Dr Carolina BandinelliLink opens in a new window

In this module you will evaluate the impact of creativity, communication and technology upon personal, local, national and global issues. Creative media communication is central to most innovation today, and is an effective way of researching the power of media and exploring new levels of value creation. The latest research exploring alternative media, community media, digital media, open source and new communication dynamics will update your understanding. From crowd sourcing to citizen journalism, mobile connectivity to convergence, peer-to-peer and civic participation, you will investigate the creative use of communications and technology in the current globalized media ecology. Engagement with innovative media studies research methods will provide the tools for investigating global media and communication in more depth.

Whilst paying attention to the impact of creativity and technology on media discourses, forms, practices and industries, you are also expected to be creative in this module. Our sub-focus is on creating communication for personal, local, national and global impact. Using simple media tools, you will develop your ideas on how personal, local, national, or global issues can be constructed creatively for private, public or third sector political and cultural economies.

Illustrative Bibliography

Baym, Nancy (2010) Personal Connections in the Digital Age, (Cambridge: Polity)

Bonini, Tiziano and Treré Emiliano (2024) Algorithms of Resistance: The Everyday Fight Against Platforms Power (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press)

Bown, A. (2022) Dream Lovers: The Gamification of Relationships (London: Pluto Press).  

Chan, Lik Sam (2021) The Politics of Dating Apps: Gender, Sexuality and Emergent Publics in Urban China (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press)

Garde-Hansen, J. and K. Gorton (2013) Emotion Online: Theorizing Affect on the Internet, (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan)

Gauntlett, D. (2011) Making is Connecting: The Social Meaning of Creativity, from DIY and Knitting to YouTube and Web 2.0, (Cambridge: Polity)

Goggin, G (2010) Global Mobile Media, (London: Routledge)

Howley (ed.) (2010) Understanding Community Media, (London: Sage)

Jenkins, Henry, Sam Ford and Joshua Green (2013) Spreadable Media: Creating Value and Meaning in a Networked Culture, (New York: New York University Press)

Lambert, Joe (2013) Digital Storytelling: Capturing Lives, Creating Community, (New York: Routledge)

Lovink, Geert (2011) Networks Without a Cause: A Critique of Social Media, (Cambridge: Polity Press)

Littler, J. (2023) Left Feminism: Conversation on the Personal and the Political. Chadwell Heath: Lawrence Wishart. 

Marwick, A. (2015) Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity and Branding in the Social Media Age, (New Haven: Yale University Press).

Parikka, Jussi (2012) What is Media Archaeology? (Cambridge: Polity)

Rheingold, Howard (2012) Net Smart: How to Thrive Online, (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press)

Sobande, Francesca (2024) Big Brands Are Watching You: Marketing Social Justice and Digital Culture. (Oakland, CA: University of California Press)

Van Dijck, Jose (2013) The Culture of Connectivity: A Critical History of Social Media (Oxford: Oxford University Press)