Theorising the Spectator

Subject 106-448 (2008)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2008.Search for this in the current handbookSearch for this in the current handbook

Credit Points: 12.500
Level: Undergraduate
Dates & Locations:

This subject is not offered in 2008.

Time Commitment: Contact Hours: A 2-hour seminar per week
Total Time Commitment: .
Prerequisites: Usually admission to the postgraduate certificate, diploma or fourth year honours in English, cultural studies, creative writing or gender studies.
Corequisites: .
Recommended Background Knowledge: .
Non Allowed Subjects: .
Core Participation Requirements: .

Coordinator

Brett Farmer
Subject Overview:

This subject mobilises the figure of the spectator as a conceptual focus through which to represent and explore various issues and debates within current cultural theory and criticism. Working across the interdisciplinary traditions of cultural, film and media studies, it addresses competing arguments about spectatorship, assessing their engagement with and contributions to critical understandings of contemporary culture, history and identity. Students should become familiar with the question of spectatorship in psychoanalytic-semiotic theories of the cinematic apparatus; Marxist accounts of ideological interpellation in the mass media, cultural studies models of audience negotiation and subcultural resistance; critical theories about the cultural transformations of modernity; feminist and queer debates about the sexual dynamics of popular culture; postmodern accounts of the virtual subjectivities of cyberculture.

Assessment: A 500 word research proposal 10% (due mid-semester) and a 4500 word essay 90% (due at the end of semester) for 4th year students. A 1000 word research proposal 10% (due mid-semester) and a 5000 word essay 90% (due at the end of semester) for masters students.
Prescribed Texts: A subject reader will be available from the University Bookshop.
Recommended Texts: .
Breadth Options:

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills:
  • as a result of attendance at scheduled classes, participation in planned activities and discussion groups, and timely completion of essays and assignments, acquire Generic Skills in the following areas:

  • social, ethical and cultural understanding of self and others;

  • critical analysis and synthesis;

  • effective written and oral communication;

  • information management and information literacy;

  • teamwork, flexibility and tolerance;

  • time management and planning.

Notes:

Formerly available as 106-092. Students who have completed 106-092 are not eligible to enrol in this subject.

Related Course(s): Postgraduate Certificate in Arts (Cinema Studies)
Postgraduate Certificate in Arts (Cultural Studies)
Postgraduate Certificate in Arts (English)
Postgraduate Certificate in Arts (Gender Studies)
Postgraduate Diploma in Arts (Cinema Studies)
Postgraduate Diploma in Arts (Cultural Studies)
Postgraduate Diploma in Arts (English Literature)
Postgraduate Diploma in Arts (Gender Studies)

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