions and histories of selected genres and explore the often-invisible impact of ideologies of representation. 

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate an informed critical understanding of genre, format, and representation as analytical approaches to television as a form
2. Explore different global industrial contexts of television and digital media, including a strong understanding of the UK context
3. Consider television’s relationship to wider social/cultural/political contexts
4. Demonstrate through detailed textual analysis of specific aesthetic and narrative modes
5. Achieve oral communication and argument in group situations; deployment of research using printed and electronic resources; critical analysis and coherent argument; undertaking self-directed, independent work; presentation of written work using IT; identifying and addressing problems in the analysis of television.

Module content

This module will explore central industrial concerns, including independent production, new media platforms and global circulation of television, including practices of format sales. It will engage with a range of television genres, which may include, sitcom, teen drama, reality tv, lifestyle and factual entertainment and documentary. It will delve into television’s engagement with concerns of representation, with particular focus on race and class.  

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching will consist of lectures and seminars, plus screenings, but may also include some longer interactive sessions and peer study groups. Lectures will be used to establish contexts and to introduce issues for discussion and debate. Seminars will concentrate mainly on the close analysis of extracts from television texts and the weekly reading. 

Study hours

At least 42 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

There will be oral feedback throughout the module. Formative feedback on learning journal

Reassessment

Additional costs