Dissertation Project allows you to develop your knowledge and critical understanding of the field of media by means of a sustained, rigorous, critical and systematic piece of independent academic research. This will be either in the form of a traditional dissertation, industry research dissertation or practice-as-research project on a defined relevant topic of your choice. You will acquire the confidence to appropriate, critique and expand existing theories, analysis and methodologies and present the results of your original findings to a larger academic (and, where appropriate, industry-related) audience.

Film and Media Theory and Analysis critically examines key film and media theories and debates and modes of analysis that have informed the fields. Your contextual awareness will be deepened as you develop a critical repertoire of specialised theory and advanced analytical skills required at Master’s level. The module will allow you to further develop a range of research approaches and tools for conducting research activity at this level. Importantly, the inherent interconnection between theory, approaches and methodologies will also be highlighted.

Researching Media and Culture introduces you to key research methods in the media, film and cultural studies and to practical issues in carrying out research. The module will explore a range of approaches to researching people, researching texts, and researching institutions and industries. You will develop an understanding of research and how to carry it out successfully. You will also begin to prepare for your through working on your dissertation proposal and reworking ideas and material in different ways, including as a formal written proposal and as a presentation.

Cinema, History and National Identity explores the construction and affirmation of national identity as found in filmic representations of a nation’s history. A case study of a specific historical period or crisis, such as a time of war, will draw upon a genre-based methodology to discover the tension that exists between cinema conventions and the requirements of a national mythology. Thus, the module aims to investigate and evaluate cinema’s myths of ancestry and the mediation of history through film. It will also introduce you to the practical skills of concentrated research in the location and interrogation of research sources.

Deconstructing Liverpool focuses on the cultural representation of Liverpool and the surrounding city region in popular culture, from film, television and music to novels and art. The module will explore how Liverpool has featured in popular culture and how a regional identity has been constructed through its cultural representations. You will assess how we can read and create against preconceived images and ideas in relation to the place and people of the contemporary Liverpool city region, as well as how can we apply our knowledge of cultural theory and organisations to gain an understanding of the creative economy of Liverpool city region today. The module will enhance your skills in critical analysis and close reading, while providing supplementary augmentation to the work-based experience of operating within a regional cultural organisation.

European Cinema examines the history of European cinema, including British cinema, and its role within World cinema as a whole, especially its relationship to American commercial cinema. The module will focus on the significant movements and new waves that have contributed to the evolution of European cinema from the early twentieth century, as well as the discourses and debates that have continued to shape it. Additionally, you will explore the contemporary film production landscape and the contemporary and future health and vitality of cinema on the continent.

Media and Creative Industries will describe and analyse the changing economic forces which direct and constrain the choices of managers in various sub sectors of the media and creative industries. The module will develop your knowledge and understanding of economic and policy concepts and issues in the context of the media and creative industries. You will gain an understanding of contemporary media contexts – industrial, political, scholarly and practical – and develop the related autonomous research skills and professional practices. The module will examine television, film, music, print and online digital industries.

Media, Culture and Identities examines the representation of identity on screen and in the media. The focus of the module includes issues such as gender, heterosexual romance, lesbian, gay and queer identity, sexuality and desire, race and ethnicity and other identities. Discussion of these subjects will be situated within the wider social, cultural and historical contexts.

Reading New Asian Cinemas examines and interrogates the plethora of successive new wave cinemas in Asian countries throughout the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and beyond. It will explore the myriad ways that new cinemas in Japan, India, Mainland China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and others have variously engaged with, elucidated or challenged the national and cinematic context in which they were produced. The module will also examine how these cinemas have entered into a discursive dialogue with other cinemas and have represented and/or problematised the perceived discrepancy between popular and art cinema.

Screen Genres critically interrogates the history, context and conventions of a specific genre on film and/or television. The genre will be studied in relation to appropriate socio-historical, ideological, national and industrial contexts. In addition, the module will employ appropriate genre theory alongside a range of theoretical and historical perspectives to establish an understanding of the evolution of a particular genre and how it can be approached critically.

The Culture Industry takes a deep theoretical and historical dive into the production of culture. The module draws on the texts of the modern philosophical and critical tradition and places them in the context of international creative enterprise. It will examine the origins of culture as a concept, the relationship between culture and the economy, how different societies produce culture, and how we account for the politics of culture and culture wars. You will have the opportunity to consider the tools we have to understand the meaning of culture today, as well as the significance of ‘heritage’ and the role of history in the contemporary culture industry.

Transnational Media examines some of the implications of the production and consumption of media and investigate how media are used by, and reflect, the increasing transnational experiences of audiences. It approaches the topic of globalisation from two distinct but complementary perspectives: one focused on the workings and assimilation processes of the cultural industries and one interested in issues of identities and influenced by cultural studies.

Working in the International Creative Economy provides a practitioner-led account of the practical concerns of cultural institutions. The module will be taught by leading figures in the North West creative economy. It will examine the priorities for cultural policy in the UK and explore how leaders of cultural organisations balance the competing concerns of government, funders, the public, and cultural necessity. You will consider how best to understand the problem of access and audiences for cultural institutions, while also reflecting on the role of entrepreneurship in the creative economy. With input from industry professionals, the module will provide you with first-hand experience of organisational issues and policy debates in the creative economy in a variety of cultural and institutional settings.

MED4001 The Culture Industry (20 credits), MED4002 Working in the International Creative Economy (20 credits) and MED4004 Deconstructing Liverpool (20 credits) added as optional modules.

BUS4541 Success in the Digital Economy (20 credits), HUM4019 Re-making the Nation: Propaganda, Culture and Identity in the Second World War (20 credits), HUM4021 The Modern Prison (20 credits), HUM4033 Rhythm and Colour: Literature, Jazz and Art (20 credits), HUM4034 Love Actually? Love, Literature and Popular Culture (20 credits), HUM4039 Colonial to Global: Narratives of Imperialism (20 credits), HUM4040 Real Men, New Men and Lover Men: Masculinities in Twentieth-Century Narratives (20 credits), HUM4041 Transgressive Women (20 credits), HUM4042 Revenge in Theory and Practice (20 credits), HUM4047 Cultures of Memory (20 credits) and HUM4048 Print and the People: 1850-1900 (20 credits) removed as optional modules.