Communicating Global Cultures

What is the purpose of developing expert understandings of human cultures if we cannot communicate their importance, interest and value effectively to public audiences, the government and other key stakeholders? In this module, you will explore the digital presence of the global cultural sector, experiencing the many cultural spaces that organisations and individuals have built online to promote and render accessible their creative resources and materials, in multilingual contexts and across diverse forms and media.

Our itinerary will include virtual visits to historic sites, museum and gallery tours, concerts, plays, and podcasts from a broad range of regions. In addition, you will view rare books and manuscripts in the world’s national libraries and attend digital festivals from across the globe. As we tour, you will develop skills in reading, carefully and critically, the rhetoric of these virtual culture spaces, to study the art of cultural communications and develop your own communication skills.

By the end of the module, you will have debated key questions:

• How do the written and visual discourses that cultural institutions deploy in their online spaces reflect national or regional identities?
• What assumptions and accommodations are made?
• How might the ‘visit’ differ depending on the knowledge and experience of the visitor?
• Who is implicitly included or excluded from the digital space?
• What narratives do these sites seek to tell, and how?
• How do cultural producers communicate across geographical and linguistic divides, and how do they adapt material for different audiences?

By the end of the module, you will be able to:

• Describe contemporary debates about identity, knowledge and accessibility and apply them to critically evaluate the visual and written discourses deployed by cultural institutions.
• Critically examine the different forms of communication employed in the online spaces of cultural organisations.
• Explain how the concepts of identity and intersectionality shape processes of inclusion and exclusion in/from digital space.
• Explain how emerging online innovations have or could challenge existing understandings of cultural inclusion, exclusion and accessibility.
• Compare and critique different methods of cultural communications and develop innovative ways of communicating complex ideas through a variety of media.
• Actively contribute to group discussions and collaborative note-taking tasks.
• Communicate orally in a video presentation in an engaging and clear way.

The standard entry requirements comprise:

• A 2:2 honours degree or international equivalent,
• A CV and personal statement outlining your reasons for study,
• English language band C (for example, IELTS 7.0 overall with a minimum of 6.5 in reading & writing and 6.0 in listening & speaking).

You will be assessed through a 3,000 word assignment.

This module is taught online and you will be expected to attend live webinars as part of your programme of studies. In most cases, modules will have more than one webinar group, which will be scheduled at different times of the day so students can make reasonable efforts to attend the sessions from where they are based in the world. In some cases, however, modules might only have one webinar group available. The day and time of webinar sessions will be available in the Global Cultures Hub on KEATS upon enrolment and are normally scheduled on Wednesdays, Thursdays or Fridays. In the webinars you will have an opportunity to critically explore the module contents in more depth within small groups. These will be facilitated by your tutor and held via MS Teams. These 60-minute live sessions normally take place once a week and run throughout the six weeks of the teaching period. The sessions might include (but are not limited to) breakout rooms to discuss topics in smaller groups; open-floor discussion; presentations from students; debates; and close-reading analysis. The most important aspects of these sessions are interaction and participation. It is paramount that you prepare in advance and take an active role in these sessions. Webinars are not recorded. If you miss a session, you are encouraged to use the weekly forums to catch up on the discussion and get in touch with your study group. Module tutors will provide feedback on the forum posts where applicable and may offer slots during ‘office hours’ (availability may vary) to discuss specific queries.

This module is offered as part of our flexible master’s awards in Professional Development. The awards are one of the most flexible currently offered in the UK, providing the opportunity to study a range of modules from across King’s, both on-campus and online. Whether you are looking for a promotion or to retrain, you have come to the right place.

Designed for mature professionals juggling life and work commitments, our postgraduate awards will enable you to study at your own pace. In challenging financial times, you are also able to fund your studies module-by-module. We will support you to select the right module diet that meets your objectives while ensuring that you are well prepared for success. We will also help you to build your professional network of peers from across our suite of CPD modules.

We can’t wait for you to continue your lifelong learning journey here at King’s.