Film & Media Studies

This practical and theoretical course explores debates about the value of creative arts in engaging with aspects of Scottish history. Focusing on recent theoretical perspectives on 'multiple relations with the past', the course involve students making creative outputs on an aspect of Scottish history (either individually or in groups) and reflecting on their own practice. The course is co-taught by staff from the School of Culture and Creative Arts and the School of Humanities, thereby seeking to develop new ways of learning and teaching through an interdisciplinary approach.

From the lenses of cultural studies and gender studies, this course examines how fiction throughout various eras has treated, whether directly or indirectly, questions of seduction, femininity, masculinity, and the meaning of virility. It explores the manner in which political and ideological disruptions have modified the figure of the seducer and vamp, and how this is presented in various cultural productions of stories, novels, poems, frescoes, paintings, opera, film, television series, and video games. 

This course examines news, media and current concerns of Quebec society and other French-speaking societies.

This course explores the historiography of media portrayal of crime in Ireland from the 1970s to the present. The course studies newspaper reporting of crime in Ireland; the broadcast media and emotive reporting; the role of the Garda Press Office; missing persons reportage; media ownership and white collar/blue collar crime; and the rise of the crime correspondent in both the print and broadcast media. Students also explore the blurred distinctions between fiction and reality in both US and Irish TV crime dramas; media stereotyping of crime and its influence on public discourse; and the complexities of media ownership in Ireland and the notion of ethical gate-keeping.

This course looks at key social movements from the 20th and 21st century and the ways in which culture and cultural expression have been central to representing social causes, communicating concerns, and engendering public support for social change. It examines how technologies have changed the shape of cultural expression, often defining the texture and possibilities of activist practices. The course explores a wide range of cultural practices and their relationship with activism including the visual arts, performing arts, and music. It draws from examples across time and geographic locations. 

From K-pop to Korean television series and cinema, South Korean culture has boasted its popularity both within the East Asian region and across the globe. Since the so-called South Korean film renaissance of the 1990s-2000s until the recent box office mega-hits such as TRAIN OF BUSAN, ALONG THE GODS, and PARASITE, the Korean film industry has been showcasing its versatility through its adapting to the changes of the global film industry and transforming of popular genre conventions. This course surveys the history of post-war Korean cinema since the 1950s to the present, in particular its relationship to urban space and gender, popular genre, trauma and history, and authorship.

This is a special studies course with projects arranged between the student and faculty member. The specific topics of study vary each term and are described on a special study project form for each student. The number of units varies with the student’s project, contact hours, and method of assessment, as defined on the student’s special study project form.