Media and Communications BA (Hons)

at Coventry University

Why you should study this course

• Dedicated and flexible creative learning environments, media spaces and industry-focused studios, including The Tank, our purpose built, industry-standard TV studio.
• Opportunity to study abroad at one of our many international partners (subject to availability, application, meeting visa requirements and additional costs).
• Access to high-standard professional media equipment via our Media Loan Shop, including prosumer media equipment (i.e. 4K and HD video cameras, DSLR cameras, tripods, audio equipment, lighting – Canon, JVC, Sony).
• All of our students are issued a laptop to be used in line with the 24/7 mobile learning scheme, and pre-loaded with the latest suite of industry-standard software Adobe Creative Cloud, Office 365 along with 1TB of cloud storage (terms and conditions apply).
• Significant links with a wide variety of employers and media practitioners, such as Phoenix Cinema, Electric Arts and EA Games, many of whom offer professional experience opportunities in the forms of placements (subject to availability, successful application and additional costs may apply).

What you'll study

The course encourages you to think and work critically, creatively, imaginatively and professionally within a wide range of contemporary media and cultural practices.

Over the course of the three years, you will cover the key areas of: screen, new and digital media, global and international contexts of media and culture, creative industries, media history and theory, media and cultural research, and media and cultural production.

As the course progresses, you will deepen your awareness of the forms and aesthetics of communication, media and culture texts and how these create different effects and meanings. We will explore the pragmatic, cultural and social significance of the emergence of new technological forms of media and communication practice, their heritage, and how these shape the lived experience of everyday domestic and professional life by gaining a combination of analytical, critical and practice-based skills.

Year one
Our Media and Communications course is extremely well placed to exploit the rapid shift to forms of employment within the cultural and media industries based around complex, convergent and new digital media developments.

You will be immersed in the driving forces of media exchange (theory) and media content like storytelling (practice). The course focuses on contemporary developments in media and communication studies and the best-suited, most flexible creative practices to enter the creative industries.

Modules

• Basic Concepts in Media Studies (20 credits)

• Media History – An Introduction (10 credits)

• Writing Media Narratives (10 credits)

• Contemporary Issues in Media – Representation (10 credits)

• Digital Media – Communities (10 credits)

• Student Creative Project (10 credits)

• Research Methodologies (20 credits)

• Add+vantage (20 credits)

Year two
In the second year, your acquired skills and competences are extended into a more structured academic research and a first-person engagement with the professional world. You’ll engage in a series of different activities inspired by both research-informed teaching and employability-oriented projects. Live and simulated projects and assignments are also embedded in the curriculum to introduce you to the demands of operating within the professional sphere of the media and cultural industries.

Modules

• Intermediate Concepts in Media Studies (20 credits)

• Media and Creative Industries (20 credits)

• Contemporary Issues in Media – Socio-Political Discourse (10 credits)

• Digital Media – Systems and Networks (20 credits)

• Media Industry Event (20 credits)

• Film and Screen Studies (20 credits)

• Technological Change: Issues and Debates (20 credits)

• Media Activism and Contemporary Media (20 credits)

• Add+vantage (20 credits)

Final year
In the final year, your critical competences and professional skills are developed and extended further through projects in the Critical Concepts modules, where you will pick a total of two of the options available - Concepts and Digital Media - to prepare for your final coursework. You will be given the opportunity to further your analytical and research skills, and finally craft your own, future-oriented dissertation or project.

Modules

• Advanced Concepts in Media Studies (20 credits)

• Critical Concepts in Depth (20 credits)

• Research Design (20 credits)

• Digital Media – Transnational Identities (20 credits)

• Add+vantage (20 credits)

• Final Coursework (40 credits)

Portfolio

You will be required to submit a portfolio via email or alternatively attend a showcase activity session or audition (as is appropriate for your course) which can be virtual or face to face, as is practical to arrange. Invites to send in your portfolio or attend these sessions will be sent directly to your contact email.
Each application will be considered on its merits.

English language requirements

• IELTS: 6.0 overall

International Tuition Fees:

£19850 per year

The creative media industries account for some of the most exciting and diverse careers available – you could go on to become a producer, technician, presenter, reporter, PR specialist, writer, editor or critic.

We take great pride in our outstanding track record of graduate success – with 97% of graduates in work or continuing their studies after six months, DHLE 2016/17, (published 2018). Our course places your future career at its core, aiming to prepare you professionally and providing opportunities to gain substantial practical experience so you’re ready to launch a successful career in the media and cultural industries. It is designed to enable you to work for a range of media organisations, which may include the BBC, independent companies, global media organisations, or as a freelance/independent media manager, producer or researcher.