Programme Specifications

• September 2023

• To provide students with a grounding in the range of approaches developed for understanding mediated communication, from their foundations in linguistic and visual communication to specific modes of communication in, for instance, journalism, advertising, different kinds of writing, and the current transformations of these in digital environments

• To bring these to bear specifically on current developments in new media, paying attention to processes of globalisation, and convergence and their implications

• To develop in students the knowledge and abilities to be able to consider critically and productively the role of traditional and new media in contemporary social and political processes

• To develop in students a range of skills and understandings that will enable them to take up employment within the wide range of jobs and industries concerned with the production, organisation, storage, distribution and use of mediated knowledge and communication

• Key concepts and theories of communication and mass communication

• The role of media in the history of communication

• Contemporary transformations of mediated communication associated with globalisation, digitisation and media convergence

• The role of mediated communication within specific (e.g. political) situations

• The ability to examine critically a wide range of communication situations and forms, exploring their history, meanings and implications

• The ability to seek and to draw upon a wide range of sources

• The ability to measure critically the status and strength of knowledge-claims

• The ability to apply course-derived understandings to current social and political policy-debates

• The ability to analyse forms of language and visual communication for their complex meanings

• The ability to use a range of digital media and software applications, with due attention to issues of purpose and audience address

During the course of and on completion of this scheme, the following transferable skills will be fostered:

• Oral and written communication will be developed through a range of assessed and non-assessed tasks. Students will be expected to produce a wide range of written work, from traditional academic essays and examinations to notebooks of reflective practice. Oral communication will be developed in seminar and workshop contexts, where the students will be expected to prepare and deliver presentations on set topics and discuss issues (both theoretical and in relation to certain texts/media), as well work towards the production of websites, short films etc. through practical modules.

• Personal initiative will form a key element in the successful completion of this scheme. Students will be expected to formulate their own work routine and demonstrate self-discipline and planning by meeting deadlines. Scope for following personal interests and developing creativity will also be allowed in some modules, where students will be able to formulate their own assignment tasks (based on the approval of the module co-ordinator) or produce films/websites on topics of their choosing.

• Many of the modules, particularly those that involve a 'practical' element, will require the students to work in teams. Further collaboration will be encouraged during seminar contexts where students will need to work collaboratively on set mini-tasks.

• Other transferable skills will include competent use of ICTs and other technologies. Students will be expected to word process their written work, regularly access e-mail, find and retrieve information on-line (as well as in the library context) and operate production/editing equipment.

• Students will have the opportunity to develop and apply a range of research skills