School of International Communications Undergraduate ...€¦ · School of International Communications Undergraduate studies ... communication and cultural studies to address the

School of International Communications

Undergraduate studies

Module information 2017-18

nottingham.edu.cn/en/internationalcommunications

School of International Communicationswww.nottingham.edu.cn/en/internationalcommunications

IntroductionWe find that prospective students are often interested to find out more about the modules taught in the School, and so we have compiled a more detailed list of the modules we teach. Please be aware that in any one year, the se-lection of optional modules will vary. However, there will always be a range across the different fields of communications, media and culture represented in our School.

Undergraduate programmes from School of International Communications:

BA International Communications Studies (EC10)BA International Communications Studies with Chinese (EC01)

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Content Modules from School of International Communications

Year 2 (Qualifying Year)INCM1030 Communication and Culture (Spring)INCM1031 Media and Society (Autumn)INCM1032 Communication and Technology (Autumn)INCM1033 Cultures of Everyday Life (Spring)

Year 3 (Part I)INCM2025 Emergence and Development of the Culture Industry (Autumn)INCM2026 Researching Communications 1 (Autumn)INCM2027 Researching Communications 2 (Spring)INCM2028 Cultural Analysis (Autumn)INCM2029 Public Relations and Propaganda (Spring)INCM2030 Political Communication (Spring)INCM2031 Global Media & Communication (Autumn)INCM2032 Translating Cultures (Spring)INCM2043 Reading Film and Television (Spring)

Year 4 (Part II)INCM3033 BA International Communications Dissertation (Full Year)INCM3034 The New Media World: Social, Cultural and Political Developments (Spring)INCM3039 Psychology, Communications and the Self (Autumn)INCM3042 Humour and Culture (Autumn)INCM3045 Media Management (Spring)INCM3046 Digital Games as Communication (Spring)INCM3047 Documentary and Reality (Autumn)INCM3058 Chinese Cinemas (level 3) (Spring)INCM3061 Film and Philosophy (Spring)INCM3069 Transmedia Narratives and Digital Literacy (Spring)

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Year 2 modules

Communication and Culture (INCM1030)

Semester Spring

Credits 20

Assessment 2,000 word essay (40%); 3,000 word essay (60%)

Delivery Lecture – 1 per week, 2 hours durationSeminar – 1 per week, 1 hour 30mins duration

This module draws on contemporary theoretical and empirical work from the fields of media, communication and cultural studies to address the questions of cultural identity in relation to how meaning is made, as well as participation. This module encourages students to approach communication and culture as inextricably linked. Lectures and tutorials will invite you to consider the ways that media texts, media participation and media research can be used to shape opinions or behaviours, to entertain, to distract, to form identities, and to build communities. You will also be invited to reflect on the ways that you use and enjoy media, and the ways your media consumption and pro-duction practices may (or may not) reflect your values, attitudes, and sense of identity. The module deals with issues of gender, nationality, race, ethnicity, sexuality, subcul-tures, and more.

Media and Society (INCM1031)

Semester Autumn

Credits 20

Assessment2,500 word essay (60%); 1,500 words group project - Create and reflect on a media text (40%)

Delivery Lecture – 1 per week, 2 hours durationSeminar – 1 per week, 1 hour 30 mins duration

This module will critically evaluate the central role that the media play in an understanding of con-temporary society. The course will guide you through a series of key debates around the develop-ment, composition and function of different kinds of media with a particular focus on newspapers, television and the internet. You will learn how to understand the relationship between media and society by analysing texts, audiences, media institutions and government regulations. The module will engage with the following key theoretical arguments: media and democracy, the public sphere, political communication, the watchdog function of the media, and alternative media.


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Communication and Technology (INCM1032)

Semester Autumn

Credits 20

Assessment 2,000-2,500 word essay (50%); Group Transmedia Projects (50%)

Delivery Lecture – 1 per week, 2 hours durationSeminar – 1 per week, 1 hour 30mins duration

This module takes a detailed look at debates surrounding the impact of new information and communications technologies upon processes of communication during different historical periods and contexts. Particular attention will be paid to the social, ethical and political implications of newer communication technologies adoption as well as the some of the expected and unexpect-ed consequences The course will pay particular attention to human-machine and trans-human interactions (exploring the reshaping of communication forms and practices together with notions of posthumanism, transhumanism, and becomings).

Cultures of Everyday Life (INCM1033)

Semester Spring

Credits 20

Assessment 3,000 word project (60%); 10 minutes presentation (40%)

Delivery Lecture – 1 per week, 1 hour 30 mins durationSeminar – 1 per week, 2 hours duration

This module offers an introduction to theories of everyday life. The module deals with everyday life not as a palpable reality to be gathered up and described. Instead, it addresses theories that have attempted to represent aspects of everyday life that remain hidden, making visible the invis-ible. While we may take the idea of the everyday for granted, associating it with routine, familiar and repeated experiences, our everyday lives are, simultaneously, punctuated by the exceptional, the random and the disruptive. Traditional theoretical attempts to account for the everyday tend to overlook aspects of daily life that refuse system and order: sociology, anthropology, cultural and media studies, for example, deal with activities such as work and leisure but neglect the unique texture of everyday experience. This course thus emphasises the everyday world as problematic and fraught with difficulty in terms of seeing, theorising and representing, and looks at a wide range of attempts to register it.

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Year 3 modules


Emergence and Development of the Culture Industry (INCM2025)

Semester AutumnCredits 10Assessment 2,000 word coursework (100%)

Delivery Lecture – 1 per week, 1 hour durationSeminar – 1 per week, 1 hour duration

This module will analyse the emergence and development of the culture industry, focusing mainly on its growth in highly industrialised nations since the 1990s. The programme will analyse the growth of what are often now commonly referred to as the creative industries under the UK’s New Labour government from 1997 to 2010 and examine the influence of those policies and practices on other nations. A significant amount of time will be spent on analysing the creative industries in a number of Chinese cities, including Ningbo and Shanghai. The module will also contain a cri-tique of the culture industry, in particular exploring the debates relating to conceptual terms such as ‘creative industries’, ‘cultural industries’ and the ‘creative economy’.

Researching communications 1 (INCM2026)

Semester AutumnCredits 10Assessment 2,000 word essay (100%)


This module will introduce you to the key research issues and approaches at stake in the study of culture, film and media. We will explore a range of methodological approaches towards the study of communication, culture and the media. The module will explore in particular the key distinction between quantitative and qualitative research, the demands of historical research, the situation of the researcher in relation to his/her object of research, and the definition of a “field” of research within a “discipline” of study. In particular, it will distinguish communications, media and cultural studies from sociology and political science.

Researching communications 2 (INCM2027)

Semester Spring

Credits 10

Prerequisites Researching Communications 1 (INCM2026)

Assessment 2,000 word Proposal for Final BA Dissertation (100%)


This module will further explore to the key research issues and approaches at stake in the study of culture, film and media already pursued in Researching Communications 1. The range of meth-odological approaches towards the study of communication, culture and the media invesitigated there will be practically applied to the production of a single research project. In preparation for the project the module will explore the importance of research ethics and ideological position.8


Cultural Analysis (INCM2028)

Semester Autumn

Credits 10

Assessment 1,000 word coursework (40%); 1,500 word coursework (60%)


The module teaches students how to map, understand, and critique the relationships between culture, power, people, objects, and spaces. The module also trains students in the qualitative methodology of ethnography. A central principle of this module is to foster an ethical sensibility and political awareness that is about opening up to alternative encounters, ways of knowing, and new possibilities for living together. Upon completion students will be able to more creatively and ethically conduct cultural research and projects for the public, community, and private sectors.

Public Relations and Propaganda (INCM2029)

Semester Spring

Credits 10

Assessment 2,000 word essay (100%)


This module explores two modes of professional communication that aim at long-term influence on opinion and behaviour. It provides students with the historical background for public relations and propaganda with special attention to the interconnectedness of the two practices in 20th century mass media. The main focus is, however, on contemporary social media and its disrup-tive impact on established ways of doing and theorising PR and propaganda. Issues such as Corporate Social Responsibility, crisis management, branding and astroturfing are all considered in light of the challenges and possibilities presented by digitalisation in general and social media in particular. Relevant concepts such as Web 2.0 and viral marketing are employed in a critical way, asking students to consider such notions not only as analytical tools but also as business practices and as elements of the discourse around Media. Throughout, the module emphasises the ethical aspects of communication aimed at influence, asking students to pay attention to the thin line between persuasion and manipulation.

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Political Communication (INCM2030)

Semester Spring

Credits 10

Assessment 2,000 words essay (100%)


This module explores the role of political communication in Western mass democracies, and addresses the relationship between politics, media and democracy. Tracing the history of political communication through the Twentieth Century, the module shows how early practices have devel-oped across this period into the practices seen today. This module will consider how governments and political parties communicate with various constituencies: journalists, directly to the public, and with other governments and parties.

The module considers the use of “spin” in political communication, and explains the various tactics that have been employed by governments and political parties in this area. In particular, the development of “spin” under New Labour (government in the UK, 1997-2010) is addressed, with the module considering the broader change in political communication culture during that period. The main focus of this module is on political communication in the UK and the USA, and discusses how their differing constitutional systems impact on the communication strategies that are implemented. This module also addresses the use of digital and social media by governments and political parties.

Global Media & Communication (INCM2031)

Semester Autumn

Credits 10

Assessment 2,500 word coursework (100%)


This module aims to introduce you to the major contemporary theories of media and society in a global context. This includes developing a critical understanding of the media’s role in (un)democ-racies, the main forms of media systems, the institutional contexts surrounding news production, the relationship between media and globalisation, and different values and norms of Journalism in different global contexts. The first part of the module will focus on contexts and institutions of mass communication, with a particular emphasis on journalism, including media ownership and concentration, international news agencies, the new communication order, international news flow and contra-flow and ethical issues in global media. The second part of the module will look into models of journalism in Europe, USA, China and the Arab world.


Translating Cultures (INCM2032)

Semester Spring

Credits 10

Assessment 2,500 word project (100%)


This module draws on contemporary theoretical and empirical work from the field of cultural stud-ies to understand how global cultural flows intersect with political, economic and cultural power asymmetries. The first half of the module introduces key theories and concepts including adapta-tion, cultural appropriation, globalization, postcolonialism, orientalism and tradition. The second half of the module applies these concepts to specific examples, including the global adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the politics of World Music, and UNNC as a transcultural project.

Reading Film and Television (INCM2043)

Semester Spring

Credits 10

Assessment 1000-1,500 word analysis of a film frame (30%);2,000-2,500 word critical essay (70%)


This module will introduce students to the formal aspects of film and television and the language of textual analysis. The module is intended to encourage students to develop articulate, informed and personal responses to film by equipping learners with key practical and analytical vocabulary and knowledge. The module identifies how filmmakers create meaning within a text and teaches students to recognise how different elements of film work together to create a particular effect. The module assumes no previous knowledge of film studies amongst its students. It examines specific aspects of film style in-depth and introduces students to the new vocabulary associated with such elements. As such it provides an introduction to the analysis of film, its imagery and the mechanics of its construction through weekly topics which cover all four elements of film style. It pays attention to the practical side of film studies, such as shot analysis and recognizing the range of choices that are open to filmmakers in the construction of a film. As well as studying such components students also make critical assessments and comparisons of particular film styles and contexts.

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Year 4 modules


BA International Communications Dissertation (INCM3033)

Semester Full Year

Credits 40

Assessment 8,000 word dissertation (100%)

Delivery A minimum of five recorded face-to-face meetings (individual or group) with a designated academic supervisor

The purpose of the BA dissertation is to provide students with the opportunity to undertake inde-pendent research in a topic appropriate to the title of the degree for which they are registered.

The New Media World: Social, Cultural and Political Developments (INCM3034)

Semester Spring

Credits 20

Assessment 2,500 word coursework (60%); 2,500 word blog (40%)

Delivery Lecture – 1 per week, 2 hours durationSeminar – 1 per week, 1 hour duration

This module involves an exploration of the relationship between contemporary society and the spread of new media. Lectures will focus on three main strands: the impact of new media on the public and private spheres; the digital economy; and the way in which we use new media. Gener-ally, the module will offer an in-depth examination of social, cultural, and political transformations brought about by the development of new media technologies.

Psychology, Communications and the Self (INCM3039)

Semester Autumn

Credits 20

Assessment 3,000 word coursework (60%); 10 minutes + Q&A presentation (40%)

Delivery Lecture – 1 per week, 1 hour 30 mins durationSeminar – 1 per week, 1 hour 30mins duration

Psychology is the science of mental processes. It studies individuals’ perceptions, thoughts, feel-ings and actions. Psychology’s goals are to describe, understand, predict, and modify behaviour. This module offers an introduction to psychological issues that affect the communication process. It delves into theories of the Psychology of Communications such as perception, needs, emotions, listening styles, conflict and so forth with a view to the modification of behaviour. Seminars will provide the space for students to apply the theories analysed in this module to their own com-munications. In addition to that, the module offers an analysis of notions on human nature itself and self-identity. The individuals’ striving for well-being and for making sense of their lives takes discussions in the direction of conceptions of self. The self is analysed as the baggage that pro-vides the platform from which the individual relates to itself, to others and to the world. This has far reaching implications in terms of self-esteem, experience of emotions, motivation and more broadly on interpersonal relationships and the social realm.

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Humour and Culture (INCM3042)

Semester Autumn

Credits 20

Assessment Humour Portfolio (40%); 3,000 word essay (60%)


This module will provide an engagement with social and cultural theories of humour, and will teach students how to apply such theory to a variety of cultural texts and situations. It will encourage students to reflect critically on humour, its role in everyday life, in comedy and in advertising, as well as communication more generally. It will look at a variety of images, language-play, actions, narratives that might be ‘funny’ – and their place in social interactions.

This module will also address a number of theories which engage with issues such as the ‘un-translatability’ of humour, its cultural specificity, as well as its potential to be read across cultures, or be a means of establishing cross-cultural connections. It will also address questions such as humour’s role in perpetuating stereotypes, or even being akin to an act of violence, as well as its potential to constitute a form of resistance to censorship or taboo.

Media Management (INCM3045)

Semester Spring

Credits 20

Assessment 3,000 word coursework (60%); 2,000 word project (40%)

Delivery Lecture – 1 per week, 1 hour 30 mins durationSeminar – 1 per week, 1 hour 30 mins duration

This module introduces media management theories and practice. This will involve analysing key issues that are levering change in the media landscape such as transnational media companies’ mergers and acquisitions in a global context, product and content management, social media management, and diversifying revenue streams in the digital era. In today’s rapidly changing and converging media environments, it is essential to integrate management principles and digital technology with the media industry. This module will help students develop an understanding of the operation and structure of media organisations and conglomerates, convergence, corporate strategies, business models, market segments, leadership and media globalisation. Discussions and analysis of examples and case studies will draw from global and Chinese media companies.


Digital Games as Communication (INCM3046)

Semester Spring

Credits 20

Assessment 1 hour 30 mins exam (50%); 10 minutes + Q&A presentation (50%)

Delivery Lecture – 1 per week, 1 hour durationSeminar – 1 per week, 2 hours duration

This module explores digital games - from casual smartphone games to virtual worlds - as communication in three senses: 1. Communication from a designer or publisher to a user/player. Topics include representation and aesthetics. 2. Communication between users/players facilitated by a game. Topics include virtual worlds and fan culture. 3. Intermediary discourses. This refers to how discourses (e.g., journalism and advertising) shape gaming culture. Here we look at the notion of “serious games” as educational tools but also at the contrasting notion of games as “electronic heroin”. Knowledge of digital games is not a prerequisite for taking this course. The course is designed for any student who acknowledges that a thorough understanding of contem-porary digital media includes an understanding of digital games.

Documentary and Reality (INCM3047)

Semester Autumn

Credits 20

Assessment 3,000 word essay (60%); Five min documentary exploring ONE theme from weeks 1-5 with 500 written word exegesis (40%)


This module aims to introduce students to the history of documentary and non-fiction film and me-dia, and the debates surrounding how these forms have ‘represented reality’. Different documen-tary image practices will be examined in social and historical contexts, and through a variety of theoretical perspectives that interrogate their relationship to the real events which they represent. A range of materials will be used, both historical and contemporary, encouraging students to make intellectual connections across different periods, and between different documentary media forms.

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Chinese Cinemas (level 3) (INCM3058)

Semester Spring

Credits 20

Assessment 3,000 word coursework (70%); 10 minutes + Q & A presentation (30%)

DeliveryLecture – 1 per week, 3 hours durationSeminar – 1 per week, 1 hour duration

This module will introduce students to the world of Chinese cinemas in the context of national and regional cinema, and the cinemas of the Chinese diaspora. It will also explore Chinese cinema in the context of transnational film industries. Students will be introduced to Chinese cinema through the broader framework of established film theories, and will be encouraged to apply these theories in the examination of Chinese cinema in contemporary cultural contexts.

Film and Philosophy (INCM3061)

Semester Spring

Credits 20

Assessment Cinematic Project Poster/Film/Photography Project (and portfolio) (40%); 3,500-4000 word essay (60%)

Delivery Lecture – 1 per week, 3 hours durationSeminar – 1 per week, 1 hour 30 mins duration

This module offers students an introduction to the Philosophy of Cinema and more recent Film-Philosophy developments. Taking a global perspective of the topic, the module will introduce students to a broad spectrum of world cinemas (including films from Brazil, Iran, Senegal, Russia, Japan, China, Denmark, Germany, and the United States), global philosophers and thinkers (such as Enrique Dussel, Vilém Flusser, Alain Badiou, and Friedrich Nietzsche), and film-philosophers (including André Bazin, Victor Fan, Thomas Elsaesser, Hamid Dabashi). With these examples students will investigate what philosophy can offer to our understanding and enjoyment of film, as well as what cinema can contribute to philosophy. Lectures will engage with a range of topics such as: ‘The Ontology and Phenomenology of Cinema,’ ‘Reality and Realism,’ ‘Film and Thought,’ ‘Cinema as Philosophy,’ ‘Film Ethics,’ ‘Minor Cinemas and Exclusion,’ ‘Time and Temporality in Cinema,’ ‘Science-Fiction and Philosophy,’ ‘Eco-Cinema and the Anthropocene,’ and ‘Non-Cinema and Unbecoming Cinema’.

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Transmedia Narratives and Digital Literacy (INCM3069)

Semester Spring

Credits 20

Assessment Project (equivalent of 3500 words + 1,500words portfolio focused on media production) (100%)

DeliveryLecture – 1 per week, 1 hour durationSeminar – 1 per week, 1 hour durationWorkshop – 1 per week, 2 hours duration

This module examines the concept of transmedia narrative. This refers to narratives spread across multiple delivery channels such as books, comics, movies, video games, TV series, radio programs and websites with each part making distinctive contributions to an understanding of the fictional universe. We will trace the history of this idea, looking at the conceptual changes that it is producing on the classical idea of narrative as active consumers expand their knowledge of the fictional universe by using various media platforms. We will also look at how it is changing the idea of adaptation in terms of fidelity/intertextuality/synergy. In addition we will analyse how this new way of storytelling is related with media companies’ structures, new technologies and the concept of “Participatory Culture”. The module provide a series of practical workshops. During the practical workshops students will learn how to use software to create their own transmedia narratives.

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Studying AbroadThe University is a founding member of the U21 universities, an international network of research-intensive universities. Our students can apply to spend one semester or both semesters of their third year studying at one of the U21 partners or in one of our two other campuses (UK and Malaysia). Each year, about 65 percent of our students are exchanging to top universities in Europe, North America, and Asia.

This is an invaluable experience for students wishing to experience campus life in another country, the benefits of which include: the opportunity for stu-dents to develop their language skills; the opportunity for students learn about other cultures; having a wider range of modules and programmes to choose from; helping prepare students for postgraduate study in an overseas institu-tion.

Exchange partner universities include the UK and the Malaysia campuses of the University of Nottingham, City University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong, China), the University of Sydney (Australia), Monash University (Australia), Aarhus University (Denmark), University of South Florida (USA), University of Tennessee (USA), Butler University (USA), Texas A&M University (USA), Concordia University (Canada), University of Queensland (U21), the Universi-ty of Birmingham (U21) and University of Connecticut (U21), McGill University (U21), University of Glasgow (U21).

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Get in touch

Contact us

For undergraduate enquiries contact:Faculty Office of Humanities and Social SciencesT: +0086 (0)574 8818 0226E: [email protected]

Find out moreYou can learn more about life as a student in the School of InternationalCommunications by exploring the Undergraduate Courses section of our website:

www.nottingham.edu.cn/en/internationalcommunications/undergraduate

The University of Nottingham has made every effort to ensure that the information in this brochures was accu-rate when published. Please note, however, that the nature of the content means that it is subject to change from time to time, and you should therefore consider the information to be guiding rather than definitive; normal-ly a selection of the optional modules listed will be available in any given year. You should check the University’s website for any updates before you decide to accept a place on a course.

©University of Nottingham Ningbo China 2017.All rights reserved.

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For undergraduate enquiries contact:

Faculty Office of Humanities and Social Sciences

T: +0086 (0)574 8818 0226

E: [email protected]

nottingham.edu.cn/en/internationalcommunications

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School of International Communications Undergraduate ...€¦ · School of International Communications Undergraduate studies ... communication and cultural studies to address the