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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2017/2018

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : Moray House School of Education : Sport

Undergraduate Course: Sport, Media and Society (SPRT10021)

Course Outline
SchoolMoray House School of Education CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis Honours level optional course provides an analysis of the mass media in industrial and industrialising societies, and considers the position of sport in the print, broadcast and electronic media from sociological, comparative and historical perspectives. Different approaches to the study of the mass media in society and the process by which media messages are produced, distributed and interpreted are critically assessed.
Course description The course covers: historical accounts of the development of the media-sport nexus; technological innovations; infotainment; celebrity culture; sexuality and gender; semiotics; national militarism; critical discourse analysis; 'sectarianism'; sporting legacy claims.

This course analyses sport and the mass media from a socio-cultural perspective. The relationship between the mass media and modern sport has been an important one since their foundation just over 100 years ago. The media has always helped to construct what is meant by sport. The media has assisted in boundary marking and boundary shifting. The philosophical questions, what is and what is not legitimate in relation to sport have been shaped pragmatically by what appears in the sport sections of newspapers, radio, television broadcasts and more recently with digital, internet and social media. The media continues to play a role in the process by which dominant, residual and emergent sports practices and meanings are defined, legitimised and challenged. Media sport has traditionally provided a structure to people¿s everyday lives as they tune to regular broadcast times and schedules. Sport has also helped to establish people¿s sense of calendar time - as the annual round of mediated sports events has been produced. These predictabilities are also subject to change as new media technologies and social practices emerge and become sedimented.

The relationship between the institutions of sport and the media should, therefore, form part of the social scientific study of contemporary sport and popular culture.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements Available to Sociology students at Honours level
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2017/18, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  52
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 196 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) 1. One practical sport media analysis - analysing a range of sport media texts (Formative) (40%)
2. One essay (up to 2500 words) (60%)
Feedback Students will receive written and verbal feedback and are encouraged to have individual feedback tutorials to discuss their understanding of the feedback given to them.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Demonstrate knowledge of the historical development of sport in the mass media
  2. Explain the institutional development of the mass media and the evolution of relationships between sports associations and mass media organisations
  3. Understand the different approaches to the study of the mass media in society and the place of sport within the media
  4. Demonstrate a critical understanding of the theoretical concepts of denotation-connotation; ideology; narrative; infotainment
  5. Critically analyse media sport texts utilising appropriate concepts, theoretical constructs and methodologies
Reading List
Hundley, H.L. & Billings, A.C. (2010) Examining Identity in Sports Media

Kelly, J. (2011) Sectarianism¿ and Scottish Football: Critical Reflections on Dominant Discourse and Press Commentary. International Review for the Sociology of Sport. 46 (4): 418-435.

Kelly, J. (2013) Popular Culture, Sport and the Hero-fication of British Militarism. Sociology. 47 (4): 722-738.

Thompson (1988) Mass communication and modern culture: Contribution to a critical theory of ideology, Sociology 22 (3) 359-383.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills make effective use of oral, written and visual means to critique, negotiate,
create and communicate understanding
¿ use communication as a tool for collaborating and relating to others
¿ further their own learning through effective use of the full range of
communication approaches
¿ seek and value open feedback to inform genuine self-awareness
¿ recognise the benefits of communicating with those beyond their immediate
environments
¿ use effective communication to articulate their skills as identified through self reflectionbe able to identify, define and analyse problems and identify or create
processes to solve them
¿ be able to exercise critical judgment in creating new understanding
¿ be ready to ask key questions and exercise rational enquiry
¿ be able to critically assess existing understanding and the limitations of their
own knowledge and recognise the need to regularly challenge all knowledge
¿ search for, evaluate and use information to develop their knowledge and
understanding
Additional Class Delivery Information Taught sessions will usually consist of a lecture and a group seminar each week.
Keywordssport media ideology narrative semiotics
Contacts
Course organiserDr John Kelly
Tel:
Email: John.Kelly@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMr Almas Butt
Tel: (0131 6)51 6012
Email: Almas.Butt@ed.ac.uk
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