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2010/1 Module Catalogue
 Module Code: CMCM003 Module Title: GLOBALISATION, COMMUNICATION & POSTMODERNITY
Module Provider: English Short Name: LCM502
Level: M Module Co-ordinator: BARTA PI Prof (English)
Number of credits: 15 Number of ECTS credits: 7.5
 
Module Availability

Autumn Semester

Assessment Pattern

A research and discussion document -approx. 1250-1500 words- to be submitted 10 days prior to giving a 30 min. oral presentation.  The text of the presentation will elicit feedback from the instructor and this should inform the final version of the presentation. 50% of the mark for this project will be based on the original submission and the other 50 % will be assigned based on the presentation and its effectiveness (assessed according to our departmental criteria which will be distributed and discussed on the first day of classes).   50% of final mark

 

 
3,000 word essay to be handed in at the end of week 15—50 % of final mark

Criterion
Weighting
Independence of thought:
20%
Grasp of theoretical concepts, theories and framework:
30%
Analytical rigour and coherence of arguments:
30%
Presentation/Organization/Style (including referencing, use of secondary sources, bibliography):
20%

The es The essay will be  chosen from a list of topics each of which requires the student to conduct her/his own research. The student will be required either to critique the theoretical frameworks explored during the course of the module or to analyze and explore the issues of globalization, and post-modernity relevant to  (a) text(s) chosen with consent of instructor

 

Qualifying Condition(s) 

A weighted aggregate mark of 50% is required to pass the module.
Module Overview

This module examines the relationship between globalisation and post-modernity. The globalisation process, with its compression of time and space, has generated uncertainties which resonate with the implications of the term post-modernity. Theories of both globalisation and post-modernity involve the idea that the main organising principles of the modern world have been superseded. Both the origins and the implications of these highly disputed ideas for contemporary society and culture comprise the subject of the module.
Prerequisites/Co-requisites

None
Module Aims
The module is thus designed to offer students a systematic understanding and critical awareness of the theoretical debates associated with globalisation and postmodernity. Its further objective is to ensure that students obtain comprehensive understanding of these concepts to explore their relevance to intercultural issues central to the degree course as a whole. These issues are divided into two categories, based on a dual understanding of the forces of globalisation and post-modernity.

The first category is introduced as ‘centripetal’ or inclined towards standardisation and homogeneity. Under the heading of ‘centripetal’ the module looks at the development of the ideas of the Enlightenment and their use in the creation of Empires, state bureaucracies and dictatorships.
The second category is introduced as ‘centrifugal’ or inclined towards de-standardisation and heterogeneity. Under this heading the emergence or persistence of different forms of organisation beyond the nation state at both a transnational and local level is explored. Counter discourses of race and gender, the simultaneous globalisation and localisation of images, and the role of communication in models of democracy beyond the nation state are explored.

The module explores cultural production, its international distributions and its role in the formation of contemporary societies.
Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:

 

Subject specific 

 

  • Demonstrate advanced understanding of the connections between communication and political processes in globalisation

     

  • Work with, and subject to critique, a range of definitions of globalisation and post-modernity 

     

  • Explain the multiplicity of possible relationships between the terms 

     

  • Analyse visual and verbal texts of contemporary and historical provenance

     

General 

 

  • Link the theoretical debates around the terms to issues of intercultural communication
  • Embark on postgraduate research in a relevant area of inquiry.
Module Content

The following topics will be covered: 

 

  • Definitions of modernity and post-modernity 

     

  • Theories of globalisation 

     

  • Globalisation and Intercultural Communication 

     

  • The critique of utilitarianism and progress

     

  • Power, Discourse and Post-modernity 

     

  • Globalisation and the information society; lifestyles, visual arts, the space of the post-modern museum, the global metropolis and he local province

     

  • Post-modernity and the Gendered Text 

     

Identity and Post-modernity

Methods of Teaching/Learning
  • 15 hours of lectures and 15 hours seminars 

     

  • 40 hours assignment work

     

  • 40 hours for producing oral presentation

     

  • 40 hours for preparing essay.

     

  • Total student learning time 150 hours.

     
Selected Texts/Journals

Anderson, P. (1998) The Origins of Postmodernity. London : Verso
Bauman, Z. (1992) Intimations of Postmodernity. London : Routledge
Barthes, Roland. The Rustle of Language, New York , 1989
Braithwaite, B. (1995) Women’s Magazines: the first 300 years. London : Peter Owen
Featherstone, M., ed. (1990) Global Culture: Nationalism, Globalization and Modernity
          London : Sage
Friedman, J. (1994) Cultural Identity and Global Process. London : Sage.
Fyfe, G. Theorizing Museums.  Oxford , 1996
Habermas, J. (2001) The Postnational Constellation. Cambridge : Polity Press.
Hallan, E and

B V Street
(eds): Cultural Encounters: Representing Otherness, London ,  2000.
Held, D & McGrew, A. (2002) Governing Globalization? Power, Authority and Global Governance. Cambridge : Polity Press.
Held, D & McGrew, A. eds. (2003) The Global Transformations Reader: An Introduction to the Globalisation Debate. Second edition. Cambridge : Polity, 278-286.
Lyotard, J. F. (1984) The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. Manchester: Manchester University Press
Massey, D. Space, Place and Gender.  Cambridge , 1994.
Mohnaty, C T. Feminsim without Borders.  Durham , 2003.
Stevenson, D. Planning the Creative City .  New York , 2003.
Tagg, John. The Burden of Representation: Essays on Photographies and Histories,  Basingstoke , 1988.
Tudor, Andrew. Image and Influence: Studies in the Sociology of Film. London , 1974.
Urry, J. The Tourist Gaze, London , 2002. Reading

 

 

Recommended Reading

Dryzek, J. (2000) Deliberative Democracy and Beyond: Liberals, Critics, Contestations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Habermas, J. (1986) The Theory of Communicative Action: Reason and the Rationalization of Society Vol 1. Translated by T McCarthy. Cambridge : Polity Press.
Habermas, J. (1989) The Theory of Communicative Action: Critique of Functionalist Reason Vol. 2. Cambridge : Polity Press.
Moore , M. (2003) Dude, Where’s My Country? London : Penguin.
Ong, W.J. (2002) Orality and Literacy. Routledge: London .
Weber, M. (1979) Economy and Society. Edited by Günther Roth and Claus Wittich. Berkley:  University of California Press.
Wilson, R & W. Dissanayake, eds., (1996) Global/Local: Cultural Production and the Transnational Imaginary. Durham and London : Duke University Press.
Last Updated

7.9. 2010