Module SOCI3441: Sociology of the Spectacle

Department: Applied Social Sciences (Sociology; Social Wk/Policy; Com&Yth Wk)

SOCI3441: Sociology of the Spectacle

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To examine sociologically the socio-political context, debates and developments with respect to mass imagery in the 21st century
• To describe the interrelationship between late capitalism, propaganda, marketing, entertainment and artistic achievement.
• To communicate a clear understanding of the parallels between the context and structure of mass imagery in the 20th and 21st century.
• To explain the significance of globality for mass commercial culture in the present era.
• To explore the present late-capitalist alliance between screen media, art, architecture, and global event creation.
• To analyse contemporary ‘visual culture’ as the symptomatology of the global order

Content

• Part One: From Europe to America: Politics, Aesthetics, Technology:
• Futurism
• Totalitarianism and propaganda (inc. film show: Leni Riefenstahl, Triumph of the Will)
• Bare life and state of exception
• Debord and Situationism;
• The technological sublime versus the decline of aura;
• Hollywood: marketing, technology, significance.
• Part Two: Spectacle today
• Media and spectacle
• Representations of terrorism and war;
• Film workshop on 9/11
• Small screen spectacle
• Mobile communications and world events
• Crowds, screens, events, co-presence
• Public art and social impact

Learning Outcomes

• That students will have substantial knowledge and good understanding of the recent history of spectacle
• That students will have substantial knowledge and good understanding of contemporary interpretations (political, cultural and economic) of spectacle
• That students will have substantial knowledge and good understanding of the significance of the forms through which spectacle is mediated.
• That students will have good understanding of the place of the nation state with respect to the global and televisual dimensions of spectacle.

• That students will be able to analyse the multi-disciplinary, cross-sectoral and communication-dependent nature of contemporary global events.
• That students will be able to critique – both in process and after the fact – the functioning of the multi-disciplinary, cross-sectoral relationships which underpin major events, and the effectiveness of the associated communication structures and performances
• That students will be able to develop case studies based on assigned cultural phenomena of global significance
• That students will be skilled multi-disciplinary interpreters of global media events.
• That students will be able to evaluate the significance of further development of screen technology
• That students will be able to analyse contemporary crowd phenomena
• That students will be able to critically analyse public art projects, and plan for the assessment of their impact

• At the end of this module, students will be able to:
• Approach professional standards of performance in PowerPoint presentations
• Generally communicate to a high standard - in writing and orally
• Offer constructive, critical, and evidence-based commentary on public sphere aesthetic investment proposals

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Learning the multi-disciplinary approach to spectacle will be enabled by lectures, seminars, film showings, student presentations, and assigned reading.
• The course will be assessed formatively by assignment of presentation development projects in the first term.
• The summative assessment will consist of two long essays, the first on emergent individual topics derived from the formative workshop development work, the second from a choice of assigned topics.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Optional: Presentation development projects in the first term.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University