Anthropology and Media BA (Hons) – (B.A.)

Contents

In your first year you are introduced to some of the main theories within social anthropology and its sub-fields - political anthropology, economic anthropology, and kinship. You also consider the role of ethnography, and will be given a foundation in anthropological methodological practice. For the media element, you take courses that enable you to study the historical development of the British media; debates surrounding the term `culture´, and the development of British cultural studies; and the formal address of media texts as a means of examining the way in which they make meaning.

In year two you consider the anthropology of religion, morals and symbolism, and explore interactions between changing economic and political structures in the world today. You take media theory courses that cover the internationalisation of cultural and media studies, and either the psychology of communications or theories of political economy in the cultural industries. In addition, you take a media practice course in which you develop production skills by creating small-scale projects.

You take a compulsory link course in year three that unites each element of the degree through an interdisciplinary study of both subjects. You also pick anthropology and media theory options from a range of courses available, and take a media production course that enables you to focus on a different practice area to the one you studied in year two. See the anthropology options. Third year media course options currently enable you to, for example, study music as a form of communication; develop and extend theories of media audience; understand political communications; and interrogate critical perspectives on embodiment and the self from the standpoint of critical psychology.