You’ll follow a flexible programme of study, which introduces you to the methods and approaches of different disciplines, allowing you to concentrate on areas you find especially interesting. The courses are stimulating and innovative, allowing you to make rewarding connections between the two disciplines. There is also CV-building potential through work placements and extra-curricular activities.
In your first year, you’ll be introduced to a variety of ways in which communication can be achieved and presented to different audiences. You’ll learn to think critically by examining reasoning and persuasion and how that might be inflected by the medium in which it is conveyed, including the use of rhetoric and propaganda. You’ll be introduced to key theorists in media cultures and study social and political philosophy, covering topics such as freedom of speech, as well as examine the nature of knowledge and reality. There is also a philosophy module dedicated to exploring the scope and limits of film and literature in what they can represent about reality. In addition to the insights into theory, core media modules introduce you to practice, such as how to use text, graphics, or software such as Photoshop.
In your second year, your ability to work as an effective and confident researcher is honed across both disciplines. You’ll learn about research methods in the communications industry and you will be able to select areas on which to focus, such as on influential works of philosophy, ethics, metaphysics, the philosophy of mind, and social and political philosophy. There is also a philosophy of art module, which tackles the question of the relation between artistic representations (in various media) and reality. In addition, there are practical opportunities to learn about publishing and radio.
Work placement/study abroad option: Between your second and final year, you’ll have the option to study abroad or do a work placement for up to a year. Not only will this give you an amazing experience to talk about but will also give your CV a boost. If you’d rather go straight to your final year, that’s absolutely fine too. You’ll decide in your second year with us, so there is still plenty of time to think about this.
In your final year, the opportunity to delve deeper into specialist areas is offered. In media, specific skills from pitching to business, campaigning for a cause or to advertise a product or service, content creation, web design or magazine production all help hone skills transferable to the world of work. In Philosophy, there is the opportunity to develop your understanding of the nature of communication in the philosophy of language module, or on the nature of the representation of women in the module on feminist philosophy.
