COMMUNICATING CULTURE: CONCEPTS AND FRAMEWORKS - 2025/6

Module Overview

This module introduces students to an understanding of how culture is communicated through the fine arts and popular culture across a range of media and genres (including, but not restricted to, painting, theatre, film, television, classical and popular music and literature). Students will explore key theoretical approaches, concepts and frameworks relevant to understanding how culture is communicated in contemporary society, and how culture is produced and consumed. The module is particularly interested in how power structures and social, cultural and economic inequalities shape our experience, production, understanding and valuing of different cultural objects and media. Students will develop their own critical and creative communication skills (including digital) by discussing a range of contemporary and changing case studies.

Module provider

Sociology

Module Leader

WEIDHASE Nathalie (Sociology)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 5

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

N/A

Module content

Indicative content includes:

• The relationship between culture, art, and society


• How social factors affect artistic conventions, genres, and the ‘value’ of art and popular culture artefacts.


• Who and what is considered an artist and whether one can separate art from the artist


• How people receive, consume and use art and popular culture.


• How politics and policy making relate to art and popular culture


• The role of cultural and creative industries in economic, social and cultural life


• The role of digital technologies in the consumption, production and distribution of art and popular culture

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

  The assessment strategy is designed to allow students to demonstrate:

 

that they have developed an understanding of how culture is communicated in contemporary society, and are able to apply a range of theories, concepts and frameworks in their analysis of contemporary culture. The assessment strategy is further designed to strengthen students’ transferable skills and enhance employability by asking students to communicate their analysis to both academic and wider audiences, using digital platforms.

 

  Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

• Assessment 1: Blog post, (addresses learning outcomes 1, 2, 3 and 4) – students are asked to draw on their knowledge of cultural criticism and analyse one cultural object of their choosing, drawing on key theories, concepts and frameworks of their choosing, considering a wider public as audience.


• Assessment 2: Blog post portfolio, (addresses learning outcomes 1, 2, 3 and 4) – drawing on and implementing the feedback received for assessment 1, students will go into further depth and breadth and analyse a number of cultural object of their choosing, drawing on key theories, concepts and frameworks of their choosing, considering a wider public

 

Formative Assessment & Feedback

Students are encouraged to test out ideas in class discussions with peers and the lecturer. They will receive feedback on their progress in class and will be given the opportunity for feedback on their blog post ideas in class and feedback and consultation hours. The summative feedback for Assessment 1 will be returned before the Assessment 2 deadline and will function as a feedforward for their final submission.

Module aims

• Introduce an understanding of how different forms of culture are communicated to society
• Provide different theoretical perspectives on how culture is created and communicated
• Explore how art and popular culture are created, distributed and consumed in contemporary society
• Consider the impact of societal structures, including class, gender, and race on the ways in which art and popular culture are produced, consumed, and valued
• Develop students' ability to write about art and popular culture with a critical lens and for different audiences

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

 

Provide students with an introduction to key concepts and frameworks to analyse how culture is communicated in contemporary society. Throughout the module, students encounter key critical theoretical approaches to the study of culture, engage with a range of media, art forms, and genres, and critically reflect on their own consumption of ang engagement with culture. The classroom is a learning space in which all forms of art and popular culture are worthy of critical discussion, especially the examples students bring to class, often shaped by their own backgrounds.

 

Weekly combined lectures and seminars will introduce students to key theories, concepts and frameworks in the study of how culture is communicated, supported by required readings each week. Classes will provide the opportunity to actively engage with and apply these concepts to current cultural phenomena, and encourage independent, creative and critical thinking. Assessment support will be built into these sessions, too.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: SOC2089

Other information

The School of Sociology is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability, and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module is designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills, and capabilities in the following areas:

Employability

Students will be introduced to a range of cultural and creative industries and develop an awareness of the professions and career paths in these industries. The assessment strategy further centres employability. While the essay gives students the opportunity to further develop transferable skills including research and analytical skills, the blog post portfolio develops students’ ability to write and communicate effectively with public audiences on online platforms.

Digital Capabilities

The module engages with the impact of digital technologies on the production and consumption of art and popular culture, and students will develop a critical understanding of art and popular culture in contemporary mediated society. The blog post portfolio further develops their digital communication skills.

Global and Cultural Competencies

The module draws on global case studies throughout, considering how art and popular culture are communicated in a globalized cultural environment. Additionally, the module introduces students to postcolonial approaches to culture, furth developing their cultural global competencies.

Sustainability

Understanding the ways in which social, cultural and economic inequalities shape the production and consumption of culture is central to the analytical approach of the module. Students will develop analytical and communication skills that interrogate these inequalities and explore solutions.

Resourcefulness and Resilience

Building on assessment skills developed in previous modules, the module introduces students to a potentially new form of writing. The blog post portfolio encourages creative approaches to writing about culture, and students will be supported in class in developing their blogging skills.

 

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2025/6 academic year.