In Film Studies you are introduced to a wide range of film histories and cultures, covering everything from the Hollywood blockbuster to world cinema. You will study films from a variety of time periods, including recent releases.
You will be encouraged to draw connections between your own experiences of cinema and film theory and there will be many opportunities, during your learning, to benefit from your lecturers' cutting edge research in aspects of film - from, for example, the cultural meaning of zombie cinema to development of the British crime film. Learning takes place in the screening room and in lecture and seminar rooms and takes a variety of forms including small-group discussion, film screenings, lectures, seminars, one-to-one tutorials and essay preparation sessions. Strong emphasis is placed on interaction and debate between lecturers and students and between students themselves. Assignments are largely essays and presentations but there will be occasional opportunities, too, to work towards less conventional outcomes, including short films.
Media & Culture involves more traditional academic study that examines how the media, TV and digital communication shape society, its values and politics - and, as a result, identity and human experience.
Throughout, you will be addressing some of the hottest topics of our times, from Green Media to Democracy and the Media, from War to Gender. There will be opportunities to explore all forms of media and culture (TV, radio, pop music, sport, social networks) and a multitude of fascinating questions (Why do people the world over listen to rap and hip hop? How does the news report immigration? Why do people reinvent themselves on Facebook and in Second Life?). You will hone your critical and intellectual faculties in a variety of dynamic and engrossing teaching and learning contexts - contexts in which the media that you use may well be those that you are also studying. Media & Culture also provides you with opportunities for work placements and volunteering; these are designed to highlight how your learning is supporting your employability and to introduce you to some of the professional and employment possibilities that you could pursue once you have graduated.
For more information about teaching, learning and assessment on this course, please see the single honours course pages for Film Studies and Media & Culture.
Programme specifications
For comprehensive details on the aims and intended learning outcomes of the course, and the means by which these are achieved through learning, teaching and assessment, please download the latest programme specification documents for Film Studies and Media & Culture.