BA Media and Communications

Program Overview

---

The BA Media and Communications program at the University of Exeter provides students with practical and professional skills in media and communications. Through a diverse range of compulsory and optional modules, students gain a thorough understanding of the field, develop critical and analytical abilities, and participate in events featuring renowned professionals. The program offers a flexible structure, including optional placement years and the opportunity to pursue proficiency in a second subject, equipping graduates for careers in the creative industries or any field requiring media and communications expertise.

Program Outline

---

BA Media and Communications - University of Exeter

---

Degree Overview:

This program aims to equip students with practical and professional skills to work across the creative industries or any field requiring an understanding of media and communications. It provides a thorough grounding in the field, covering a range of contexts and applications.

---

Objectives:

• Hone practical and professional skills.
• Gain a thorough understanding of media and communications.
• Experience different learning methods through specialist modules.
• Develop critical and analytical skills.
• Participate in events involving internationally acclaimed authors, actors, and filmmakers.

---

Outline:

The program is structured over three years, with optional placement years available. Students can choose from a portfolio of optional modules, allowing them to tailor their learning experience.

---

Year 1:

• Compulsory Modules:
• Perspectives on Communications (30 credits)
• Communications Challenges (30 credits)
• Optional Modules:
• Visual Media (15 credits)
• Approaches to Criticism (30 credits)
• Film Studies: An Introduction (15 credits)
• Academic English (15 credits)
• Imagine This: Prompts for Creative Writing (15 credits)
• Enter the Matrix: Digital Perspectives on the Humanities (15 credits)
• A Nation Remembers: Issues in German Cultural Memory (15 credits)
• The Challenges of World Politics in the Twenty-First Century (15 credits)
• Language, Culture, and International Relations (15 credits)
• Religion in the Modern World (15 credits)

---

Year 2:

• Compulsory Modules:
• Communications in the Workplace (15 or 30 credits - students choose one)
• Communications Research Methods (30 credits)
• Optional Modules:
• Sound and Society (15 credits)
• Humanities after the Human: Further Adventures in Critical Theory (30 credits)
• Making a Career in Publishing (15 credits)
• Ethics of Emerging Technologies (15 credits)
• Political Conflicts in Europe (15 credits)
• Multilingualism in Society (15 credits)
• Intercultural Communication (15 credits)
• Sociology of Art and Culture (15 credits)
• Gender and Society 1 (15 credits)
• Cyborg Studies (15 credits)
• Deception (15 credits)
• Digital Society (15 credits)
• Religious Literacy, Communication and Media (30 credits)
• Introduction to Games Studies (30 credits)
• Professional Writing (30 credits)
• History of Communications (30 credits)
• Communications and the Climate Crisis (30 credits)
• Communications in the 21st Century (30 credits)

---

Placement Year (Optional):

• Typically taken in Year 3.

---

Final Year:

• Compulsory Modules:
• Communications: Dissertation (30 credits) OR Communications: Practical Research Project (30 credits) - students choose one.
• Optional Modules:
• Creative Industries Management (30 credits)
• British Screens (30 credits)
• Something to See: War and Visual Media (30 credits)
• Writing the Short Film (30 credits)
• Writing for Children and Young Adults (30 credits)
• Acts of Writing: From Decolonisation to Globalisation (30 credits)
• The Death of the Novel (30 credits)
• The Rise of Science (30 credits)
• Harlem and After: African American Literature 1925-present (30 credits)
• Poetry and Politics (30 credits)
• News, Media and Communication (30 credits)
• Deadly Words: The Language of Political Violence (15 credits)
• Intercultural Communication in a Global World (15 credits)
• The Media in Europe (30 credits)
• Social Media and Society (30 credits)

---

Assessment:

• Primarily through exams and coursework.
• Coursework includes essays, a dissertation, and presentation work.
• The ratio of formal exam to coursework is on average 40:60.
• First year does not count towards the final degree classification, but students must pass to progress.

---

Teaching:

• Combination of lectures and discussion-based seminars.
• Support for team-based learning through study groups.
• Use of both traditional learning resources and a virtual learning environment.
• Lecturers and tutors available for one-to-one consultations.
• Active engagement in introducing new methods of learning and teaching, including interactive computer-based approaches.
• Access to online subscription databases and websites.

---

Careers:

• The program includes a module, "Communications in the Workplace," which encourages students to find work placements in the communications and media sector or undertake communication-related projects.
• Students develop a range of professional skills, including time management, teamwork, critical thinking, analysis, and communication.
• Example career paths:
• Advertising
• Digital Media
• Events Organisation
• Film-making
• International Relations
• Journalism
• Marketing
• Public Relations
• Research
• The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum, a unique film and popular culture resource.
• The Digital Humanities Lab, which enables the examination, preservation, and analysis of historical, literary, and visual material.
• The University of Exeter has been awarded UNESCO City of Literature status.
• Students can take up to 30 credits in a subject outside of their course, which can increase their employability and broaden their intellectual horizons.
• Students can achieve proficiency in a second subject, such as a foreign language, data science, entrepreneurship, innovation, law, leadership, or social data science, which can be added to their degree title upon graduation.

---

UK students: £9,250 per year International students: £23,700 per year