CK2S12 - Media Audiences and Fandom 12 Feb 2020 - 31 Aug 2026 | Version 1

Associated Module Information

Module Code: CK2S12
Module Title: Media Audiences and Fandom
Faculty: Faculty of Business and Creative Industries
Faculty Group: Film and TV
Faculty Sub Group: Film and TV
Module Leader: Rebecca Williams, Gwyneth Moore
Module Team: James Rendell, Lesley Harbidge
First Intended Intake: SEP 2020 Final Year of Intake: 2025
Date Closed:
Credit Value: 20 Credit Level: 5
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

The module aims to:

• Critically explore the history of research on media audiences and fans
• Consider debates about the conceptualisation of the audience and media texts in academic and popular discourse.
• Examine examples of media audience research, evaluate the methods that inform these and equip students with the skills necessary to conduct their own audience research project.

Content Summary

The purpose of this module is to introduce a broad range of areas relating to audiences and fandom which may include such as active audience theories, media audiences and everyday life, culture and taste, critical reception, new media audiences, audience and fan creativity, the spaces and places of audiences, subcultures, audiences and identity, and audience research methods.

Finally, this module: a) will adhere to, and engage with, all ethical considerations (as laid out in this document – see ‘H. Ethical Issues’, above); b) when and where appropriate, it will make full use of Faculty-wide teaching expertise and technical support in its endeavour to fully integrate practice with theory.

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 Assess critically the debates over audience and fan responses to a range of media texts.
LO2 Understand the range of methods available for the study of media audiences, and use these appropriately to engage in independent audience research.

Module Requisites

N/A

Assessment Criteria

Assessment Category Assessment Type Description Duration Word Count Weight (%) Best of? Pass Mark
Synchronous Onsite Oral Assessment Presentation (Synchronous Onsite) 1 20 minute group presentation 20 N/A 50 No 40
Asynchronous Assessment Essay 1 Essay 0 2500 50 No 40

Assessment Matrix

Assessment Type Learning Outcomes
LO1 LO2
Presentation (Synchronous Onsite) 1
Essay 1

Reading List

Booth, Paul (ed.) (2018) Wiley Companion to Media Fandom and Fan Studies, Oxford, UK: Wiley Publishers.
Brooker, Will and Deborah, Jermyn (ed.) (2002) The Audience Studies Reader, London: Routledge.
Click, Melissa A. and Suzanne Scott (2018) (eds.) The Routledge Companion to Media Fandom, London and New York: Routledge.
Geraghty, Lincoln (ed.) (2015) Popular Media Cultures: Fans, Audiences and Paratexts,
Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
Hills, Matt (2002) Fan Cultures, London: Routledge.
Murray, C., et al., (2003) Researching Audiences: A Practical Guide to Methods in Media Audience Analysis, Arnold.
Napoli, P. (2010) Audience Evolution, Columbia University Press.
Pande, Rukmini (2019) Squee From the Margins, Iowa: University of Iowa Press.
Stanfill, Mel (2019) Exploiting Fandom: How the Media Industry Seeks to Manipulate Fans
Iowa: University of Iowa Press.
Journals: Participations: The Online International Journal of Audience Studies
Journal of Fandom Studies
Transformative Works and Cultures