Communication and Media Studies

Description

As a student on this course, you will learn, both theoretically and via hands-on experience, how the communication and information media actually work. This course enjoys a very close relationship with Sociology at Brunel, and particular attention is paid to the social and cultural dimensions of the media, and especially to the social and cultural consequences of the new technologies of communication and information.

This is a broad-based degree which offers students the opportunity to specialise in areas of particular interest, for example in the impact of the Internet and of other information and communications technologies, social media, media policy and regulation. The course also offers you the ability to gain experience in video editing and production.

Throughout the degree you will be encouraged to link together the theoretical and practical parts of the course as you engage in a broad-ranging sociological study of the contemporary media.

The focus of study is upon all aspects of human behaviour: its personal, social and cultural dimensions. We have a strong research reputation that enhances all our undergraduate teaching, with particular expertise in areas such as: neuropsychology; psychoanalysis; developmental psychology; social psychology; contemporary social structure and social change; the role of science and the media; ethnicity and kinship; and power, inequality and prejudice in modern societies. All of our academic staff are actively engaged in research and many have international reputations in their field.

We provide a stimulating introduction to the social sciences by teaching a broad base of cross-disciplinary modules in the first year. Thereafter, you specialise increasingly in your particular disciplines.

Our courses will help you to develop specific skills in the practical methods associated with your discipline, including ethnographic fieldwork. A full range of laboratory and technical facilities is used in the teaching of experimental psychology, video production, psychophysics and the use of information technology.

We take particular pride in both the quality of our teaching and the extensive pastoral care of our students.

Aims

It is impossible to avoid all the communications media in today’s world, but precisely because the media are so central to our existence, we tend to take them for granted and to underestimate or even ignore their social and cultural impact.

Our Communications and Media Studies degree aims to remedy this situation, and to provide you with a mature, critical and sociologically-informed understanding of the place of the media in today’s society, with a particular focus on the new communication and information technologies.

Detailed Course Facts

• GBP 9000 Year (EEA)
• GBP 14250 Year (Non-EEA)

• English

Course Content

Level 1

This level combines a foundation in the theories and methods of the social sciences, together with hands-on experience in video production.

Typical Modules

• Introduction to Media Studies

• Introduction to Video Production

• Media, Culture and Society

• Introduction to Social and Cultural Research

• Introduction to Social Enquiry

• Individual and Social Processes

Level 2

• This provides more sophisticated modules in the sociology of communications and media.

Typical Modules

• Video Production

• Media Genres and Society

• Research in Practice

• Global Communication

Plus two options from:

• Media, Culture and Representation

• Social Divisions: Difference and Resistance

• Work and Society

• Sociology of Everyday Life: Issues in Contemporary Culture

Level 3

You can choose from a wide range of options in leading-edge aspects of communications and media studies, most of them based on the research interests of teaching staff. Your final project may be based on practical video production.

Typical Modules

• Advanced Video Production: Film, Horror and the Imagination

• Understanding Audiences

• The Age of New Media

• City Lives: Bodies, Spaces and Social Interactions

• Television Studies

• Comedy, Culture and the Media

• Crime, Deviance and Addiction

• Health and the New Politics of Protest

• Sociology of Health and Illness

• Multiculturalism

• Popular Music and Popular Culture

English Language Requirements

IELTS band : 6.5 CAE score : 60(Grade C) TOEFL paper-based test score : 580 TOEFL iBT® test : 92

To study at this university, you have to speak English. We advice you to

Requirements

• GCE A-level BBB

• BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma DDD in a related subject.

• BTEC Level 3 Diploma DD in a related subject with an A-Level at grade B.

• BTEC Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma D in a related subject with A-Levels grade BB.

• International Baccalaureate Diploma 32 points.

• Access to Higher EducationDiploma Complete and pass a related subject Access course with 45 credits at level 3 and 15 credits at level 2 with Merits in all units.

GCSE Mathematics grade C and GCSE English grade C are also required.

Please check our Admissions pages for more information on other factors we use to assess applicants as well as our full GCSE requirements and accepted equivalencies in place of GCSE’s.

English Language Requirements

• IELTS: 6.5 (min 5.5 in all areas)

• Pearson: 58 (51 in all subscores)

• BrunELT: 65% (min 55% in all areas)

Work Experience

No work experience is required.

Want to improve your English level for admission?

Prepare for the program requirements with English Online by the British Council.

• ✔️ Flexible study schedule
• ✔️ Experienced teachers
• ✔️ Certificate upon completion

📘 Recommended for students with an IELTS level of 6.0 or below.

Enroll in the course

Related Scholarships*

• Academic Excellence Scholarship

  "The Academic Excellence Scholarship can provide up to a 50 % reduction in tuition per semester. These scholarships will be renewed if the student maintains superior academic performance during each semester of their 3-year Bachelor programme. The scholarship will be directly applied to the student’s tuition fees."

• Access Bursary

  Bursary for UK students all subjects where the variable tuition fee rate is payable.

• Alumni Bursary

  Alumni Bursary for UK Undergraduate students

* The scholarships shown on this page are suggestions first and foremost. They could be offered by other organisations than Brunel University.