BA (Hons)
Communications: Media Studies
Degree Programme

YEAR 1

Courses

• COM 3100 Foundations of Mass Media & Communications

  This course provides an introduction to the study of mass media in contemporary modern societies. The course will pay particular attention to the production and consumption of mass media, including newspapers and magazines, television, film, radio, and the internet. Thus the course will encourage students to critically analyse the strategies of media giants, the impact of media ownership over democracy, the effects of media over culture, identities and public opinion. Each topic of the course will be examined with reference to contemporary examples of mass media.

• SCL 3100 Foundations of Sociology

  An introduction to the study of society. Topics include: the origins and nature of sociology and the social sciences; society and culture; social institutions such as family, education, and work; socialization; social stratification, power, and social change; industrialization; and urbanization.

• GEP 3105 Tools for Change

  In this course, students will discuss and respond to social issues in the local area through group work, reflecting on how they can become both collaborative and independent learners. They will research the context of and plan for service learning in the local area. They will learn to use a range of digital platforms for individual and group project work, focussing strongly on effective communication, including oral presentation and written reports using a range of relevant primary and secondary sources.

• GEP 3180 Research and Writing I

  This core course concentrates on developing the students’ ability to read and think critically, and to read, understand and analyse texts from a range of genres. How do you successfully negotiate a path through a sea of information and then write it up? Using essential information literacy skills to help with guided research, this course develops the ability to produce effective and appropriate academic writing across the curriculum. This is the first course in the Richmond academic research and writing sequence.

Plus one of the following:

• ADM 3160 Foundations of Photography

  This course concentrates on developing the student’s visual intelligence via photography. Technically, students will learn to use digital Single Lens Reflex cameras and Photoshop for image workflow and editing. By looking at the work of a range of artists, students will be introduced to some of the theories that underpin photographic practice and consider photography’s place and role in contemporary culture. Throughout the course students make images which finally result in an edited portfolio of photographic prints. A studio fee is levied on this course.

• COM 3101 Foundations of Media Production: Sonic Media

  Radio has been called the first democratic medium, and the internet has enabled a new generation to share their message with a wide audience. This practical course introduces students to key aspects of contemporary audio production through the creation of their own podcasts and sound design for filmmaking. It focuses on the key skills of audio recording and digital audio editing using industry standard hardware and software, while also introducing students to the history of the medium and contemporary examples of professional work.

Plus one of the following:

• GEP 3150 Visual Thinking

  This course provides an interdisciplinary grounding in the practice and theory of critical visual thinking. Through theoretical frameworks such as semiotics, it explores predominantly photographic images, from across a range of cultures and contexts: the arts, politics, science, sport and technology. Through visual analysis, it considers digital forms of observation and image making, as well as building understanding by visual practice. It examines questions concerning curating, circulating and making public the images we produce. It asks: What are the values and truths hidden in images? How can the practice of image production advance our thinking around images? How, in the context of a range of disciplines, can we learn to communicate ideas visually and verbally?

• GEP 3170 Narratives of Change

  This course considers a landscape of global ideas through the lens of contemporary literature. Students will be introduced to pivotal moments of recent thought surrounding gender, race, environment and technology, exploring how literature both shapes and responds to our changing world. Students will analyse literary, political, and theoretical texts from a variety of cultures, exploring the relationship between written form, content and context particularly the ways in which social change might play out in literature. There will be the opportunity to produce both critical analysis in essay form and creative writing that responds to the texts studied.

YEAR 2

Courses

• AVC 4205 Introduction to Visual Culture

  This course provides an introduction to the study of mass media in contemporary modern societies. The course will pay particular attention to the production and consumption of mass media, including newspapers and magazines, television, film, radio, and the internet. Thus the course will encourage students to critically analyse the strategies of media giants, the impact of media ownership over democracy, the effects of media over culture, identities and public opinion. Each topic of the course will be examined with reference to contemporary examples of mass media.

• COM 4100 Introduction to Intercultural Communications

  This course provides an introduction to the study of mass media in contemporary modern societies. The course will pay particular attention to the production and consumption of mass media, including newspapers and magazines, television, film, radio, and the internet. Thus the course will encourage students to critically analyse the strategies of media giants, the impact of media ownership over democracy, the effects of media over culture, identities and public opinion. Each topic of the course will be examined with reference to contemporary examples of mass media.

• COM 4115 Digital Society

  This course provides an introduction to the study of mass media in contemporary modern societies. The course will pay particular attention to the production and consumption of mass media, including newspapers and magazines, television, film, radio, and the internet. Thus the course will encourage students to critically analyse the strategies of media giants, the impact of media ownership over democracy, the effects of media over culture, identities and public opinion. Each topic of the course will be examined with reference to contemporary examples of mass media.

• GEP 4180 Research and Writing II

  This course provides an introduction to the study of mass media in contemporary modern societies. The course will pay particular attention to the production and consumption of mass media, including newspapers and magazines, television, film, radio, and the internet. Thus the course will encourage students to critically analyse the strategies of media giants, the impact of media ownership over democracy, the effects of media over culture, identities and public opinion. Each topic of the course will be examined with reference to contemporary examples of mass media.

• GEP 4105 Change in Practice

  This course provides an introduction to the study of mass media in contemporary modern societies. The course will pay particular attention to the production and consumption of mass media, including newspapers and magazines, television, film, radio, and the internet. Thus the course will encourage students to critically analyse the strategies of media giants, the impact of media ownership over democracy, the effects of media over culture, identities and public opinion. Each topic of the course will be examined with reference to contemporary examples of mass media.

• DGT 4120 Data Analysis for Social Change

  This course provides an introduction to the study of mass media in contemporary modern societies. The course will pay particular attention to the production and consumption of mass media, including newspapers and magazines, television, film, radio, and the internet. Thus the course will encourage students to critically analyse the strategies of media giants, the impact of media ownership over democracy, the effects of media over culture, identities and public opinion. Each topic of the course will be examined with reference to contemporary examples of mass media.

Plus two of the following:

• COM 4400 Intro to Advertising Practice

  This course explores the fundamental principles and tools involved in the professional practice of advertising. It introduces students to the full range of techniques used in advertising and enables and encourages students to apply practical tools with confidence. This includes designing and presenting their own ideas for an advertising campaign. It relates the practice of advertising to contemporary issues and developments in the UK and internationally.

• COM 4405 Advertising, PR, and the Media

  This course explores public relations, advertising and journalism, examining their history and evolution and how they relate to each other, as well as investigating the political, economic, social and cultural contexts in which they practice and reviewing their relationships with the media industries. It relates the practice of PR, advertising and journalism to international events and contemporary issues and developments, including criticisms of the industries’ role and a range of ethical debates.

• FLM 4210 Introduction to Filmmaking

  This course introduces students to key skills required for contemporary film making in its various contexts. Students learn how to use essential tools including video cameras, tripods and video editing software. Using these tools, students produce their own short videos and consider possible methods of distribution. By looking at noteworthy examples of film making, students are introduced to the breadth of contemporary film making practice and gain a basic introduction to relevant theoretical concerns.

• FLM 4205 Film in the Americas

  This course introduces students to the theory and practice of transnational cinema, focussing specifically on film in the Americas. It begins with exploring Hollywood's changing representations of national, ethnic and gender differences and its historical domination of world film markets. A variety of counter hegemonic responses of filmmakers from former colonial and less developed countries in the region are considered. The course also examines the role that television and new media technologies have played in shaping contemporary film studies within the context of identity politics and trans-border narratives.

• HST 4405 History of Fashion

  This course analyses the history of fashion from a sociological perspective – covering the period from the beginning of the modern period to the present. Relationships between dress, fashion, class, political power, ethnicity and gender are investigated. While the primary focus is upon the historical development of western fashion global interconnections are investigated throughout the course.

• JRN 4200 Introduction to Writing for the Media

  This course introduces students to basic media writing skills. Students learn to write basic news stories, press releases and promotional materials for use across multimedia platforms. Students will also develop an understanding of the critical differences between the various approaches.

YEAR 3

Courses

• ADM 5200 Video Production

  A ‘hands-on’ video course involving most aspects of production from camera work and sound recording to editing and audio dubbing. The theory and practice of video technology are taught through a series of group exercises and out of class assignments. Students also study a range of classic videos and film as a means of understanding the language of the medium. A studio fee is levied on this course.

• COM 5200 Mass Communications and Society

  In this course, "mass communications" is taken in its broadest sense, which may include cinema, television, newspapers, magazines, comics, and the Internet, as well as fashion and merchandising. "Society" involves the people who engage with those texts, from critical theorists to fans, censors to consumers. The course examines the relationship between texts and the people at various points during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, from various cultural and national perspectives. Throughout the course, students are encouraged to test and debate established theories by bringing them to bear on everyday popular texts.

• COM 5205 Cultural Theory

  This course introduces key thinkers, topics, case studies and theoretical frameworks related to the field of cultural studies. Students will be exposed to different toolkits for analysing everyday cultural practices, with a particular focus on historical, geographical and personal identity. Films, fashion, art, graphic design, video, music and other media objects will be analysed in order to engage with the theoretical frameworks presented. In addition to in-class theoretical discussion, students are encouraged to apply cultural theory in practice, through activities including gallery visits and first-hand explorations of consumerist practices.

• COM 5215 Political Communications

  The course focuses on the role of political communications in the political process. It examines the relationship between governments, the media and the public in Western democracies, with emphasis on the UK and the US political systems. Starting with an overview of the role of the media in political theory, it moves to the examination of the origins and development of political marketing and public relations, the use of political advertising by political parties, and the representation of non-governmental actors in the media coverage. Furthermore, the course considers issues of national security and secrecy as well as changes in political communications brought about by the introduction of new technologies. Particular attention is given to the use of techniques and strategies during election campaigns. Prerequisite: At least one 4000-level COM, PLT or INR course

• >SCL 5200 Social Research

  Familiarizes students with the key elements of social research: the formulation of research questions, the structure of research projects, the most common types of social research methodologies, the use of new technologies in social research, and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data.

Plus one of the following:

• AMS 5400 American TV Drama

  The new ‘golden age’ of television, which has emerged since the beginning of the 21st Century, has become a significant and influential part of contemporary American culture. The course explores a number of cultural and technological shifts that have shaped the medium, and considers the ways in which writers are engaging with contemporary social and political realities and examining the values and myths of a society ‘conversing with itself.’ The course studies the reinvention of a variety of different genres, from crime fiction to science fiction, and students will have the opportunity to analyse some ground breaking series that offer portraits of a society undergoing crisis and change.

• COM 5230 Creating Digital Images

  How do we convey meaning through images? In this practical course using industry-standard design software, students first discuss the process of devising and critiquing creative ideas, and how these can be used to persuade and convince. Visual approaches to narrative and research are analysed before moving on to explore key design principles like colour, layout and composition. Training in Photoshop and Illustrator is provided, allowing students to produce images to a brief. No prior design or software experience is required.

• COM 5102 Celebrity, Fan Cultures, and the Media

  This course charts the development and critical context of contemporary celebrity fan cultures, as well as explores the connections between celebrities and the media industries. It outlines key theoretical approaches to fan cultures through a variety of media, from artists like Andy Warhol and Lady Gaga, to fanfic and other fan culture artifacts, as well as the creation and reception of celebrity texts (such as Harry Potter), and fanhood as a performative critique of celebrity. It will also examine the evolving role of celebrities in the media, from their beginnings in print media, through radio and television broadcasts to the role that digital media play today. Examining a range of examples, it will look at how PR, advertising, sponsorship, and other forms of marketing communication make use of and are used by celebrities.

• FLM 5200 Mainstream Cinema: Studies in Genre

  This course investigates the development of genre films over a historical period. Students examine issues critical to genre studies, which can include iconography, key themes, authorship, and stardom. Specifically, through a study of film criticism and theory, students examine distinct genres from the 1920s to the present. The course also explores the idea that genre films necessarily retain basic similarities to reflect cultural concerns and to keep audience interest. In addition, the course provides an opportunity for students to examine and compare the perspectives of Hollywood and non-Hollywood genre films.

• FLM 5410 Gender in Film

  This course explores key concepts that have shaped the study of gender in film in the past 50 years. It considers different spectators’ viewing positions and analyses how historical and social changes in the construction of masculinities and femininities have shaped specific film genres. A variety of issues related to sexuality, race/ethnicity and non-western representations are also considered as students are encouraged to study film texts closely to make their own readings based on the semiotics of the film and the ideology behind it.

Plus one of the following:

• GEP 5101 Service Learning: Digital Collaboration

  This Digital Collaboration Service-Learning course is a student community engagement course that aims to provide students from all disciplines and majors with the intellectual, professional, and personal skills that will enable them to build professional links and function well in culturally diverse communities both locally and globally, in a digital capacity. In addition to the hours of field work (typically 30 hours*), the student will also produce a critical reflective progress report of their experience (a learning log), a ‘community action’ portfolio (analytical essay), and a final oral presentation, based on their own creative project. These assessments have been designed to help the student reflect on the application of their specialist knowledge, the skills they are learning, and the benefits gained from the service-learning experience. During this service-learning course, the faculty supervisor work closely with each student to ensure that the community engagement is a successful one.This course enables students engage with organizations and communities outside of the university. Over two semesters, students will devise, plan and construct their own digital project for Charities, NGO’s and non-profit organisations via digital engagement and media networks. This course expands theories from digital global service learning, across different employment sectors, and aspects of society. It equips students to identify the ranges of opportunities for innovation and employment that digital skills offer, using digital resource and community building for physical and mental health. The course examines decolonial theories of global digital community. It is highly recommended that students have access to the use of a laptop and a smartphone for the duration of the course.

• GEP 5102 Service Learning: Leadership in a Changing World

  This is a Service Learning course that focuses on emerging forms of leadership. It aims to introduce students from all majors to the professional, intellectual and personal skills to enable them to understand different approaches to leadership and function well in culturally diverse communities globally. In addition to the hours of field work (typically 30 hours* depending on the organisation), the student will also produce a critical reflective progress report of their experience (a project log), and a portfolio of their work (potentially as an analytical essay, or a video or a Report or an oral presentation). These assessments have been designed to help the student reflect on the application of their specialist knowledge, the leadership skills they are learning, and the benefits gained from the critical experiential service-learning. It will also help them determine if their current career goals are the correct fit for them.This course enables students to engage with organizations and communities outside of the university. During the semester, students will consider topics such as negotiation and behavioral influence. They will devise, plan and carry out their own engagement project for Charities, NGO’s and non-profit organisations. This course combines design thinking and behavioural design theories with global service learning theory, across different employment sectors and aspects of society. It equips students to identify opportunities for influence, leadership and employment both in and adjacent to their field. The course is underpinned by JEDI approaches to justice, equality, diversity and inclusion across the global community.

• GEP 5103 Service Learning: Environment and Society

  This Environmental Service Learning course is a student community engagement course that aims to provide students from all disciplines and majors with the intellectual, professional, and personal skills that will enable them to build professional links and function well in culturally diverse communities globally and within an Environmental perspective. In addition to the hours of field work (typically 30 hours* depending on the organisation), the student will also produce a critical reflective progress report of their experience (a learning log), a ‘community action’ portfolio (analytical essay), and a final oral presentation. These assessments have been designed to help the student reflect on the application of their specialist knowledge, the skills they are learning, and the benefits gained from the service-learning experience. It will also to help them determine if their current career goals are the correct fit for them. During this service-learning course, the faculty supervisor will work closely with each student to ensure that the community engagement is a successful one.

• GEP 5104 Service Learning: Global Citizenship and Migration

  This course examines the theoretical, political and sociological conceptions of citizenship and their limitations. It looks at both the theoretical constructs and the concrete policies that have shaped the experience of the citizen and of the migrant. The course therefore considers the development of the nation state and the establishment of legal and social citizenship. It also examines the border as a mechanism of control and security. The course further addresses the intersection of experiences of citizenship across economic, racial and gender differences in the context of international governance as well as the globalization of economies and environmental issues. This is a Service-Learning student community engagement course that aims to provide students with the analytical and inter-personal skills to support key non-governmental and policy-making actors around the broad theme of citizenship and migration as well as to build an understanding of the needs and challenges faced by key stakeholders and local communities globally. Through consultation with key stakeholders, students will produce analytical written assessments on key questions around the theme of global citizenship and migration, they will also produce a range of work introducing them to a range of key employability skills in a range of key sectors related to citizenship, these might include: the local and global charity sector, local and national policy-making, as well as regional or international organisations. Students will be required to maintain a progress report that tracks learning and can act as a reference point for problem solving in the future.

YEAR 4

Courses

• ADM 6101 Photojournalism

  This course concentrates on the reportage area of photography. Students learn about the history, nature, ethics, and techniques of photojournalism by studying the work of eminent practitioners and by shooting, editing, and laying out a number of documentary style projects. This course is recommended for communications, and social science students as well as photographers.

• COM 6296 Senior Seminar 1

  This research intensive course for the major is the first part of a two semester sequence taken in the Senior year. Students produce a research proposal, a literature review and a substantial draft that feeds directly into Senior Seminar 2 which culminates in a 8,000 - 10,000 word dissertation. Students are guided through the various stages of proposal and dissertation writing, and draft work is supervised regularly in a process of continuous feedback.

• COM 6297 Senior Seminar 2

  Senior Seminar 2 is second half of the research intensive course for the major. Building directly on the writing completed in Senior Seminar 1, students produce a 8,000-10,000 word thesis driven research paper. Students are guided through the various stages of drafting and revising their final dissertation, and orally present their research according to conference standards as part of the formative process.

• COM 6101 New Media

  This course traces the historical development of new media, emphasizing the social, political, and cultural context of new media technologies. It introduces the students to a number of contemporary theoretical debates for understanding the role of new media in contemporary democracies and their impact on identity formation processes. Interfacing practical skills and critical thought, a number of key debates in digital culture are addressed through written texts and the investigation of internet sites and electronic texts.

• COM 6110 Senior Project

  In this practice-orientated course, students work together as a group to develop a body of work for a client outside the University. Students are required to use both their individual academic and technical skills (e.g., visual, journalistic, graphic) and their interpersonal communication skills in this final year course for communications students.

• JRN 6101 Media Ethics and Law

  This course examines the main legal and ethical issues which media practitioners of the digital age encounter in their working lives, whether in the fields of PR, journalism, or advertising. Thus, the course will focus on the concepts of libel and defamation, copyright law, the public sphere, media ownership, objectivity and neutrality, freedom of the press, censorship, codes of conduct for journalists and PR practitioners, advertising regulation, privacy, and public interest, reporting restrictions and national interest, propaganda, gender issues and reporting in a multicultural society.

Electives

• COM 6102 Advertising & PR Campaigns

  This course builds upon earlier study of advertising and PR and requires students to examine and discuss campaigns involving advertising and PR and to present their own ideas for a fully- fledged campaign bringing together both disciplines. This will include the critical examination and evaluation of past campaigns in a variety of contexts and the planning, pitching and discussion of ideas for campaigns of the students’ own devising.

• FLM 6103 International Cinema

  This course examines global cinema while considering the extent to which cultural, political, and historical contexts have influenced the form and grammar of film during the last century. The overall focus of the course is broad, ranging across more than eight decades and many different countries; it aims to study a variety of approaches to and theories of narrative cinema. During the semester, many international film "movements" are covered, which can include the French New Wave, the Chinese Sixth Generation, and Italian Neo-Realism. In addition, the representations of non-Western cultures from an “insider” and a “Hollywood” perspective are compared.

• HST 6105 Propaganda: History & Image

  The course aims to introduce students, by way of specific case-studies ranging from the ancient world to the modern day, to innovative methods of studying the past that utilise popular forms of visual culture and propaganda. While recognising the complexity of the propaganda process and the various influences that form and shape images, the course will focus on the historical relationship between propaganda (in architecture, cartoons, film, painting, pamphlets, photography, posters, sculpture, and television) and politics. The focus on the theme of propaganda and its relationship with various forms of media through the ages allows for the opportunity to compare and contrast particular case- studies over time and geographical space and therefore to distinguish elements of continuity and change, which will help students to ‘read’ historic images critically, both as vehicles for understanding the past and in order to identify the relationship between propaganda and power.

• MKT 6101 Digital Marketing & Social Media

  The course will provide insights into new marketing concepts, tools, technologies and business models to enhance the consumer value creation process. New technologies have created some radical changes in the way companies reach their markets and in particular the emerging phenomenon of social media.This course integrates ideas from the process of gaining traffic or attention the rapidly emerging and influential social networks including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+. It will provide an understanding of techniques and tools to understand and harness the opportunities provided by best practice social media marketingStudents will have the opportunity to learn about electronic commerce in action; the interplay between the technology and marketing applications; the changing scope and uses of the Internet, along with current management issues facing businesses attempting to use the World Wide Web.

Integrated Internship

• COM 6901 World Internship in Communications

  The Internship in Communications is a student work placement that aims to provide students with the experience of working within the Communications and Cultural industries.Students will develop the intellectual, professional, and personal skills that will enable them to function well in a culturally diverse working environment. All internships are supervised by faculty, and all last a minimum of 9 weeks in length and are carried out full time Monday to Thursday/ Friday. Each student will also complete a series of assessments throughout the internship, such as keeping a written journal of their experience, preparing an internship portfolio, and delivering a final presentation. These assessments have been designed to help the student reflect on the skills they are learning, and the benefits gained from the internship experience, and also to help them determine if their current career goals are the correct fit for them. During the internship, the staff of the Internship Office and a faculty supervisor work closely with each student to ensure that the placement is a successful one. Students’ final grades are based on several factors including, written assignments, presentation, and a report from their workplace supervisor which is taken into consideration.

• COM 6902 Internship in Communications

  The Internship in Communications is a student work placement that aims to provide students with the experience of working within the Communications and Cultural industries. Students will develop the intellectual, professional, and personal skills that will enable them to function well in a culturally diverse working environment. All internships are supervised by faculty, and all last a minimum of 9 weeks in length and are carried out full time Monday to Thursday/ Friday. Each student will also complete a series of assessments throughout the internship, such as keeping a written journal of their experience, preparing an internship portfolio, and delivering a final presentation. These assessments have been designed to help the student reflect on the skills they are learning, and the benefits gained from the internship experience, and also to help them determine if their current career goals are the correct fit for them. During the internship, the staff of the Internship Office and a faculty supervisor work closely with each student to ensure that the placement is a successful one. Students’ final grades are based on several factors including, written assignments, presentation, and a report from their workplace supervisor which is taken into consideration.