Module: MCO5102-20 Stardom and Celebrity

Level: 5

Credit Value: 20

Module Tutor: Rebecca Feasey

Module Tutor Contact Details: R.Feasey@bathspa.ac.uk

1. Brief description and aims of module:

Stardom and Celebrity aims to provide you with the opportunity to study the key debates in the field of academic star studies and celebrity culture from a number of critical perspectives. The syllabus will begin by identifying changes in the notions of fame from the emergence of the star system through to the contemporary culture of celebrity, and ask you to consider the ways in which such changes can be understood in relation to wider academic debates concerning gender, performance and cultural value. It will go on to explore the notion of synergy and the cross-over star, before looking at critical writing on images, branding and the celebrity commodity. The module will conclude by investigating both the production and reception of celebrity reporting. Stardom and Celebrity will identify a range of contemporary debates and encourage you to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of such literature in relation to a range of relevant case studies. The assessment will test your ability to analyse extant literature in the field, your skills in applying such work to relevant star texts and your capacity to communicate your ideas effectively in a range formats.

2. Outline syllabus

• the emergence of the star system and the studio era

• stars and society

• synergy and contemporary Hollywood stardom

• hierarchies of stardom

• the impossibility of television stardom

• fame, talent and the contemporary culture of celebrity

• the celebrity commodity

• media production and celebrity reporting

• celebrity politics and the political celebrity

• Celebrity fandom

3. Teaching and learning activities

Stardom and Celebrity will cover a number of key debates concerning the changing nature of fame, with each debate being introduced in a formal lecture and then challenged, considered and reconsidered in the ensuing seminar. Each debate will require looking at the relevant lecture slides, the essential reading, a range of further readings and supporting materials as outlined in the weekly schedule. The Minerva site for the module will act as a research centre and will contain both weekly support materials (lecture slides, essential and further reading) and broader research materials such as links to academic journal articles, power-lists, and the Centre for Media and Celebrity Studies.

Assessment Item 1:

• Assessment Type: Course Work

• Description: Research Folder

• % Weighting: 50%

Assessment Item 2:

• Assessment Type: Course Work

• Description: Essay

• % Weighting: 50%