If you want an exciting career in the media but also want to understand how and why the media reports and represents the world in the ways it does, studying at Hope is the next step for you. Media and Communication provides you with an opportunity to closely study and analyse the ways in which the media industry shapes and is shaped by our world. Our degrees (Combined and Single Honours) are designed to help you become an industry leader who is equipped to take on the critical task of ensuring a more reliable, trustworthy media industry, whether you choose to work in television, radio, journalism, marketing or PR.
If you choose to take Single Honours Media and Communication, you explore the history and theory of film and other visual media, such as photography and animation, and the cultural and creative contexts in which they are produced and consumed. We also think one of the best ways to study creativity is by making things, so you have the opportunity to make films (drama, documentary or animation), produce photographic portfolios, work in a studio and write screenplays. Our curriculum is taught by lecturers with a reputation for international research and by a practitioner who has made BAFTA and EMMY award winning programmes and animated films.
Media and Communication at Liverpool Hope is underpinned by the notion of interrogating power. We believe that the media must always be held to account and has a responsibility to pursue social justice. Whether it be through journalism, digital and social media marketing or documentary filmmaking, our aim is to produce graduates who will make a better world.
Teaching on this degree is structured into lectures, where all students are taught together, seminars which have smaller groups of around 15-20 students, and tutorials which typically have no more than 10 students. You also have the opportunity to have a one-to-one meeting with your tutor each week.
If you are studying Media and Communication as a Single Honours degree, in your first year of study there are approximately 12 teaching hours per week, which reduces to approximately 10 teaching hours in your second and third years. If you are studying Media and Communication as a Combined Honours degree, in your first year of study there are approximately 6 teaching hours per week, which reduces to approximately 5 teaching hours in your second and third years.
On top of teaching hours, you are also expected to spend a number of hours studying independently each week, as well as studying in groups to prepare for any group assessments you may have.
Throughout your studies, you will have a number of assessments including written exams, practice-based portfolios of broadcast radio, digital media and journalism.
You will be given written feedback on your assessments, and you will have the opportunity to discuss this with your tutor in more detail.
*Please note that topics marked with a * are studied by Single Honours students only
You are introduced to the foundations of media industries and will look at how the media is used to exert or to challenge power in society. You also explore the history of the media’s development in Britain, from the printing press to the internet. Other topics studied include how media organisations and journalists decide ‘what is news’, and you will also have practice-based work in areas such as radio production, social media and newspaper design.
You will explore film history and theory, including the classical Hollywood studio system, representations of women on film, and masculinity, sexualities, race and class on films. Theories studied include auteur, genre and stardom. You will also look at films as a social practice, and will have practical sessions in animation, photography and filmmaking.
Your second year develops your understanding of key media industries topics. You will look at persuasion theory and how the media influences people’s opinions and understanding of the world around them. You also explore how commercial, political and cultural pressures shape the work of journalists in the digital era. Other topics studied include media industries such as format television, social media and advertising. You have practice-based work in areas such as radio production, digital media and magazine design.
Studying this topic, you will look at American films from the post-World War Two period to the 1980s, as well as the British New Wave and British films of the 1960s and 1970s. You will also explore German expressionism, French surrealism and poetic realism. Practical work includes animation, photography and a filmed news bulletin.
Your final year gives you the opportunity to study media theories of celebrity and fandom, and look at how the internet and digital developments are changing the media landscape and journalism.
You also have a choice to specialise in a practice strand such as radio production, news media or digital media.
You complete a dissertation on a topic of your choice with support from your tutor.
You will study the cinematic years 1967-1980 in their political and cultural context, as well as world cinema. In addition, you will choose one topic to study in depth, either film history and theory or a practical workshop specialising in photography, animation or filmmaking.
During the August/September admissions period we are able to offer some flexibility in our entry requirements for courses that still have vacancies.
We are also offering a Foundation Year on many of our courses for students who have the ability and enthusiasm to study for a degree, but do not yet have the qualification level to enter directly onto our degree programmes.
Please call us to discuss the options available to you: 0151 291 3111
Recent Media and Communications graduates are working as cinema managers, film education officers, BBC radio reporters, local and magazine journalists, academic proof-readers, screen writers, and independent international filmmakers.
More generally, you will have gained a degree which will have provided both a broad base of learning about media and the opportunity to develop specific areas of specialism in news media or visual communication, such as film. Alongside classroom work, you will have embraced the many opportunities offered by Hope to enhance your skills and knowledge – such as Radio Hope, masterclasses with leading radio and newspaper journalists and creative practitioners, and the Film Society – each combining to help ensure a graduate ready to make their mark on the industry.
The Service and Leadership Award (SALA) is offered as an extra-curricular programme involving service-based experiences, development of leadership potential and equipping you for a career in a rapidly changing world. It enhances your degree, it is something which is complimentary but different and which has a distinct ‘value-added’ component. Find out more on our Service and Leadership Award page.
As part of your degree, you can choose to spend either a semester or a full year of study at one of our partner universities as part of our Study Abroad programme. Find out more on our Study Abroad page.
The tuition fees for 2019/20 are £9,250 for full-time undergraduate courses.
If you are a student from the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands, your tuition fees will also be £9,250.
The University reserves the right to increase Home and EU Undergraduate and PGCE tuition fees in line with any inflationary or other increase authorised by the Secretary of State for future years of study.
On top of tuition fees, you will need approximately £100 to purchase core textbooks.
You will also need to consider the cost of your accommodation each year whilst you study at university. Visit our accommodation pages for further details about our Halls of Residence.
We have a range of scholarships to help with the cost of your studies. Visit our scholarships page to find out more.
The International tuition fees for 2019/2020 entry will be released in due course.
Visit our International fees page for more information.
This course is also available as a Combined Honours degree with the following subjects:
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