Topic - Talks and Lectures, Schools and Colleges
BBC One’s popular series, ‘The Traitors’ returns to screens for a fourth season following on from the hugely successful first season of ‘Celebrity Traitors’. Join us as we analyse this series with experts from Film and Media, and Psychology.
The game itself consists of two groups of contestants ‘Faithful’s and ‘Traitors’. The ‘Traitors’ must secretly work together to eliminate the ‘Faithful’s while remaining undetected. While the ‘Faithful’s’ must identify the ‘Traitors’ and vote them out before their time is up.
Throughout each episode contestants take part in various challenges with the episode culminating in a round table vote off and murdered faithful. The aim is to eliminate all ‘Traitors’ till only the ‘Faithful's are left standing.
The show is a high-stakes game of deception and strategy where anyone could be ‘Traitor’. The show portrays one of humanity’s most common fears – to be betrayed by someone you trust and viewers are compelled to watch as the drama unfolds.
Join Mark Ord, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, and Stephanie Farnsworth, Lecturer in Media and Communications as we analyse the current series and look at the cultural impact and psychology of the show.
Nick Smith, Executive Vice President at All3Media International, and Visiting Professor at the University of Sunderland will also give an exclusive insight into television formats and licensing. He'll discuss the success of The Traitors and its significance in the industry. Nick will also talk about the relationship between All3Media and University of Sunderland, and the fantastic opportunities available.
Psychology
The traitors continues to captivate the public with each new season. In part, this is because of amazing production. But it is also because it taps into a deeply evolved and central concern of human psychology: can we really trust the people in our social circle? In this talk we will discuss the evolution of deception and the detection of it. We'll cover what the data suggests is indicative of being a good or bad 'traitor' or 'faithful'.
Media
We'll also look at 'The Traitors' through the lens of media, exploring topics such as how a narrative is constructed through how contestants are edited and framed, as well as how the shows shapes the viewers own perceptions of trust, loyalty and deception. We'll also be discovering at what makes The Traitors unique or more compelling than similar shows and if it has set a new standard for strategic games in reality television.
This event is open to anyone interested in studying a degree in psychology, film and media, or simply fans of the show.
For any questions, please email student.recruitment@sunderland.ac.uk