MC418 Half Unit
Communication: Cultures and Approaches
This information is for the 2025/26 session.
Course Convenor
Prof Myria Georgiou
Alessandro Castellini
Availability
This course is compulsory on the MSc in Media and Communications. This course is available on the MPhil/PhD in Data, Networks and Society, MPhil/PhD in Media and Communications, MSc in Gender, Media and Culture, MSc in Media and Communications (Media and Communications Governance) and MSc in Media and Communications (Research). This course is not available as an outside option to students on other programmes. 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.
This course 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.
Requisites
Additional requisites:
There are no pre-requisites for this course. Students for whom this course is not compulsory 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 examines key areas of communication, engaging with critical perspectives on social, economic and cultural relations across diverse spheres of modern life. It takes an interdisciplinary and theory-driven approach, comparing the claims and contribution of selected key approaches of communication in order to understand and critique the symbolic and material power of communication media. With a substantive focus on the shifts from mass to networked media and from national to globalised communication processes, the course offers a selective introduction to key approaches in communication. It examines a series of critical perspectives, drawing on current research debates and contemporary issues in the field of media and communications and beyond. The course is team taught by active researchers in the field of media and communications and aims to enable students to develop their critical understanding of the communication processes central to the contemporary media and communications environment.
Teaching
10 hours of seminars and 10 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. Students will be invited to submit an outline for their summative essay in week 7.
Indicative reading
- Benjamin, R. (2019) Race after Technology. Cambridge: Polity Press.
- Castells, M. (2009) Communication Power, Oxford University Press.
- Chadwick, A. (2013) The Hybrid Media System, Oxford University Press.
- Choulilaraki, L. and Georgiou, M. (2022) The Digital Border. NYU Press.
- Couldry, N. and U. Mejias (2019) The Cost of Connection. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
- Curran, J. and Park, M.J. (ed) (2000) De-Westernizing Media Studies (Communication and Society), Routledge.
- Dutton, W.H. (2013) The Oxford Handbook of Internet Studies. Oxford University Press.
- Georgiou, M. (2024) Being human in digital cities, Polity Press
- Hall, S. (ed.). (1999) Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices, Sage.
- Iqani, M. and F. Resende (eds.) (2019) Media and the Global South: Narrative Territorialities, Cross-cultural Currents, Routledge.
- Mansell, R. (2012) Imagining the Internet: communication, innovation, and governance, Oxford University Press.
- McLuhan, M. (2001[1964]); Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, Routledge.
- Silverstone, R. (2007) Media and Morality, Polity Press.
- Udupa, S. (2018) Making news in Global India,Cambridge University Press.
- van Dijck, J. (2013) The Culture of Connectivity, Oxford University Press.
Assessment
Oral examination (25%)
Essay (75%, 2500 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: 72
Average class size 2024/25: 14
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
- Communication
- Specialist skills