Sociology and Media Studies

Description

This is a broad-based degree which offers students the opportunity to specialise in areas of their interest, such as the social impact of the new media, the internet and other information and communications technologies, media discourse, media policy and regulation.
The course is also concerned with developing theories that explain the changing nature of social behaviour in our own and other societies. The kinds of question with which we concerned with are: ‘What is society?’ ‘How and why is it changing?’ ‘What are the opportunities for future change and development?

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.

Aims

This course is designed to give you a contemporary understanding of the social and intellectual dimensions of the media and communications industries. It is broad-based and multi-disciplinary and is unusual in bringing together a wide variety of social sciences in the study of communications.

Detailed Course Facts

• GBP 9000 Year (EEA)
• GBP 13000 Year (Non-EEA)

• English

Course Content

There are close links between this degree and the Communications and Media Studies degree. The central distinction between the two is that Sociology and Communications focuses more closely on social theory and method, and contains no practical media production modules.

Typical Modules

Please note that module availability is subject to change.

Level 1

• Introduction to Media Studies

• Media, Culture and Society

• Introduction to Social and Cultural Research

• Introduction to Social Enquiry

• Introduction to Sociology

• Individual and Social Processes

Level 2

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

• Media, Culture and Representation

• Global Communication

• Research in Practice

• Social Divisions

• Work and Society

Plus one option from:

• Sociology of Everyday Life: Issues in Contemporary Culture

• Media Genres and Society

Level 3 At Level 3, you can choose from a variety of options including celebrities, representation and power, new media, media discourses and media audiences.

• City Lives: Bodies, Spaces and Interaction

• Television Studies

• Comedy, Culture and the Media

• Understanding Audiences

• Health and the New Politics of Protest

• The Age of New Media

• Crime, Deviance and Addiction

• 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.

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.