Module manager: Lorraine Yang
Email: finly@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
This module is not approved as a discovery module
This module introduces you to the historical, cultural and intellectual background of the culture wars. You will study the post WWII milieu to understand how and why conflicts arose about key issues such as gender, race and education. Particular attention will be paid to the importance of mass media from the 1960s to the 1990s to discover the origin of the term "culture wars" and how this notion came to shape the way we understand societal disputes. The module will also ask you to reflect on how key conflicts from the culture wars relate to contemporary cultural debates around the world. Please note this is an optional module and runs subject to enrolments. If a low number of students choose this module, then the module may not run and you may be asked to choose another module.
You will examine how countercultural artefacts and rights movements were portrayed in mass media from the 1960s to 1990s to better understand the power dynamics in framing the disputes of the culture wars. By comparing these influential cultural artefacts with influential cultural artefacts in the present, you will understand how contemporary media portrayals of the culture wars reframe, mediate and perpetuate societal disagreements. By studying how the intelligentsia’s socio-political activism (for example, the New Left) contributed to disagreements over important societal issues, you will gain a better sense of how intellectual history is imbricated with the culture wars.
On successful completion of the module you will be able to:
1- Identify key issues relevant to the culture wars through the examination of cultural artefacts.
2- Analyse how mass media from the 1960s to the 1990s shaped discourse around key conflicts then and compare this with how mass media shapes discourse around key conflicts today
3- Evaluate the importance of intellectual thought in shaping opinions of the culture wars
4- Evaluate the usefulness of “culture wars” as a concept to analyse contemporary global cultural conflicts
Skills Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
5- Construct a coherent argument based on relevant evidence
6- Discuss how texts signify in relation to their context(s)
Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 10 | 2 | 20 |
| Private study hours | 180 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 20 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
You will be given feedback on your responses in the interactive environment of a learner-centred lecture environment throughout the module. After the mid-term, time will be set aside in lecture for general feedback on the first assignment and how this feedback ties into the second assignment.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Project | 50 |
| Coursework | Written | 50 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
Check the module area in Minerva for your reading list
Last updated: 14/04/2025
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team