This course introduces students to debates and concepts relating to representation in and through a diverse range of media texts (i.e. literature, television, cinema, and comic books). The course begins by looking at how various branches of the mass media present texts as purported reflections of a stable, consistent and consensual social reality, and then turns toward examining how those same texts, in fact, shape and even create that reality. Thus the focus is on examining texts both as discursive and aesthetic objects (which provide pleasure and/or information), on the one hand, and as social and ideological constructs (particularly in respect to ideas of sexuality, gender, identity, race, culture and community), on the other. In doing so it examines the analysis of mass media texts in more advanced terms than was introduced in First year, potentially drawing from such concepts and theories as ideology, semiotics, discourse analysis, the ethics of looking, and speaking on behalf of the other, as well as theories of affect, queer and Trans, feminism, and psychoanalysis, and recent accounts of technics and the postmodern. It also examines a range of formal textual features and compositional techniques in terms of their potential social, political, conceptual and corporeal effects.
For further information regarding the course please refer to the Course Outline found at the following link (PDF, 182kB).
A CSP is subsidised by the Australian Government and students pay a contribution amount. Each unit is classified into a student contribution band, depending on the study area of the unit (this discipline may be different from the study area of your course).
2024 contribution amount* -
$2,040
2024 contribution amount - continuing student who commenced before 1 Jan 2021* -
$957
* for Clinical Psychology (Clin Psych) & Professional Pathways (Prof Path) bands the contribution amount is determined by accredited course. Students in Postgraduate Clinical Psychology, Professional Pathway Psychology or Professional Pathway Social Work accredited courses should visit our CSP page for further information.
Note: The Job-ready Graduates Package introduced new funding clusters and contribution amounts from the 2021 academic year. If you are a continuing student who commenced before 1 January 2021 studying units in disciplines with increased contribution amounts, you will continue paying the same amount (indexed each year) as you would have. For further information visit the Australia Government's Study Assist website.
These places are offered for postgraduate studies or to CSP ineligible students and tuition fees are not subsidised by the Australian Government. Domestic postgraduate tuition fees are course-based annual fees and the unit fee you pay will vary according to the degree you are studying. To find out more about domestic tuition fees and view the relevant fee schedule visit our fees website.
International tuition fees are course-based annual fees and the unit fee you pay will vary according to the degree you are studying. To find out more about international tuition fees and view the relevant fee schedule visit our fees website.
It is important to check unit delivery details including location and census date, prior to making decisions about enrolment. Detailed semester and census date information can be found on the Important Dates page.