Questioning the Digital B (P5082)

30 credits, Level 5

Autumn teaching

Questioning the Digital uses new digital research methods to study media and communications. You develop the skills necessary to collect data from the web and social media, visualise that data and analyse it. You learn how media scholars are using digital methods to analyse issues online such as state internet censorship, the circulation of ‘fake news’, the growth of climate change scepticism, political extremism, and geographical differences in attitudes to political rights. You will develop the skills you need to design and undertake digital humanities research but also grapple with the questions that arise when dealing with new forms of data collection, visualisation and analysis, such as those of algorithmic bias in relation to race and gender.

Teaching

20%: Lecture
60%: Practical (Workshop)
20%: Seminar

Assessment

100%: Coursework (Essay, Report)

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 300 hours of work. This breaks down into about 24 hours of contact time and about 276 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2022/23. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.