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Cultural Studies and Media and Journalism at Kent is an innovative degree programme where we combine the study of these areas to explore the complexity of contemporary media and culture in our rapidly changing global society.
Overview
This joint honours degree offers an academically rigorous approach to the study of mediated cultural forms, practices and technologies and their vital social, political and economic implications alongside journalism skills. We examine a range of areas, from digital media and journalism, to the creative and cultural industries, to social identities and sub-cultures.You will also be introduced to some of the basic skills journalists use.
You will take core modules in reporting and feature writing and will have the opportunity to learn the essentials of media law. You will also explore journalism’s history and its relationship with parliamentary democracy. You will read examples of great reporting and consider some of the challenges facing journalism in the age of the internet.
Analysing culture, media and society
You cannot be part of today’s society without being affected by the constant stream of mediated culture: from digital news radio, to billboard advertising, to government cultural policy, to high fashion and street style.
Students critically explore the links between culture, media and society with a focus on: news and journalism; mass media and advertising; digital media technologies; television and film; literature and the arts; cultural differences and practices; gender, sexuality, class, race, religion and identity; the body and embodiment; transnational media and culture; capitalism and media ownership; cultural history and memory; and multiculturalism and cultural policy, among other areas.
If you choose the joint honours Cultural Studies and Media and Journalism degree programme, you will have the opportunity to work across disciplinary boundaries and to choose modules from a wide range of subject areas – all addressing ‘culture’, ‘media’ and ‘society’ as they are widely understood. This includes practice-based modules and creative forms of assessment focused on building both critical thinking and transferable knowledge and skills.
In your final year of study, there is an option to take a dissertation module on a subject of your choice, which allows you to focus in detail on an area you are particularly passionate about.
Dual campus study
This joint honours degree requires equally split study across Cultural Studies and Media (50%) and Journalism (50%) and is taught at two campuses: Cultural Studies and Media is taught at our Canterbury campus while the Centre for Journalism is based on our Medway Campus and some Journalism modules are taught there.
There is a regular free campus shuttle bus operating between the Canterbury and Medway locations during term time. As a student of both the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research based in Cornwallis North East at Canterbury and the Centre for Journalism based at Medway, you will be able to enjoy the unique experience provided by both.
Think Kent video series
In this talk, Dr Carolyn Pedwell grapples with two central questions: firstly, how can we think more critically about the contemporary political workings of empathy? and secondly, how might we understand the complex links between empathy and transnational relations of power?
Independent rankings
The Centre for Journalism is ranked first in the UK for Graduate Prospects in Journalism in The Times Good University Guide 2017.
Media and Film Studies at Kent was ranked 3rd in The Guardian University Guide 2017 whilst Sociology* at Kent was ranked 10th for course satisfaction in the same guide. Sociology at Kent was ranked 7th in The Times Good University Guide 2017.
For graduate prospects, Media and Film Studies at Kent was ranked 5th in The Guardian University Guide 2017. Of Sociology students who graduated from Kent in 2015, 90% of were in work or further study within six months (DLHE).
*Cultural Studies is included in Sociology
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.
On most programmes, you study a combination of compulsory and optional modules. You may also be able to take ‘wild’ modules from other programmes so you can customise your programme and explore other subjects that interest you.
Teaching and assessment
We use a variety of teaching methods, including lectures; case study analysis; group projects and presentations; newsroom workshops; individual and group tutorials. Many module convenors also offer additional ‘clinic’ hours to help with the preparation of coursework and for exams.
Assessment is through a combination of unseen written examinations, assessed coursework, timed newsroom exercises, assessed presentation and individual portfolios.
As a joint honours student, you will study in depth two disciplines and will experience different teaching and assessment styles appropriate to each discipline.
Contact time is not arranged by campus and will depend on which modules you choose. For this reason you may be required to visit both campus sites in one day.
Programme aims
The programme aims to:
- Develop students’ capacities to learn and undertake critical analysis from a variety of primary and secondary sources.
- Provide teaching which is informed by current research and scholarship in the fields of Cultural and Media Studies and Journalism.
- Provide a flexible and progressive curriculum which includes options from a wide range of disciplinary areas with an intellectual investment in the study of culture and media.
- Develop substantive and detailed knowledge and appreciation of print, broadcast and digital journalism.
- Carry our independant research and inquiry.
- Promote an understanding of cultural identities, differences and transitions and the historical, political and economic contexts of their emergence and change.
- Provide a broad knowledge of relevant concepts, debates and theoretical approaches in the study of culture and media.
- Meet the needs of the local and national community for a critical understanding of culture and media and their role in society.
- Facilitate the personal development of students as independent, life-long learners capable of collating and analysing information and producing new knowledge.
- Provide opportunities for the development of personal, communication, research and other key skills appropriate to graduate employment in a range of cultural, media and education related spheres and for further research.
Learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding
You gain a knowledge and understanding of:
- The complexity of culture and media as contested objects of inquiry.
- The significance of journalism to political democracy, its powers, duties and responsibilities.
- Professional issues, debates and conventions in journalism.
- The role that media and cultural institutions play in society.
- The role and function of cultural and media forms as sources of popular knowledge and ideas.
- Ways in which people engage with cultural and media texts and practices and make meaning from them.
- The relation between cultural texts (e.g. artistic, literary, media, social, political, scientific) and the historical contexts of their production and reception.
- Different modes of modern global, international, national and local cultural experience.
- How culture is both product and process and gives rise to social and political ‘forms of life’.
- How the modes of production/consumption of cultural and media texts and products shape contemporary life.
- The nature of the cultural impact of new technologies.
- A wide range of disciplinary approaches to culture, media and journalism and the distinctive character of cross-disciplinarity.
Intellectual skills
You gain the following intellectual skills:
- Ability to analyse a wide range of cultural and media forms.
- Critical evaluation of scholarship and ideas, both classical and contemporary.
- Representation in language of the views and ideas of others.
- Application of cultural and media theory to both familiar and unfamiliar cultural material, phenomena and contexts.
- Expression of own ideas in oral and written communication.
- Ability to identify, evaluate and to construct arguments.
Subject-specific skills
You gain the following subject-specific skills:
- Conception and application of cross-disciplinary strategies of investigation of cultural and media issues, themes, topics.
- The ability to identify and analyse ethical and political subject matters represented in media culture of all kinds.
- The ability to account for and criticise the interrelation of aesthetic cultural practices and forms and the social and political contexts of their emergence and affect.
- The ability to evaluate theoretical models and paradigms of cultural and media production, consumption and reception.
- The ability to integrate diverse sources of cultural information and produce new knowledge.
Transferable skills
You gain the following transferable skills:
- Gathering and collating, retrieving and synthesising information drawn from a variety of sources (Library, IT, CD-ROM, Press, etc.) – textual, visual, popular and academic, in traditional formats as well as electronic.
- Working independently on the design and execution of research projects.
- Ability to reflect on and understand the accumulation of knowledge about cultural practices diversely understood.
- Be adaptable, creative and self-reflexive in producing output for a variety of audiences.
- Skilled at self-directed project planning, development and execution of work to deadlines.
- Skills of expression in written and oral forms; be adept at representing both the ideas of others as well as their own and will be able to argue for and justify their views.
- Use a range of appropriate technology to perform tasks and reach defined audiences.
Careers
University of Kent graduates are adaptable and flexible in their thinking and approach tasks in a rigorous and ethical, yet also creative and reflective fashion. They develop key transferable skills including: communication, organisational and research skills; the ability to analyse complex information and make it accessible to non-specialist readers, the ability to write reports and use data analysis computer programs, and the capacity to take on positions of leadership in addition to working effectively and considerately in teams. These skills and attributes are valued in a wide range of professions.
Cultural Studies and Media and Journalism graduates work in media, journalism, broadcasting, the cultural and creative industries, national and local government, social and cultural policy, international institutions and NGOs, teaching, arts administration, publishing, advertising and design, public relations, research, information services, leisure industry management, tourism and heritage, and the organisation of social and community projects.
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 | BBB |
| GCSE | 5 GCSEs grade C or above. |
| 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) | Distinction, Distinction, Merit |
| International Baccalaureate | 34 points overall or 15 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.