Module manager: Dr Joey Chan
Email: l.t.chan@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
This module is not approved as an Elective
In this module, you will investigate the claim that through digital media we are all active citizens in a new participatory culture. You will explore the implications for your own participation and engagement in online platforms. You will examine a range of modes of digital participation and engagemment, such as, fandom, gaming culture, social media platforms, influencer culture, digital activisms, and experential media, on local and global scales. You will critique the dynamics and inequities among and between digital media audiences and producers. In doing so, you will interrogate key questions, such as: Do digital media democratise participation and give voice to audiences? Who is included and who isn’t? Do commercial interests in these media spaces allow for meaningful participation and/or exploitation?
Through a series of lectures, you will learn about and develop critical understanding of participatory culture and digitial engagement in concepts and theories and their significance in society and culture. Small group seminars and workshops will enable you to engage with academic and industry perspectives, reflect on topical examples in media and your own participation in digital culture, and interrogate existing claims and notions of participation and digital engagement. These activities may include specialist input from practitioners in arts and cultural organisations. Overall, you will develop critical awareness of differing perpectives on and implications of participatory culture in the cultural industries and wider society.
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:
1. Analyse and critique key concepts and debates surrounding participation, engagement, and digital media
2. Critically engage with their participation in digital media
3. Evaluate a contemporary case study of participatory culture and digital engagement
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
1. Critically evaluate different information, perspectives, and ethical considerations
2. Develop and present independent research, by gathering and analysing academic and non-academic evidence
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 8 | 1 | 8 |
| Practical | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| Seminar | 8 | 1.5 | 12 |
| Private study hours | 274 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 26 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 300 | ||
Students can develop their ideas and research skills through seminars and workshops from tutors, peers, and any industry practitioners. Students will receive formative feedback on their understanding and development of their ideas in assessment 1 and optional office hours with tutors. There will be lecture and seminar time dedicated to assessments and feedback.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | reflection | 40 |
| Coursework | case study | 60 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 12/03/2025
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team