MA Culture Industry

This module sets out the key theorisations of the culture industry. While incorporating classical figurations of the culture industry, the module is primarily concerned with assembling a clear engagement with contemporary research such as those spearheaded by leading researchers at Goldsmiths.

The organisation and substance of work and of precarious labour, of the developing debates and mechanisms of ‘intellectual property’ and cultural workers’ development of institutions and networks, as well as contemporary configurations of the professional, will be discussed. The globalisation of the culture industry will provide a persistent and ambitious point of reference.

This module will introduce the key conceptual frameworks for interpreting the cultural industries, starting with the classic macro perspectives of the ‘culture industry thesis’ developed by The Frankfurt School, and Political Economy; analyses concerned with the economic structure of culture, its mass production and resultant aesthetic and social forms.

These theoretical frameworks are read critically in relation to contemporary structural changes within the social and built world, primarily the shift from an industrial to a knowledge-based economy, and accompanied by related transformations of the city of production into the creative city. The rise of globalisation, reorganisations in the labour market, and the proliferation of cultural and symbolic goods, brands and logos provide key dimensions of this exposition.

As it continues, the module draws more broadly from contemporary cultural theory in order to develop a model of the cultural industries which remains attuned to the influence of economic structure and ‘the domination of the commodity’ while also being able to account for the complex texture of innovation, creativity, and restructured power relationships which are emerging.

This module will introduce you to contemporary conceptualisations of cultural practice and features current debates in visual art, curating, architecture and design, community art, DIY culture and digital media.

Culture involves complex networks of production ranging from the institutional and the transnational to the interpersonal and aesthetic. Driven by questions of practice, this module explores a series of more detailed analyses of specific figures: curators, users, makers, hackers - and cultural dynamics on individual areas of practice and the ways that they fit and misfit the idea and reality of an ‘industry’.

You’ll discuss theories of creativity in relation to other emerging figurations of culture, and learn from guest lectures and practitioners in the sector.

This module supports you in designing and undertaking independent scholarly research in your chosen field. You'll produced, and be assessed on a single-authored, original piece of extended academic writing: the MA Dissertation.

Following the lifecycle of an academic research project, this module looks at some of the underlying principles and practicalities of multidisciplinary research in media and communications at the intersection of the arts and humanities and social sciences.

The Research Lab is a platform for cultural production and research. Lab work provides you with the essential preparation and context for the Minor Project or Placement, as well as the Major Project or Placement and is a core part of the course throughout the year. You'll be taught a specifically spatial approach to studying the culture industry in Term 1, shifting to a focus on ethnographic and documentation research methods in Term 2.

The weekly Research Lab Sessions also provide a platform for field trips to culture industry settings and master classes in culture industry research methods and production as well as other pedagogic formats that do not fit into the standard Lecture/Seminar model. You'll be supported in identifying and securing placements and internships through which they gain the opportunity to engage in studying the culture industry first-hand. You'll also be supported, through tutorial teaching, to strategise your study, documentation and theorisation of placements and sites of culture industry production.