What to read before starting your Culture, Media & Creative Industries BA

If you’re wondering about what you could be reading, watching or investigating to help you prepare for studying Culture Media and Creative Industries at King’s, then look no further! 

Though none of these are mandatory, this list of resources contains content that you might find useful and interesting ahead of beginning your degree. Having a look through a few of these will give you a better idea of what to expect from the content to come, and help give you a foundation before the term starts. 

The list is split into three sections in line with the course – Culture, Media, and Creative Industries, and are mostly freely available to access online. For those that are not, a rough window for the price has been included. Previews are available for all of the listed books on Google Books, and second-hand copies of all of the titles are likely to be much cheaper 

Culture  

Thomas, A. (2020) Why Representation Really Matters (TEDX Bristol, 2020).  

• Available free online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X-taPvKWbY&ab_channel=TEDxTalks 
• A recording of a TED Talk, that challenges viewers to conceive of a world where all races are represented in all aspects of life.

Hall, S. & Open University (1997) Representation: cultural representations and signifying practices. London, Sage.  

• Available free online at https://fotografiaeteoria.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/the_work_of_representation__stuart_hall.pdf   
• An outline of how visual images, language and discourse work as `systems of representation’. 

Storey, J. (2018) Cultural theory and popular culture: an introduction. Eighth edition. London, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.  

• Preview available via Google Books, costs around £30 new  
• A theoretical, analytical, and historical introduction to the study of popular culture, and coverage of fundamental issues in cultural studies 

Astrid Erll (2008) Cultural Memory Studies : An International and Interdisciplinary Handbook. 1–18.  

• Available to download from https://zlibrary.to/pdfs/cultural-memory-studies-an-international-and-interdisciplinary-handbook-pdf   
• An introductory exploration into the relationship between culture and memory 

 Media   

Long, P. (2013) Media studies : texts, production, context . Second edition. Routledge.  

• Preview available via Google Books, costs around £45 new
• A comprehensive introduction to exploring the ways in which various media forms make meaning; are produced and regulated; and how society, culture and history are defined by such forms. 

Fuchs, C. (2013). Social Media: A Critical Introduction. London: Sage  

• Preview available via Google Books, costs around £28 new 
• A critical exploration inro social media, asking questions about issues of ownership, power, class and (in)justice.  

Jenkins, H. (2006) Convergence culture : where old and new media collide . New York :, New York University Press.  

• Available online at https://www.hse.ru/data/2016/03/15/1127638366/Henry%20Jenkins%20Convergence%20culture%20where%20old%20and%20new%20media%20collide%20%202006.pdf   
• A look into the dynamic between individuals and different media channels, exploring where old and new media intersect 

Banks, M.J., Conor, B. & Mayer, V. (2016) Production studies, the sequel!: cultural studies of global media industries. New York, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.  

• Preview available via Google Books, costs around £30 new 
• A collection of case studies that uses the lens of cultural studies to explore the experiences of media workers across the world and examine international production cultures for a range of media 

Creative Industries  

Caves, R.E. (2000) Creative industries: contracts between art and commerce. Cambridge, Mass, Harvard University Press.  

• Preview available via Google Books, costs around £25 new 
• A look into e visual and performing arts, movies, theatre, sound recordings, and book publishing to examine the organisation of creative industries 

Wreyford, N, O’Brien, D, and Dent, T (2021). Creative Majority: An APPG for Creative Diversity report on ‘What Works’ to support, encourage and improve diversity, equity and inclusion in the creative sector. A report for the All Party Parliamentary Group for Creative Diversity.  

• Accessed here: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/cultural/projects/creative-majority  
• The culmination of a collaborative research project that aims to support, encourage and improve equity, diversity and inclusion in the creative sector. 

Holden, J., 2015. The ecology of culture. 

• Available here: https://publicartonline.org.uk/downloads/news/AHRC%20Ecology%20of%20Culture.pdf.  
• An investigation of the complex interdependencies that shape the demand for and production of arts and cultural offering 

De Beukelaer, C. & Spence, K.-M. (2019) Global cultural economy. London, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.  

• Preview available via Google Books, costs around £23 new 
• An interrogation of the role that culture and creative industries play in society. 

Mason, R., Coffield, E. & Robinson, A. (2018) Museum and gallery studies: the basics. London, [England], Routledge.  

• Preview available via Google Books, costs around £20 new 
• An entry-level guide to the key ideas, approaches and contentious issues in the field of museum and gallery studies