MA Media Culture and Society (Part time)

Our course will allow you to study contemporary media and culture from a variety of perspectives and disciplines. Taught by leading experts in the fields of media and cultural studies, journalism, politics, economics, and law, it will ask you to examine the role of media in global citizenship, as well as helping you understand the workings of media law and economics, and the different media systems.

Through your choice of optional modules, from a range that includes some practical media options, you will be able to tailor your degree to meet your interests, focusing on the aspects of media and society that you feel are most important and most fascinating. In your Master’s dissertation, you will take the exploration of your interests even further.

Over the course of your MA you will develop a variety of useful, transferable skills, including the ability to provide clear and stimulating presentations, to analyse and defend a point of view, to conduct research, and to present ideas lucidly and logically. We’ll also help you to develop research skills, enabling you to write a high-quality dissertation.

You may also have the opportunity to take part in an international trip, depending on government health advice. Typically lasting two to three days, our course trips are a fantastic opportunity to meet journalists and other media specialists, and to develop your media skills.

As a member of our postgraduate community you will have the opportunity to attend numerous events and talks during your time here. We regularly attract distinguished lecturers, with previous guests including Gary Gibbon, Political Editor for Channel 4 News; Anne McElvoy of The Economist; Owen Jones, author and columnist for The Guardian; Shami Chakrabarti, former director of Liberty; Michael Cockerell, BBC documentary film-maker; and John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons. We will rely on government and health regulations when deciding whether to have these fascinating talks online or on Campus. Visit our website to find out more about our postgraduate community and experience some of these lectures.

About

Studying and working in the media requires an acute awareness of the way media and culture shape people’s understanding of - and responses to - their world. From the daily routines to the grand designs of contemporary society – from the election of a president to the fall of a government – it’s almost impossible to make sense of national or world events without understanding the role media and culture play.

And making sense of it all depends on knowledge of the social, economic, political and legal factors that help in the production, distribution and consumption of media content. This, in turn, relies on an understanding of the arts and humanities and the social sciences: economics, politics and the law, and media and cultural studies.

Our MA will help you investigate and reflect upon how media and society are linked. You’ll explore the practical and professional implications of these links, and you could develop skills to enable you to work in the media.

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Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the courses listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the regular review of course programmes. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes, there will normally be prior consultation of students and others. Changes may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will inform students.

Assessment for Year 1

You will be assessed in a variety of ways, mostly through your essays, but also through presentations, course tests and – very occasionally – an exam.

Structure

Our part-time MA lasts two years, during which time you’ll be required to complete our compulsory multidisciplinary module, Media and Society. This foundation module is complemented by the Studying Media module, which, in addition to introducing key study skills and debates in the discipline, offers workshop sessions that provide a supportive environment for critical reflection, intercultural communication and the development of research skills.

You will also be able to choose from a wide range of optional modules such as gender and power, public relations and the media or learn more about the practices on modern journalism. Through these opportunities and others, you will be able to focus on areas that interest you.

You’ll complete your Master’s with your dissertation, which will be written in the summer of your second year. This is an excellent opportunity to delve deeper into a subject that interests you, as you put your research skills into practice and carry out an in-depth enquiry into a topic of your choice.

Teaching and Learning

Teaching

Planning is now underway in light of the covid-19 crisis to ensure that teaching will continue to be of the highest standard. We are prepared for teaching completely online, and for a mix of online teaching and face-to-face teaching on campus so you can be reassured that, whatever happens, you will be able to start your degree.

The majority of your teaching takes the form of seminars. You will have lectures too, as well as workshops and one-to-one tutorials. You may also be required to prepare presentations and undertake group work, as well as a range of other teaching and learning methods.

In the 20/21 academic year, we will start both in September and January: the September start follows a traditional three semester structure, with taught modules in the Autumn and Spring semesters with a dissertation project undertaken over the summer.

For those starting in January, an exciting two week intensive pre-sessional programme will launch you into the spring semester with a summer term covering digital media and then a dissertation in the autumn semester.

Independent study

Developing your ability to conduct independent study is absolutely central to this course. This includes preparation for seminars and assessments, but will be best exemplified by your Master’s dissertation. You will be allocated an academic supervisor to give advice on all aspects of writing and researching it. You will also take part in our dedicated Postgraduate Day, when all MA students meet to discuss their research and the progress they are making.

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Assessment for Year 2

You will be assessed in a variety of ways, mostly through your essays, but also through presentations, course tests and – very occasionally – an exam.

Structure

Teaching and Learning

Teaching

Independent study

Admissions Live Chat

Apply

Explore our research

Assessment for Year 1

You will be assessed in a variety of ways, mostly through your essays, but also through presentations, course tests and – very occasionally – an exam.

Compulsory Modules

MEDIA AND SOCIETY

Code PPLM7009Y

Credits 40

How does media shape society? How does society shape media? These are key questions for anyone interested in the role of media today. Our aim is to provide you with a broad, current and inter-disciplinary understanding of the media and their relationship to society, and you will be taught by experts in media law, media studies, political science, and development. You will: • Be exposed to many different approaches to the study of media. • Learn about different media systems and how they are regulated and funded. • Analyse media content and you will debate how best to research media effects. • Encounter arguments about the digital divide and about the new global media political economy. • Explore how media content is constructed, what factors and influences go to shape content and how content may be controlled and even censored. • Look at the media industry, examining how it is currently organised and managed. • Examine how media affects people and society. • Have the opportunity to reflect upon likely future developments in the relationship between media and society. You will be able to develop your own ideas on these matters through the long essay that you write at the end of the module, supported in this by workshops and tutorials.

Optional A Modules

(20 credits)

STUDYING MEDIA

Code PPLM7004A

Credits 20

This module is intended to provide you with an introduction to the key study skills in media and cultural studies. It will be particularly useful if you are unfamiliar with the British university system and its expectations. You will apply theoretical and methodological approaches to contemporary media texts and discuss recent scholarship on changes in the global media and cultural landscape.

STUDYING MEDIA (STRAND B)

Code PPLM7021A

Credits 20

Strand B of Studying Media (Introductory Module for International Students, introducing them to the Foundations of Media and Cultural Studies.) Strand B Is for Home students and will look to critically engage with this key theory, while considering various research methods for engaging in contemporary media and cultural studies.

Optional B Modules

(20-40 credits)

ANALYSING HOLLYWOOD CINEMA

Code AMAM7011B

Credits 20

'Hollywood' as an industry, cultural institution and maker of films has dominated the global cinematic imagination for decades. On this module, we investigate the history, production cultures and texts made by the US film industry from its classic period to contemporary filmmaking. This will include analysing Hollywood from a range of perspectives, which may include things like studio filmmaking, independent filmmaking, genre filmmaking and the blockbuster. In doing so we will discover the multiplicity of cinemas at work within the concept of Hollywood.

PRACTICAL VIDEO AND TV NEWS PRODUCTION

Code PPLM7007B

Credits 20

This module introduces you to codes and practice of modern journalism. A brief run of lecture workshops looks at journalism today, including regulation and ethics as they are applied to various sectors of the industry, as well as broadcast and online. There will be instruction on sourcing and researching stories and content, and also consideration of story structure for text and video reports. Class exercises will practice the process of planning a video shoot, and the structuring and scripting of a stories. (For these sessions, delivered online or face to face as circumstances permit, you will join other groups of journalism students.) The second half of the module will be spent considering and practising the increasingly important techniques of Mobile Journalism, and how to produce professional quality content for online or broadcast, using everyday mobile equipment. You will look at different forms of story presentation and practise shooting and editing accordingly. You will receive guidance on video and editing technique. It will help you to have access to a mobile phone with HD video recording facilities. Journalism is a rapidly changing profession, and lecture topics are frequently updated to reflect technical, practice, regulatory and other developments. Note: Some activities will be adjusted to comply with COVID advice and regulations in place at the time.

GENDER AND POWER

Code PPLM7015B

Credits 20

Providing a conceptual overview of feminist research approaches, you will examine contemporary gender and power relations. You will examine both the formal and informal power structures that shape the experience of gender. Bringing together the fields of media, sociology, politics and cultural studies, the module explores the extent to which feminist theory informs gender-based activism.

PUBLIC RELATIONS, PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND THE MEDIA

Code PPLX7005B

Credits 20

This module enables students to develop an advanced understanding of the theory and practice of public affairs, interest intermediation, and the strategies used by interest, advocacy groups and others to influence the political process. As well as covering the main debates in the academic literature, it draws directly on the experience of practitioners and offers unique insights into this under-studied area of politics.

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Explore our research

Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, the University will endeavour to consult with students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. In some cases optional modules can have limited places available and so you may be asked to make additional module choices in the event you do not gain a place on your first choice. Where this is the case, the University will inform students.

Assessment for Year 2

You will be assessed in a variety of ways, mostly through your essays, but also through presentations, course tests and – very occasionally – an exam.

Compulsory Modules

PSI DISSERTATION

Code PPLX7010X

Credits 60

For all MA students registered on programmes in Political Social and International Studies except those undertaking a Dissertation by Practice. Students are required to write a dissertation of 10,000 words on a topic approved by the Course Director or other authorised person. The dissertation is to be submitted the first working day of September in the relevant year.

UNDERSTANDING DIGITAL MEDIA

Code PPLM7000A

Credits 20

Digital technologies are often hyped as revolutionising society. You will be introduced to the ways in which the internet and other digital technologies are (and are not) affecting society from theoretical and empirical perspectives. The module is divided into three blocks: the first introduces the theoretical debates surrounding digital media; the second discusses how our everyday interpersonal relations are affected by digital media; the third addresses the impact of digital technology on media and politics. Topics covered include: the network society; social networking and virtual communities, surveillance, digital journalism and online activism.