Postgraduate Course: Youth Culture, Media and Society (SCIL11023)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will explore sociological understandings of youth cultures, tracing the socio-historical factors which facilitated the development of the modern youth market and critically evaluating the ways in which sociology has theorised the relationship between young people, popular culture and 'old' and 'new' media. Themes covered by the course include: subcultural and post-subcultural theory, young people and the mass media, young people, TV and film, cultural representations of youth style and gender identities, subcultural groups and ethnic identities, youth cultures and music scenes, young people and new technologies and global and local youth cultures. The course will also look beyond youth culture in a critical examination of the notions 'generation' 'Postsubcultural youth' and 'neo-tribe'.
Students will be encouraged to develop a critical understanding of the main sociological theories and concepts which have been forwarded in an attempt to explain the relationship between youth and popular culture, and to make connections with how the themes and issues covered in this course feed into wider sociological debates concerning issues such as: the significance of consumption in late modern society, the role of the media in the construction of social 'reality', the unstable and shifting nature of 'identity' in contemporary social settings and the relationship between the 'local' and the 'global'.
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| Course description |
Students will attend a one hour lecture which is shared with the undergraduate 'Youth culture, media and society' course. This is followed by a one-hour seminar. Postgraduates will be strongly advised to attend these lectures and seminars although the formal requirement will be attendance at 5 separate postgraduate seminars.
The main themes covered will be:
- The Origins of Youth Culture
- The development of Subcultural Theory: Sociological understandings of youth style
- Youth culture and the mass media: 'Victims', 'moral panics' and 'folk devils'
- Questioning youth culture: Post-subcultural youth and neo-tribes
- Style and gender: Masculinity, femininity, gender bending and
- Youth cultures and ethnic identities: Hip-hop & 'the ghetto' around the globe
- Youth culture and new media: Chatting, gaming and virtual spaces
- Cultural representations: Youth film
- Youth culture and globalisation: Broadening the view
- Questioning youth culture: Generation X? Generation Y?
In addition the 5 one-hour postgraduate tutorials will focus on contemporary issues relating to the themes of the course. Students will be expected to prepare and present work in the tutorial and to pose questions to the group to structure discussion and debate.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
Having completed this module, students should:
- Understand how youth cultures have been approached as sociological objects of study
- Have a clear understanding of the socio-historical factors which facilitated the development of the modern youth market
- Gain a critical understanding of the main theories and concepts put forward to explain the relationship between youth and popular culture
- Understand the ways in which youth culture is represented, shaped and constructed by the media
- Have an understanding of the relationship between gender identities, ethnic identities and youth cultures
- Gain an insight into how the themes and issues covered in the course feed into wider sociological debates concerning issues such as the significance of consumption in late modern society; the role of the media in the construction of social 'reality'; the unstable and shifting nature of 'identity'; in contemporary social settings; the relationship between the 'local' and the 'global'.
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Reading List
Bennett, A. (2000) Popular Music and Youth Culture. London: Macmillan.
Bennett, A. & Kahn-Harris, K. (2004) After Subculture: Critical Studies in Contemporary Youth Culture. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Epstein, J. (Ed.) (1998) Youth Culture. Identity in a post-modern world. Oxford: Blackwell.
Fornäs, J. & Bolin, G. (Eds.) (1995) Youth Culture in Late Modernity. London: Sage.
France, A (2007) Understanding Youth in Late Modernity. Maidenhead: Open University Press
Frith, S. & Goodwin, A. (1990) On the Record: Rock, Pop and the Written Word. London: Routledge.
Gauntlett, D (2008) Media, Gender and Identity. An Introduction. London: Routledge.
Gelder, K. & Thornton, S. (Eds.) (1997) The Subcultures Reader. London: Routledge.
Gelder, K (2007) Subcultures. Cultural histories and social practice. London Routledge.
Hall, S. & Jefferson, T. (1976) Resistance Through Rituals: Youth Subcultures in Post-War Britain. London: Hutchinson.
McRobbie, A. (1994) Postmodernism and Popular Culture. London: Routledge.
McRobbie, A. (1999) In the Culture Society. Art, fashion and popular music London: Routledge.
Muggleton, D. (2000) Inside Subculture: The Post-modern Meaning of Style. Oxford: Berg.
Osgerby, B (2004) Youth media. London: Routledge.
Redhead, S. et al (Eds.) (1997) The Clubcultures Reader: Readings in Popular Cultural Studies. Oxford: Blackwell.
Ross, A. & Rose, T. (Eds.) (1994) Microphone Fiends: Youth Music and Youth Culture London: Routledge.
Shuker, R (2008) Understanding popular music culture (Third Edition).
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Kate Orton-Johnson
Tel: (0131 6)51 1230
Email: K.orton-johnson@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Jade Birkin
Tel: (0131 6)51 1659
Email: Jade.Birkin@ed.ac.uk |
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