Practices and Power

Course goals

• identify hierarchies and possibilities of agency within media industries and institutions; 
• develop a systematic understanding of media practices in relation to power structures; 
• show advanced skills in searching, finding, reading and using academic literature;
• write a literature review. 

Content

This core course focuses on practices within the media industry. It addresses power structures within industries and institutions and deals with media professionals' agency and the possibilities they have to make (creative) choices in complex organizational systems. 

Students are familiarized with state-of-the-art work on media industries by reading literature from a variety of subfields, such as production studies, distribution studies, feminist media studies and critical media industry studies. Course readings are discussed in weekly seminars that are thematically organized. Themes are chosen annually and may include topics like labor, creativity, authorship, financing, gatekeeping, diversity, work safety and sustainability. Specific attention is given in this course to navigating the academic field through literature and the final assignment is a literature review. 

The course has three aims:
- First, to develop a theoretically informed understanding of (a selection of) current debates about and practices within the media industries
- Second, to refresh skills in searching, finding, reading and using academic literature
- Third, to connect academic approaches to the field of work
 

Additional information

Only open to students enrolled in the MA program Film and Television Cultures

Career orientation
The course offers insights into the professional field of media industries and institutions and may include a site visit or field trip.