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Our new Media Studies BA is designed for students with a passion for contemporary culture and a desire to influence future developments in the arts. This interdisciplinary degree allows you to study contemporary culture while undertaking creative practice, such as filmmaking, photography, screenwriting, playwriting, film criticism, theatre journalism and visual arts writing.
Overview
Communication happens through still and moving images, spoken and written words, music, drawing and animation. In the 21st century the boundaries between these forms have blurred. On this programme, you examine how old and new media are creating meaning today and using our first-class resources create work of your own.
How is art different to entertainment? How do filmmakers, performers and artists express themselves using style and genre? What are the distinctions between ‘high’ and ‘low’ media? The teaching staff, leading researchers in the field, guide you to answering these questions and more. They help you understand how media shape us, and how you, through your creative practice, can shape media.
We have embedded practice-based learning within the programme with modules in areas such as filmmaking, photography, arts criticism, screenwriting and curating. The programme has been designed to deepen your understanding of contemporary media through creative ability.
All Media Studies students have the opportunity to spend a year abroad as part of their degree. This gives you an opportunity to increase your contacts and network so you can hit the ground running when you graduate. For more information view the Media Studies with an Approved Year Abroad programme.
Independent rankings
In The Guardian University Guide 2017, the School of Arts was ranked 3rd in the UK for Media and Film Studies.
For graduate prospects, Media and Film Studies at Kent was ranked 5th in The Guardian University Guide 2017.
Course structure
The following modules are indicative of those offered on this programme. This listing is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation. Most programmes will require you to study a combination of compulsory and optional modules. You may also have the option to take ‘wild’ modules from other programmes offered by the University in order that you may customise your programme and explore other subject areas of interest to you or that may further enhance your employability.
Stage 1
All students take at least one of the following modules:
- Media and Meaning
- Media and Taste
All students then choose at least two modules from the following options:
- Contemporary Culture and Media
- Film Style
- Introduction to Filmmaking
- Introduction to the History of Art
- Modern Culture
- Modern Theatre: A Theoretical Landscape
Stage 2
All students take:
- Media Ethics
All students then choose three modules from the following:
- Animated Worlds
- Art and Film
- Cognition and Emotion in Film
- Dialogues: Art History in a Global Context
- Digital Domains
- From Warhol to Whiteread: Postmodernity and Visual Art Practice
- History and Aesthetics of Photography
- Images of War and Violence
- Mobile Filmmaking
- Popular Culture, Media and Society
- Screenwriting: An Introduction
- The Sublime, the Disgusting and the Laughable
- Television Series: Narration, Engagement and Evaluation
- Transmediality
Stage 3
All students take at least four modules from the following:
- Avant-Garde and Experimental Cinema
- Beauty in Theory, Culture and Contemporary Art
- Cartoons, Comic Strips and Animated Comedy
- Digital Culture
- Documentary Cinema
- Emotion, Media and Culture
- Exposed: The Aesthetics of the Body, Sexuality and Erotic Art
- Film Criticism
- Film Genre
- Filmmaking: Documentary
- Independent Project
- Microbudget Filmmaking: Fiction
- New York and the Movies
- Playwriting 1 for Beginners
- Print Collecting and Curating
- Theatre and Adaptation
- Theatre and Journalism
- Visual Arts Writing
Teaching and assessment
All modules involve live lectures, small group seminars, screenings and occasionally group trips to galleries, museums, libraries and festivals. Methods of assessment vary between modules. The majority of modules are assessed solely by coursework, while others have a mix of coursework and exams.
Typically, students attend two lectures a week of one-and-a-half to two hours in duration, as well as two seminars a week of similar length. In addition, many modules will have screenings, readings, trips and related learning activities.
Programme aims
The programme aims to:
- develop existing and new areas of teaching in response to current research and scholarship within contemporary media arts
- provide students with a rich understanding of contemporary thought about the media of the visual and performed arts, visual culture and aesthetics
- encourage and consolidate a distinctive approach to media arts, focusing upon our strengths in film, aesthetics, contemporary art, and practice-based learning
- enhance students’ awareness of sensitivity to the context in which the arts are produced, disseminated and received in the contemporary world
Learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding
You will develop knowledge and understanding of:
- particular media forms and genres, and the way in which they organise understandings, meanings and affects
- the interconnectedness of texts and contexts, and of the shifting configurations of communicative, cultural and aesthetic practices and systems
- the historical evolution of particular genres, aesthetic traditions and forms, and of their current characteristics and possible future developments
- the material conditions of media and cultural consumption, and of the cultural contexts in which people appropriate, use and make sense of media and cultural products
- the aesthetic and formal qualities at play, and their relation to meanings, in particular cultural forms
- the student's own creative processes and practice through engagement in one or more production practices
- narrative processes, generic forms and modes of representation at work in media and cultural texts
- an understanding of the ways in which specific media and their attendant technologies make possible different kinds of aesthetic effects and forms
- the ways in which people engage with cultural texts and practices and make meaning from them.
Intellectual skills
You gain the following intellectual abilities:
- engage critically with major thinkers, debates and intellectual paradigms within the field and put them to productive use
- understand forms of communication, media and culture as they have emerged historically and appreciate the processes through which they have come into being, with reference to social, cultural and technological change
- examine forms of communication, media and culture critically with appropriate reference to the social and cultural contexts and diversity of contemporary society
- analyse closely, interpret and show the exercise of critical judgment in the understanding and, as appropriate, evaluation of these forms of communication, media and culture
- develop substantive and detailed knowledge and understanding in one or more designated areas of media arts
- consider and evaluate their own work in a reflective manner, with reference to academic and/or professional issues, debates and conventions.
Subject-specific skills
You gain specific skills in the following:
- critically appraising some of the widespread common sense understandings and misunderstandings of communications, media and culture, and the debates and disagreements to which these give rise
- critically evaluating the contested nature of some objects of study within the fields of communication, media, film and cultural studies, and the social and political implications of the judgements which are made
- showing insight into the range of attitudes and values arising from the complexity and diversity of contemporary communications, media, culture and society, and the capability to consider and respond to these
- drawing upon and bringing together ideas from different sources of knowledge and from different academic disciplines
- carrying out various forms of research for essays, projects, creative productions or dissertations involving sustained independent enquiry
- formulating appropriate research questions and employing appropriate methods and resources for exploring those questions
- evaluating and drawing upon the range of sources and the conceptual frameworks appropriate to research in the chosen area
- exploring matters that may be new and emerging, drawing upon a variety of personal skills and upon a variety of academic and non-academic sources.
Transferable skills
You gain transferable skills in the following:
- working in flexible, creative and independent ways, showing self-discipline, self-direction and reflection
- gathering, organising and deploying ideas and information in order to formulate arguments cogently, and express them effectively in written, oral or other forms
- retrieving and generating information, and evaluating sources, in carrying out independent research
- organising and managing supervised, self-directed projects
- communicating effectively in interpersonal settings, in writing and other media where appropriate
- working productively in a group or team, showing abilities at different times to listen, contribute and lead effectively
- delivering work to a given length, format, brief and deadline, properly referencing sources and ideas and making use, as appropriate, of a problem-solving approach
- putting to use a range of information communication technology (ICT) skills from basic competences such as data analysis and word-processing to more complex skills using web-based technology or multimedia, and developing, as appropriate, specific proficiencies in utilising a range of media technologies.
Careers
Media Studies graduates have the same wide-ranging career opportunities as other graduates in the faculty of humanities. These include teaching, local and central government, business and the NGO sector. Our graduates also have skills and experience relevant to careers in the creative industries and media journalism, galleries and museums, heritage and tourism, and marketing and advertising.
Entry requirements
Home/EU students
The University will consider applications from students offering a wide range of qualifications. Students offering alternative qualifications should contact us for further advice.
It is not possible to offer places to all students who meet this typical offer/minimum requirement.
New GCSE grades
If you’ve taken exams under the new GCSE grading system, please see our conversion table to convert your GCSE grades.
| Qualification | Typical offer/minimum requirement |
|---|---|
| A level | ABB |
| Access to HE Diploma | The University will not necessarily make conditional offers to all Access candidates but will continue to assess them on an individual basis. If we make you an offer, you will need to obtain/pass the overall Access to Higher Education Diploma and may also be required to obtain a proportion of the total level 3 credits and/or credits in particular subjects at merit grade or above |
| BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma (formerly BTEC National Diploma) | The University will consider applicants holding BTEC National Diploma and Extended National Diploma Qualifications (QCF; NQF; OCR) on a case-by-case basis. Please contact us for further advice on your individual circumstances. |
| International Baccalaureate | 34 points overall including 16 points at HL |
International students
The University welcomes applications from international students. Our international recruitment team can guide you on entry requirements. See our International Student website for further information about entry requirements for your country.
If you need to increase your level of qualification ready for undergraduate study, we offer a number of International Foundation Programmes.
Meet our staff in your country
For more advise about applying to Kent, you can meet our staff at a range of international events.
English Language Requirements
Please see our English language entry requirements web page.
Please note that if you are required to meet an English language condition, we offer a number of 'pre-sessional' courses in English for Academic Purposes. You attend these courses before starting your degree programme.
General entry requirements
Please also see our general entry requirements.
Fees
The 2017/18 tuition fees for this programme are:
| UK/EU | Overseas | |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time | ||
| Part-time |
For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.
UK/EU fee paying students
The Government has announced changes to allow undergraduate tuition fees to rise in line with inflation from 2017/18.
In accordance with changes announced by the UK Government, we are increasing our 2017/18 regulated full-time tuition fees for new and returning UK/EU fee paying undergraduates from £9,000 to £9,250. The equivalent part-time fees for these courses will also rise from £4,500 to £4,625. This was subject to us satisfying the Government's Teaching Excellence Framework and the access regulator's requirements. This fee will ensure the continued provision of high-quality education.
For students continuing on this programme, fees will increase year on year by no more than RPI + 3% in each academic year of study except where regulated.*
The University will assess your fee status as part of the application process. If you are uncertain about your fee status you may wish to seek advice from UKCISA before applying.
General additional costs
Find out more about accommodation and living costs, plus general additional costs that you may pay when studying at Kent.
Funding
University funding
Kent offers generous financial support schemes to assist eligible undergraduate students during their studies. See our funding page for more details.
Government funding
You may be eligible for government finance to help pay for the costs of studying. See the Government's student finance website.
The Government has confirmed that EU students applying for university places in the 2017 to 2018 academic year will still have access to student funding support for the duration of their course.
Scholarships
General scholarships
Scholarships are available for excellence in academic performance, sport and music and are awarded on merit. For further information on the range of awards available and to make an application see our scholarships website.
The Kent Scholarship for Academic Excellence
At Kent we recognise, encourage and reward excellence. We have created the Kent Scholarship for Academic Excellence. The scholarship will be awarded to any applicant who achieves a minimum of AAA over three A levels, or the equivalent qualifications (including BTEC and IB) as specified on our scholarships pages.
The scholarship is also extended to those who achieve AAB at A level (or specified equivalents) where one of the subjects is either Mathematics or a Modern Foreign Language. Please review the eligibility criteria.