MC408 Half Unit
Theories and Concepts in Media and Communications
This information is for the 2025/26 session.
Course Convenor
Dr Dylan Mulvin
Asif Akhtar
Availability
This course is compulsory on the MSc in Global Media and Communications (LSE and Fudan), MSc in Global Media and Communications (LSE and UCT), MSc in Global Media and Communications (LSE and USC), MSc in Media and Communications, MSc in Media and Communications (Data and Society), MSc in Media and Communications (Media and Communications Governance), MSc in Media and Communications (Research), MSc in Media, Communication and Development, MSc in Politics and Communication and MSc in Strategic Communications and Society. This course is available on the Global MSc in Management, Global MSc in Management (CEMS MIM), Global MSc in Management (MBA Exchange), MPhil/PhD in Data, Networks and Society, MPhil/PhD in Media and Communications, MSc in Culture and Society, MSc in Gender, Media and Culture and MSc in Political Sociology. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. This course uses controlled access as part of the course selection process.
How to apply: Priority will normally be given to students enrolled on Media and Communications degree programmes; however, course specific availability is indicated via the 'Availability' section of each individual course guide webpage. The number of students that can be accommodated is limited. If a course is oversubscribed, places will be allocated at the Department's discretion. Students are advised to have an alternative course in mind in case they are unable to secure their first-choice course selection.
A list of all taught master's courses in this Department are listed on the Department's Course Selection and Videos webpage.
Students who have this course listed as compulsory are guaranteed a place and no written statement is required.
For all other students, places on these controlled access courses will be allocated via a random ballot process with priority given to students with the course listed on their programme regulations, followed by other Department of Media and Communications students, then students from elsewhere in the School. By submitting an application, students are confirming that they meet any pre-requisites specified. Providing an additional written statement will not aid a student's chances of being accepted onto a course that does not require a written statement.
Deadline for application: Students required to take this compulsory course will be automatically enrolled on LSE for You.
All other students must apply by 10am UK time on Friday 26 September 2025. No offers will be made before this deadline. Offers will be made after 10am and will continue until all places are filled.
For queries contact: Contact Media.MSc@lse.ac.uk with queries.
Please do not email the teacher with personal expressions of interest as these are not required and do not influence who is offered a place.
If this course is not listed as compulsory on your Programme Regulations, then please note that it is 'controlled access', meaning that there is a limit to the number of students who can be accepted. If the course is oversubscribed, offers will be made via a random ballot process, with priority given to students with the course listed on their Programme Regulations. Whist we do our best to accommodate all requests, we cannot guarantee you a place on this course.
Requisites
Additional requisites:
There are no pre-requisites for this course. Students from outside the Department of Media and Communications should apply via LSE for You without submitting a statement.
Please do not email the teacher with personal expressions of interest as these are not required and do not influence who is offered a place.
Course content
This course introduces key theoretical and conceptual issues in the study of media and communications, within an interdisciplinary, social science perspective. It grounds the analysis of media and communications in broader theories of social order and social change to better understand the historical, cultural, political, economic, and technological significance of media, justice, and a changing society.
This course is the compulsory, theoretical component for all students in the MSc programmes of the Department of Media & Communications. As such, it is oriented towards introducing students with a broad range of academic and professional backgrounds to the core questions and problems in media and communication studies. Accordingly, its topics range from the power of networks and the politics of representation and difference, to the social and economic role of platforms, algorithms, and media ownership, to the changing shape of the public sphere.
The course explores the power of media and communications by addressing topics ranging from the politics of representation and visibility, the social, cultural and economic role of platforms and artificial intelligence technologies, to cultural and economic practices of audiences and users.
As a team-taught course that combines weekly lectures and seminars, its purpose is to expose students to a wide range of research-led debates at an advanced level, and to enable students to develop their understanding and critical appraisal of the relation between media and power.
Teaching
10 hours of seminars and 15 hours of lectures in the Autumn Term.
This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn Term.
Formative assessment
All students are expected to complete advance reading, prepare seminar presentations, and submit one essay of 1500 words.
Indicative reading
A specialist reading list will be provided for each topic. General reference readings relevant to the course include:
- Ananny, M. (2018). Networked Press Freedom. MIT Press.
- Atton, C. (2015) The Routledge Companion to Alternative and Community Media. London: Routledge.
- Benjamin, R. (2019) Race After Technology. Cambridge: Polity.
- Brock, A. (2020) Distributed Blackness: African American Cybercultures. New York: NYU Press
- Carey, J. W. (1989) Communication as Culture. New York, NY: Routledge.
- Curran, J. (ed.) (2010) Media and Society. 5th Edition. London: Bloomsbury.
- Gill, R. (2007) Gender and the Media. Cambridge: Polity.
- Gitelman, L. (2006). Always Already New: Media, History, and The Data of Culture. Cambridge: MIT Press.
- Hall, S. (ed.) (1997) Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
- Harp, D., Loke, J. and Bachmann, I. (eds.) (2018) Feminist Approaches to Media Theory and Research. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
- McKinney, C. (2020) Information Activism: a Queer History of Lesbian Media Technologies
- McQuail, D. (2010) Mass Communication Theory – 6th Edition. London: Sage.
- Mejias, M. (2013) Off the Network: Disrupting the Digital World. Minneapolis, MN: Minnesota University Press.
- Towns, A. R. (2022). On black media philosophy. University of California Press.
- Wasko, J., Murdock, G. and Sousa, H. (eds) (2011) The Handbook of Political Economy of Communications. London: Wiley-Blackwell.
- Zeavin, H. (2021) The distance cure: A history of teletherapy. MIT Press.
Assessment
Essay (100%, 3000 words)
Key facts
Department: Media and Communications
Course Study Period: Autumn Term
Unit value: Half unit
FHEQ Level: Level 7
CEFR Level: Null
Total students 2024/25: 300
Average class size 2024/25: 16
Controlled access 2024/25: YesCourse selection videos
Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.
Personal development skills
- Leadership
- Self-management
- Team working
- Problem solving
- Application of information skills
- Communication
- Application of numeracy skills
- Commercial awareness
- Specialist skills