CK1S15 - Audio-Sound Cultures 12 Feb 2020 - 31 Aug 2026 | Version 1

Associated Module Information

Module Code: CK1S15
Module Title: Audio-Sound Cultures
Faculty: Faculty of Business and Creative Industries
Faculty Group: Film and TV
Faculty Sub Group: Film and TV
Module Leader: Peter Jachimiak
Module Team: Steve Johnson, James Rendell, Daryl Perrins, Gwyneth Moore
First Intended Intake: SEP 2020 Final Year of Intake: 2025
Date Closed:
Credit Value: 20 Credit Level: 4
Language: English
Percentage of Module Taught in Welsh: 0
Equivalent Module:
HECOS codes: 100444 - media and communication studies
HECOS Code Weighting: 100

Document Version Information

Version 1
Valid From 12 Feb 2020
Valid To 31 Aug 2026

Module Aims

Audio, music and sound are uniquely interdisciplinary areas of research taking contributions from a number of academic fields, including media and cultural studies, sociology and social history. This module seeks to promote a critical awareness and appreciation of a range of aspects to do with audio cultures and sound by exploring the central question of what is meant by sound, in order to gain insight into non-visual pleasures and the power of audio to generate different kinds of sound-based experiences, and its influence on our daily lives.

Content Summary

This module will examine how audio – in all its guises – communicates various meanings within a range of cultural values and can be used to influence cultures and individuals. It will do so by investigating, for example, notions of sound-based communities, as well as the manners in which audio facilitates flows of communication. Particular attention will be paid to audio’s influence on the conversation between societal communities and its members, and to what extent the cultural study of sound contributes to an understanding of wider cultural and social processes. This module will examine audio-sound cultures that include, but not limited to, noise and silence, muzak and library music; found sounds and soundscape.

Learning and Teaching Methods

Activity Type Hours
Lecture 18
Seminar 18
Independent Study 92
Directed Study 72
Total Hours Selected 200

Learning Outcomes

# Learning Outcome
LO1 On successful completion of this module students will be able to demonstrate a heightened awareness of the ways in which audio, music and sound convey meaning in a variety of contexts and be able to apply theoretical models of communication to specific audio-, sound- and music-based cultures.
LO2 On successful completion of this module, students will be able to reflect systematically on their own experience of audio-/sound-based communication using this as a basis for some theoretical and conceptual conclusions about the relations between the individual, culture and society.

Module Requisites

N/A

Assessment Criteria

Assessment Category Assessment Type Description Duration Word Count Weight (%) Best of? Pass Mark
Asynchronous Assessment Portfolio 1 A Portfolio consisting of an Annotated Playlist and a Critical Publication.. 0 3500 100 No 40

Assessment Matrix

Assessment Type Learning Outcomes
LO1 LO2
Portfolio 1

Reading List

Abel, J (2015) Out on The Wire; The Storytelling Secrets of the New Masters of Radio
Berry, R, Fox, N and Llinares, D (2018) New Aural cultures and Digital Media
Biewen, J (2017) Reality Radio: Telling True Stories in Sound
Dann, L and Soinelli, M (2019) Podcasting: The Audio Media Revolution
D.Desmondhalgh (2013) Why Music Matters
Hand, R and Traynor, M (2012) Radio in Small Nations: Production, programmes, audiences
J. Kotarba and R. Vannini (2009) Understanding Society through Popular music
Brian Longhurst (2014) Popular Music and Society 3rd edition
Morris, T and Tomasi, C (2017) Podcasting for dummies
Roy Shuker (2013) Understanding Popular Music Culture 4th edition