In common with all courses at the University of the Arts London, this course is credit rated. The course is 3 years, levels 4-6. Each year requires you to achieve 120 credit points. To be awarded the BA (Hons) Media Communications qualification, you need to accumulate a total of 360 credits.
Year 1
Introduction to Media Communications (20 credits)
This unit will introduce you to the basic theories and concepts in media communications. You will develop fundamental skills around media analysis, interpretation and creative thinking.
Digital Media (20 credits)
In this unit you will be introduced to the theory and practice of digital media production through an exploration of present and future media technologies leading to a digital media project.
Media Technologies and Platforms (20 credits)
This unit will give you an insight into contemporary media industries to enhance your understanding of how diverse media platforms and technologies fit socially and culturally in a global society.
Audiences: Traditions and Futures (20 credits)
You will develop your understanding of what an ‘audience’ is in the contemporary culture of convergence. You will explore this creatively through a film project.
Visual Communication (20 credits)
This unit explores the importance of visual forms in contemporary media and communications to question notions of representation, surveillance, and user participation, among others. You will also be introduced to the practice of photography and digital image editing.
Optional unit (20 credits)
You will also choose an option unit, which in the past has included:
- Global Media Cultures (20 credits)
- Advertising Theories & Contexts (20 credits)
- Branding & Digital Marketing (20 credits)
Year 2
Mapping Social Media (20 credits)
This unit focuses on the collection and interpretation of data from social media platforms to enhance your understanding of critical engagement with digital tools and the ethical issues associated with this. You will present your social media data research through a web solution.
Convergent Media: From Radio to Podcasting (20 credits)
This unit will offer you the opportunity to create and edit sound recordings for the purposes of producing a podcast show targeted at a given audience.
Digital Cultures (20 credits)
Develop an in-depth understanding of the culture of networked connectivity and evaluate the possibilities for new forms of online and offline collaboration. You will also explore the political and economic implications of digital cultures on society.
Professional Industry Practice (20 credits)
The focus of this unit is on your personal and professional development. You will have the opportunity to research a chosen sector within the media industry and develop an understanding of ways to target it, in order to help support your personal and professional growth and employability.
Promotional Media Communications (20 credits)
You will study the contemporary culture of promotion by looking at the media context in which promotional activities, such as branding and advertising, are situated within the rise of consumer culture. The unit will also allow you to explore effective ways of framing a message through a practice-based project.
Collaborative Project (20 credits)
This unit will offer you the opportunity to work collaboratively with students from other courses and/or disciplines across the College on a set brief, with a view to help you develop strong team working skills, project management, and presentation skills.
Optional unit (20 credits)
You will also choose an option unit, which in the past has included:
- Behavioural Insights (20 credits)
- Film Theory and Cinematic Practice (20 credits)
- Media Relations (20 credits)
Year 3
Live Project (20 credits)
In this unit you will engage in a practice-based project for a given organisation by responding to a set project brief. The unit offers you the opportunity to consolidate and further advance your creative skillset.
Media, Regulation and Power (20 credits)
This unit explores theoretical considerations of the role and function of contemporary media and its complex relationship to social, cultural and political developments.
You will study these through media’s own determining role in influencing public opinion, pushing ethical boundaries and exploring the political economy of emerging platforms.
Digital Futures (20 credits)
This unit explores the future of our digital media technologies. Using a range of forecasting methods and techniques you will develop informed predictions of change and our digital ‘futures’.
Major Project (60 credits)
You can choose between a theoretical or a practice-based dissertation to work a research topic from across the interdisciplinary field of media and communications.
