Media & Communication (with Foundation Year)

The Foundation Year is a great opportunity if you have the ability and enthusiasm to study for a degree, but do not yet have the qualifications required to enter directly onto our degree programmes. A significant part of the Foundation Year focuses upon core skills such as academic writing at HE level, becoming an independent learner, structuring academic work, critical thinking, time management and note taking.

Successful completion of the Foundation Year will enable you to progress into the first year (Level C) of your chosen honours degree. Further details can be found here.

Media and Communication at Hope offers you the opportunity to study the subject from a theoretical perspective while also gaining practical applied-skills in journalistic, digital and social media communication. Through this approach, we will support you in becoming a more rounded student of Media and Communication, with your understanding of theory complementing and enriching your practice skills.

Introducing media’s theoretical, cultural, historical, and ideological underpinnings

In your first year lectures and tutorials you will explore the past, the present, and the future of Media and Communication. You will examine the ways in which the historical development of older forms of media, including print, radio, and television, have influenced the development of digital media today. You will consider how the lessons we have learned from the past help us to anticipate how the media will develop in the future, and to reflect on the implications of this for our society and for us as citizens and communication professionals.

Skills-based practice: News Media and Digital Media

These practical sessions in digital and social media and journalistic practice run throughout the year and allow you to deepen your own applied-skills, to develop and deliver on your own creative ideas and interests, and to become a more confident and efficient communicator in cross-platform, digital environments.

The second year of your studies builds on both the theoretical knowledge and applied skills you developed in year one. Here, you will have the opportunity to study the world of media in more depth, gaining insight into how media industries such as social media, music, and format television work in the real world and have adapted to recent digital developments.

Media Industry in the Digital Age, and Media Power and Practice

The curriculum focuses, in increasing depth, on areas such as the following: Global Media Industries, including music, social media, publishing, advertising, format television, and the power of media corporations. You will also study marketization of news, journalistic ideologies/editorial policies, research methodologies, and cross-platform media.

Skills-based practice: News Media and Design

In the practice based sessions you will have the chance to deepen your technical knowledge and understanding in relation to the production of media content. You will have the opportunity to advance your creative design, technical and content creation skills, to equip you to become a more assured communicator in a cross-platform environment. These sessions also give you the opportunity to see and take into account the issues discussed in the 'Media Power and Practice‘ part of the course, such as the ethics of news production and the boundaries of copyright. 

Year three is the culmination of your studies and is designed to allow you to both consolidate your learning from previous years but also to refine and develop your skills in your own area of interest. There are both optional elements at this level of study as well as an individual research project or integrated dissertation.

Media Culture, Identity, Democracy and the Public Good

This final year of lectures brings you up to date and working at the cutting edge of media studies. You will explore the shifting landscape of media output in an ever-shrinking world. You will explore issues such as media and gender, identity, political communication, celebrity, fandom, satire, and public good journalism in the digital age. This part of the course will challenge you to develop your own stance in relation to media as you grow as a media practitioner.

Honours Seminar

Through all levels of this major in Media and Communication, there is an emphasis on the development of the skills and knowledge required for the world of work. This culminates in the choices you can make in your final year of practice-based sessions. You will be able to follow your particular interests and choose between the topics on offer in any particular year. Areas of specialism have included Advanced Digital and Editorial Development and Advanced Reflective Project in Digital Media.

Individual Research Project/Dissertation

As part of your final year of studies, you will conduct your own research for a Research Project (5,000 words) or Integrated Dissertation (10,000). The Research Project allows you to pursue those areas of media and communications that have sparked your interest and passions. The Integrated Dissertation allows you to bring together the topics of both your majors to produce research which addresses both areas. For example, if you were to be interested in a career as a social media manager or marketeer and you are a Media and Communication and Marketing student, you might complete your research on the emerging marketing techniques on social media platforms.