Using an innovative mixture of advanced cultural theory and practice-based elements including placements and student-led research and experimental projects, this MA aims to put debates about organisation and production at the forefront of cultural thinking. A collaboration between the Department of Media and Communications and the Centre for Cultural Studies, the teaching team includes Professor Scott Lash, Professor Angela McRobbie, and Dr Matthew Fuller. What you study * Theories of the Culture Industry: Work, Creativity and Precariousness This course sets out the key theorisations of the culture industry. Whilst incorporating classical figurations of the culture industry, the course is primarily concerned with assembling a clear engagement with contemporary research, such as that spearheaded by leading researchers at Goldsmiths. The organisation and substance of work and of precarious labour, of the developing debates and mechanisms of ?intellectual property?, and cultural workers? development of institutions and networks, as well as contemporary configurations of the professional, will be discussed. You will learn to strategise cultural production and intervention through exploration of relevant material. * Practices of the Culture Industry This module presents a series of lectures and presentations by cultural practitioners. It aims to introduce students to contemporary debates in architecture, the legal framing and development of culture, visual art, design, community art and media, and interactive media. The course will map out the tricky transitions between theory and practice and include a rigorous discussion of the nature and the political, intellectual, and cultural stakes of interdisciplinarity. Driven by questions of practice, this core course is organised around a series of more detailed analyses of specific cultural dynamics, where the theoretical models from part one are brought to bear on individual areas of practice and the ways that they can and cannot be thought of in terms of ?industry?. * Culture Industry: Projects You will be able to undertake projects towards your dissertation, and as a minor. These projects are self-initiated and are expected to engage with practices of culture in significant terms. Work on projects will be supported by the provision of a Research Lab space. Culture Industry: Projects will take the form of independent study and can be undertaken either on an individual or interdisciplinary group basis. Indicative projects might include: the development of urban interventions collaboration on software initiatives establishing media platforms releasing and promoting an MP3 publication developing a campaign initiating an event or publication. Rigorous work within an interdisciplinary context will be crucial. Students may also develop and define the scope of Project work in relation with other students, external organisations, events or practitioners. Whilst such self-initiated work can be of a purely experimental or speculative nature, students may also wish to establish some kind of connection with outside agencies, such as competitions, exhibitions, NGOs, and community groups. * Culture Industry: Placements You will be able to take two kinds of placement: ?'Minor? One kind of placement available is short and London-based, accounting for 20 points. The course is intended to make use of Goldsmiths? location in London, a global capital of cultural production. Through the proximity of London?s cultural industries ? music, fashion, radio, new technologies ? and the input of practitioners and experts, students will be encouraged to bring cultural theory and a critical perspective to bear on London cultural industries and the practice of London?s cultural workers. ??Major? ?Major? placements are more substantial, quite possibly overseas, and can provide the major focus for your dissertation, with a weight of 60 points. All placements will take advantage of the Centre for Cultural Studies?
Using an innovative mixture of advanced cultural theory and practice-based elements including placements and student-led research and experimental projects, this MA aims to put debates about organisation and production at the forefront of cultural thinking. A collaboration between the Department of Media and Communications and the Centre for Cultural Studies, the teaching team includes Professor Scott Lash, Professor Angela McRobbie, and Dr Matthew Fuller. What you study * Theories of the ...