SOCI5006 Popular Culture Media and Society SOCI5006 Assessment 1 Assessment type: essay
Due: 19 June 2026 by 12 noon
Word count: 2,500 words
You are NOT permitted to use AI for any part of this assignment.
Choose ONE of the following questions to answer:
What can the media theorists of the 20th century still contribute to an understanding of our mediated social environment today? Your answer should draw on at least two of the following theorists: a. Stuart Hall, b. Raymond Williams, c. Marshall McLuhan, d. Jean Baudrillard. To what extent can ‘popular’ culture be considered the culture of ‘the people’? Discuss with critical reflection on illustrative examples. Explain and critically assess Adorno and Horkheimer’s claim that ‘amusement under capitalism is a prolongation of work.’ How might we develop an analytical framework through which to understand the rise of ‘creative industries’? Which concepts, theories and examples would prove most useful? To what extent are conspiracy theories a ‘reasonable’ response to social change? Discuss using illustrative examples. What makes ‘working-class culture’ working-class? ‘Emotion is one important embodied circuit through which power is felt, mediated, negotiated and/or contested’. Discuss with reference to cultural theories of emotion, feeling and affect.
