Media and Communication and Society, BA (Hons)

Choosing to study a joint honours degree will enable you to shape your study according to your strengths, interests and career ambitions. Combining two subjects can give your degree an international or industry perspective that will make you stand out in the graduate employment market. Why choose this course?

You will benefit from the following learning opportunities.

Media
This popular degree combines theoretical approaches to media with opportunities to learn practical media skills. You will learn from industry professionals and explore all aspects of media cultures, from social networking sites and lifestyle magazines to anti-globalisation movements and computer gaming.

This course is taught by a team of eminent researchers. In the latest Research Assessment Exercise (RAE, 2008), 85% of our Communication, Culture and Media research was assessed as world leading or of international quality. For you, this means that the course is informed by the latest thinking and you will learn from people with a real passion for their subject.

Communication and Society
Fascinating new forms of politics, economics and creative enterprises are rapidly challenging many core assumptions about human communication and identity. The possession and transfer of knowledge now lies at the heart of daily life and it is more important than ever to understand various aspects of communication. You will look at communication between individuals, groups and organisations, humanity and nature, and the evolving media through which communication takes place.

This course offers a wide choice of interesting and engaging modules. The core of this course draws on Psychology and Sociology, and also includes aspects of Philosophy, History and Anthropology. No previous study in any of these areas is required. You will study a diverse range of topics including:

• non-verbal, spoken and unconscious communication
• the history of communication
• digital cultures.

The fascinating range of subject areas that this course covers make it an ideal combination with our modern range of course options.

This course is taught by a team of eminent researchers. In the latest Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 2008 85% of NTU Communication, Culture and Media research was assessed as world leading or international quality. For you this means that the course is informed by the latest thinking and you'll learn from people with a real passion for their subject.

Joint Honours
You can combine either of these subjects with another subject to create your degree programme. Not sure which subjects to choose? Don't worry as the joint honours curriculum enables students to switch subjects after Year One depending on which core modules they have completed. To see the full range of combinations and their UCAS codes see:

• Media Joint Honours
• Communication and Society Joint Honours.

Extra opportunities
Our flexible curriculum has been designed to create some amazing opportunities for students in the School of Arts and Humanities. Your second year of study is divided into two semesters that enable students to take part in optional:

• international exchange
• work placements
• learn or improve language skills.

Gain valuable work experience that will impress employers, learn another language, experience other cultures and travel the globe - all as part of your degree. Our international exchange partners include universities in:

• Australia
• Europe
• USA
• Canada
• Thailand.

Find out more on an Open Day.

When does this course start?

Please see the academic calendar for term dates.

What will I study?

Media modules

Year One

• Understanding Media and Culture
• Face-to-Face to Facebook
• Approaches to Media Practice
• Introduction to Media Communication

Year Two

• Theorizing and Researching Media and Culture
• Working with the Media
• Digital Identities (Pathway option)
• Client-led Media Practice (Pathway option)
• The City and Popular Culture (Pathway option)
• Researching Media and Culture
• From Script to Screen
• Creative Documentary
• Identity and Difference
• Media and Culture in Asia
• Advertising, Public Relations and Journalism One
• Work Placement
• International Exchange

Year Three

• Dissertation
• Advertising, PR and Journalism Two (core for Media
  Communications)
• Media Practice in the Real World (core for Media Practice and
  Production)
• Lifestyle and Consumer Culture (core for Popular Culture)
• Media in the Workplace
• Music Video
• Alternative Media Practices
• The Body and Popular Culture
• Lifestyle and Consumer Culture
• Cultural Policy
• Everyday Media
• DJ Cultures
• Transnational and Alternative Media
• Voice, Text, Image

Communication and Society modules

Year One

• Face-to-face to Facebook: Understanding Communications in an
  Age of New Media
• Introducing Media Communications: Publicity, Persuasion and
  Propaganda

Year Two

• Mirror Mirror on the Wall: Explorations of Identity and Selfhood
• Communications and Creativity Toolkit
• Media and Culture in Asia
• Advertising, Public Relations and Journalism I: The New
  Creativity
• Gender and Sexuality
• Work placement
• International Exchange

Year Three

• Dissertation
• Humanity and the Natural World
• Desire and Addiction
• DJ Cultures: History, Theory, Technique
• Self in Crisis: Power, Prejudice and Otherness
• Transnational and Alternative Media
• Advertising, Public Relations and Journalism Two: Convergence and
  Creativity in the Digital Age

How will I learn?

Each year students choose a range of core and optional modules from the lists above. The first year is normally divided equally between the two joint honours subjects but at the end of Year One, students have the opportunity to select between an equally weighted joint honours course and a more specialised pathway depending on their interests.

Teaching principally takes place through a combination of:

• lectures (where tutors introduce the key ideas)
• seminars (organised on the basis of smaller group discussion of those ideas).

Contact hours

Staff will also generally offer office hours, where you can sign up to see them in small groups or on a one-to-one basis, perhaps to discuss an essay plan or to seek some specific academic guidance.

It is the nature of the subjects offered in the School of Arts and Humanities, however, that much of your time will be spent engaged in independent study. We recognise that this marks a change of culture from school or college, and we have in place a system of study support to help you adapt to this.

View the full course specification
Please note that course specifications may be subject to change