Communication & Culture

Communication & Culture – introductory video

In this short video interview, Mark Piesing (Head of Communication & Culture) gives an introduction to the subject at A level.

What is Communication & Culture A level about?

Communication and Culture is the study of all aspects of human communication – from who we are to pop videos, from body language to the world wide super culture. It's a discovery subject – taking your experiences and matching them to the theory. It's not a subject of set answers and regurgitated facts.

What's more it's not even a new subject, having been on the A level scene as Communication Studies since the 1970s.

And finally, as you can't study it at GCSE, it's new to everyone.

What does the course consist of?

These are some of the issues you are immediately confronted with in the first unit of the AS (Understanding Communication and Culture). We explore the whole range of human communication – from the way we think to Facebook – and develop the skills to understand it.

You will then be asked in Unit 2 (The Individual and Contemporary Culture) to carry out an independent study: to take these ideas out of the class room and start exploring what they mean in your own life, at a personal and cultural level. Projects have ranged from 'exploring multiple my identities as an emo fan and a horse rider' through 'the media representation of sisters compared to brothers', all the way to 'the value of heavy metal' and whether 'Banksy is an artist or villian'. Not forgetting 'the significance of Top Shop window displays' and an evaluation of 'World of Warcraft avatars'.

This independent study is worth 50% of your marks for the whole year, and includes the production of a multimedia presentation.

In the second year you will be asked, in Unit 3 (Communicating Culture), to take these ideas further through studying theory in more depth and apply them to an issues in Communication such as the role user generated content plays in the media, through to evaluating the 'stories' or 'fictions' that are transmitted through – for example – the World Cup, and even how Apple creates objects of desire out of the iPad.

You will then again explore these further in independent studies for Unit 4 (Communication and Culture in Practice) – whether through an evaluation of the cultural meanings of plastic surgery, or the exploration of male and female personas of celebrity politicians, or even an exploration of the social impact of the convergence between technology and the human body.

Whom does the subject suit?

Communication & Culture suits students who not only have strong opinions and like to debate, but who also enjoy evaluating, criticising and analysing rather than just accepting easy 'right or wrong' answers.

The subject attracts those who are willing to engage with contemporary culture and who are ready – and brave enough – to see the connections between the theory and their own lives. Those who are keen to grow as people by acquiring new communication skills.

How is Communication & Culture taught at d'Overbroeck's?

Communication & Culture is a very popular subject. Lessons are...

• about students and their opinions – which matter in the exams as much as in class
• rooted in contemporary culture – the students' culture not that of the teachers
• founded on theory – which students are expected to use from the moment they enter the classroom
• creative – using everything from video, music, articles, virtual realities, discussion and brainstorming, as well as the essential note-taking
• usually split into 15-20 minute sections such as a brainstormed recap, then a video, followed by a discussion of the video and note-taking.

We also believe in the value of enrichment activities that expose you to new ideas and challenge your existing ones, whether via a trip to the cinema to see a film like A Mighty Heart, or an outside speaker giving a talk about issues such as the representation of disability in the media or filming in war zones.

What other subjects do Communication & Culture students take?

Communication and Culture is the kind of subject that goes well with most other A levels, from Ancient History to Sport Studies.

Sociology, Psychology, Business Studies, Politics and Biology are popular companions to Communication and Culture, along with the creative arts subjects such as Art, Photography and Drama.

Some students, on the other hand, study more traditional A levels such as Maths, Physics, Economics and History, while enjoying the variety that Communication and Culture brings to their studies.

Often students study the subject – initially – as their fourth AS, only to enjoy it so much that they decide to continue studying the subject in the Upper 6th.

What's the difference between Communication & Culture and Sociology, or Psychology?

While the subject matter seems very similar, the approach is very different. So much so that many students combine these subjects together, finding that doing so enhances their studies.

The main difference tends to be that Sociology and Psychology are more interested in the detail of theory and experimental methods, whereas Communication and Culture focuses on the application of these.

A good illustration is Zimbardo's experiment on group conformity. In Psychology students will learn the methodology of the actual experiment and evaluate its conclusion, whereas in Communication and Culture we are interested in what the conclusions of the experiment might tell us about the groups to which we belong.

Where can I go to get a sense of the subject?

The key academic book is AS Communication Studies: The Essential Introduction by Wall, Bennett and Slater. However, most books in the Media and Sociology section of your local bookshop should give you a flavour. Or even take a peek at www.cultsock.org, which is written for A level students as well as first year undergraduates.

Beyond the strictly academic, classic books like Naomi Klein's No Logo will give you a flavour of the issues we cover, as well as more recent books like The Cult Of The Amateur: How Today's Internet Is Killing Our Culture by Andrew Keen or Kate Fox's Watching the English: The hidden rules of English culture. Films like the classic Dangerous Minds or the more recent This Is Britain can also offer valuable insight into the subject.

Read Media Guardian on Mondays (in print or online) to broaden your knowledge of the modern media, or even a more specialist magazine like The Edge for an insight into a specific medium such as video games. Even the Technology Guardian on Thursday (online) has good material and a very relevant blog. The Sunday Times Culture supplement is also good in its coverage of debates regarding the nature of culture.

Who will teach me?

Our popularity as a subject is dependent on our knowledge of our subject and how it is examined, the quality of our teaching and our experience of the real world of the communications industry.

Mark Piesing has been Head of Department for eight years, and has taught the subject for 13 years at d'Overbroeck's. Mark has also been a Senior and Assistant Examiner for Communication Studies with the AQA exam board. Mark also works as a freelance journalist and has written on subjects as diverse as archaeology in Spain (for the Guardian), the future of photography (for the Independent) and the revival of outlaw ballads (for The Word music magazine).

Mark's particular interests are in the way media coverage shapes real world events and the way the media class deny it. He is also interested in animal language and culture, and changing human perceptions of these.

Stephanie Croft-Simon is a former student of ours who after completing a Sociology degree at the University of Bristol returns to us to teach one of the subjects she most loved when she was at dÕOverbroeckÕs. Welcome home!

What might the subject lead onto?

Our students go on to study a range of subjects at university. A good number will carry on with Communication Studies at Russell Group universities like Liverpool, Leeds or Sussex. Others will study a range of subjects from Business, Politics, and Psychology all the way through to Art and Architecture, also at Russell Group universities such as Bristol and Exeter and at a broad range of other good universities.

Communication & Culture also makes a good AS subject. A number of students each year take the subject as a fourth AS for courses like medicine or PPE at Oxbridge to show a breadth to their education and the development of practical communication skills.