Media Studies BA(Hons)

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Top reasons to choose this course

• Graduate ready to take on a wide variety of roles across the media industry, from PR to production, marketing to presenting.

• The subject matter is a fascinating and ever-evolving mix – you will examine the media industry in detail, investigating social, cultural, economic, political and technological changes.

• Work placement opportunities give you the chance to make industry connections and gain valuable experience.

• Opportunities to work on live industry projects.

• Choose from option modules in areas such as branding, journalism, public relations and sustainability, enabling you to tailor your degree to your specific career ambitions.

• Brighton is a fast-growing creative media hub and home to a thriving cultural scene.

• The course team are experts in their fields who are passionate about sharing their knowledge with a new generation of media and music professionals.

• Develop valuable transferable skills including practical media skills, critical thinking and writing, independent research and analysis and excellent presentation, written and oral communication skills.

Year 1 

This year lays the foundations for your study, introducing ways of understanding and theorising the media and the social, cultural, economic, political and technological changes associated with their development. 

Modules

Core modules

• Producing and Consuming Digital Media

  You will gain an understanding of consuming and producing social media in personal and professional settings and reflect on the effects of digital media on culture and society more generally. Topics explored include debates around digital media; key characteristics of contemporary digital media such as social media, data, web-based technologies and other software applications; and the relationship between new media and more traditional forms, such as TV and radio, newspapers and cinema and industries such as music and film.

• Media and Popular Culture

  This module will introduce you to the concept of popular culture through the perspectives of media studies by critically engaging with, exploring and critiquing popular cultural forms and practices. You’ll look at current and historical examples of film, TV, music and online popular culture by analysing both the conditions of production – the entertainment industry – and audience engagement.

• Critical Approaches to Media 1

  This module will introduce you to a range of critical academic approaches to media. It tackles the most cutting-edge topics in media studies and introduces canonical approaches used in their analysis. An introduction to these approaches will enable you to understand the workings of media audiences, industries and texts. The module will focus on media experiences that are relevant to your everyday life, ensuring that as well as academic development, the module will give you the tools to analyse your own engagement with, and consumption of, the media.

• Critical Approaches to Media 2

  This module introduces key media studies theories and concepts and applies them to the analysis of real-world issues. You will develop skills and techniques to critique media representations, showing the importance of media analysis in everyday life. By analysing media technologies, you will engage with the most innovative media content, forms and practices of the day. By questioning mediation, the module will bring to life the role of media in society and enable you to critique the media in terms of culture, politics, innovation and environment.

Options*

• Video Production 1

  This module will equip you with the essential skills and practical experience needed to create short-form non-fictional audiovisual content, suitable for contemporary web-based and more traditional delivery platforms and audiences. You’ll cover all three stages of video production: pre-production research and planning, production; and post-production, including editing. You will look at the fundamentals of video and sound recording techniques and gain the skills required for successfully engaging with contributors/participants.

• Photographic Practice 1

  In this module you will explore the role and use of photography in visual media. You will engage with various aspects of the language and production of promotional and editorial photography. You will respond to set briefs and create your own website that includes an online portfolio as well as learn the core skills in which to consider, articulate and document reflections on your practice.

• Understanding Audiences: Theory and Context

  In this module you will examine the role and characteristics of media consumption in the twenty-first century and the relationship that exists between audiences, texts and technologies of production, distribution and reception. You will examine a range of theories and research methods by studying real-world media organisations and their audiences, and as a practical exercise you’ll design and pitch a cross-media marketing campaign for a targeted audience demographic.

• Film Language and History

  This module introduces how the formal language of cinema – cinematography, editing, sound, shot composition, etc – contributes to establishing a film’s narrative. You’ll explore the history of mainstream Western cinema by looking at the key technical, institutional and economic developments of the medium. Areas covered include the emergence of the actuality genre, narrative theory, structure and the relationship between plot and story, and censorship and the cinema.

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Making sure that what you learn with us is relevant, up to date and what employers are looking for is our priority, so courses are reviewed and enhanced on an ongoing basis. When you have applied to us, you’ll be told about any new developments through Student View.

Jasmin Boorman, Media Studies BA(Hons) student, talks about why she chose her course at Brighton and the modules that have helped her find her niche in TV production.

Year 2 

In year 2 you will focus on an industry placement and research methods and methodology. The industry placement will give you invaluable insight into how media works in the real world and the opportunity to relate this practice to the theory you have been studying.

Familiarity with research methods and methodology will equip you with the knowledge and skills to execute independent research as part of your final-year studies.

Modules

Core modules

• Visual Media Culture

  This module examines key concepts and theories in the study of visual culture to enable you to analyse how cultural meanings and power are constructed, communicated and contested through visual media and practices within contemporary culture and society. Topics include branding, advertising and consumer culture, imaging the self on social media, reading and analysing images and the visual politics of protest and activism.

• Media Placement

  This module involves a series of guided practical workshops covering research skills, CV/cover letter writing and portfolio development, followed by a four-week placement at an organisation or a work-related research project. You will reflect on your experience to consider the links between the course material and the professional activities which take place a media-related environment.

• Social Media for Activist and Community Groups

  In this module you will learn how social networking offers new possibilities for activist and non-profit groups. You will devise a social media strategy for a partner organisation and develop graphic and/or audiovisual material to accompany this. You’ll present your work to the organisation and critically reflect on social media practices across different platforms, focusing on the potential and limitations of using this technology for social good.

• Research Methods and Methodology

  To prepare you for your final year dissertation, this module covers a range of academic topics related to the theory, practice and design of research in the area of media studies. You will explore and gain an understanding of the research process, including the selection of methods, theories and analysis techniques appropriate for a media studies project and undertake a literature review on a chosen topic.

Options*

• Video Production 2

  During this module you will develop your video production skills and learn the concepts, theories and practice of documentary making. You will explore the three main stages of documentary production: pre-production (research and planning); production; and post-production, including editing techniques using professional video-editing software. Particular emphasis is given to creating an engaging narrative and focusing on the target audience.

• Specialist Portfolio

  In this module you will produce your own journalism in a subject area of your choice, using a range of forms and styles. You will create and populate an online publication platform, using audience development strategies (including social media and analytics) to build a following and employing professional techniques. You will also publish your work in a collaborative journalism project.

• Media Ethics and Professional Practice

  This module will teach you to recognise the moral dilemmas that media professionals face by exploring the ethical issues involved in everyday professional practice. It will also enable you to analyse these moral dilemmas, including in your own work, so that you can improve your awareness and professional skills. Topics include frameworks for ethical thinking, distinguishing between morality and law, reporting suffering, stereotyping and the ethics of globalisation.

• Podcasting

  This introduction to podcasting and audio storytelling (both factual and fictional) will explore the major development podcasting represents in the history of audio media and how important story structures are to the form. As well as analysing texts from this emerging media form, you will learn audio production, presentational and journalistic research skills so you can produce a short-form factual piece of your own.

• Photographic Practice 2

  Photographic Practice 2 explores contemporary, historical, critical and creative approaches to digital photography in a global context. You will investigate photography’s power to communicate and use your practice to challenge and highlight issues faced by society. Employing a range of lens-based media and digital platforms, you will share your work-in-progress in a mid-term presentation and produce a digital portfolio comprised of a photobook, research diary and web presence.

• Brands and Public Relations

  In this module you will examine the relationship between branding and public relations from a media perspective. It presents a practical and theoretical introduction to brand creation and the role public relations plays in the process of brand management, including industry perspectives. As well as studying the beginnings of public relations and issues including politics and corporate social responsibility, you will also take part in a brand development project.

• Film Studies

  This module is an introduction to the key theoretical approaches to film – auteur, genre, star, spectatorship, queer theory and masculinity – and explores how each approach informs the understanding of cinema’s economic and representational strategies. You will also look at the predominant political and cultural debates in the context of cinema, such as nationalism, censorship and regulation, transmedia, ethics and morality.

• Genre and Narrative

  This module will introduce the theories of media narrative and genre with the aim of informing and developing your own storytelling practices for your academic work and future career. It will provide a historical and theoretical overview of narrative and genre across different forms of screen media and explore the impact of digital technologies and social media on traditional storytelling theories and practices.

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Placements

Spend a year on placement

Gain valuable experience and earn money during an optional placement year following year 2. You’ll return to the final year of your degree with added confidence, additional real-world experience and valuable contacts. 

A placement year gives you the chance to work with established professionals in design studios, galleries, film sets, music labels, creative agencies, newsrooms and many other environments. You’ll be able to get an insight into creative workflows and come away with a portfolio filled with real-world projects that will stand out in a competitive job market.  

It can also help you discover your creative direction and passion for a particular area of work, helping you grow artistically as well as professionally.   

Our dedicated Placements and Employability team will support you in getting a placement that suits your interests and career goals by helping you with your CV and cover letter writing, applications, online testing and more. Plus, they’ll provide support and guidance when you’re on placement and make sure that everything is going well. 

Other placement opportunities

In your second year Media Placement module you’ll complete four weeks of work with a media organisation which will give you vital hands-on experience and boost your CV.

Our media studies degree students have been on placement with organisations including:

• Ricochet
• Creative Assembly
• BBC Good Food and Olive Magazine
• Absolute Radio

• Brighton & Hove Green Party

• Lowkey Films

• Drop4Drop

• Integrity Music Europe

• YDN Radio

• Life Water

• Electric Square

• ITV Potato

• Renewable World

• Deluxe

• ILOVEDUST

• Bauer Media

• Brighton Dome

• Brighton Fringe.

Holly spent her four-week placement at EspressoTV, an international documentary distribution company:

“As it was a very small company, I was trusted with a lot of responsibility and this really helped me see how this part of the media industry works. I would advise anyone searching for a placement to open their minds to smaller local media companies and not just the larger ones in London because smaller companies often use the help you are offering them to the full and you have a higher chance of getting really stuck in with the work you are doing.

“You are not alone in this experience, so use the help from the university and your classmates as much as you can. I am so happy that I completed the four-week placement and it really is one of the most valuable experiences I have had in my educational life thus far.”

Holly Smith Media Studies BA(Hons)

Read a blog post about media students’ experiences on placement.

Final year

In the final year of your Media Studies degree you will produce a dissertation or production-based dissertation under the guidance of an experienced supervisor. You will research this major project independently, giving you the opportunity to demonstrate your ability to draw together the knowledge you have gained over the course in a sustained piece of writing or the production of an artefact and critical reflection.

Modules

Core modules

• Global Challenges

  Drawing on UNESCO’s concept that culture is a fundamental part of sustainable development, this module looks at the way in which creative industries contribute to economic and cultural development, social stability and equity, and environmental protection. You will explore how media works to define the ways that societies, cultures and individuals interact on local, national and global levels, and look at how your own creative practices might address global challenges.

• Politics and Political Communication

  The aim of this module is to enhance your understanding of the socioeconomic models within which you operate as a citizen and future professional and equip you with the theoretical and critical skills to identify and engage with political communication. You will explore the key factors that shape the relations between past and present media and politics and look at how the ‘digital age’ can influence political interrelationships.

• Dissertation

  Academic research can take many forms, and this module will support you throughout the entire research process, helping you with your approach and final outcome: a written dissertation, photography portfolio, video piece or community media project. You will produce an academic piece of writing, as well as a piece for public display, for example a webpage, photographic prints or an executive summary.

Options*

• Sustainability and Innovation in Digital Culture

  This module will look at the ways in which sustainability, innovation and digital media are interconnected. You will explore relevant case studies both from a technological and social/cultural perspective and critically evaluate theoretical frameworks of innovation and sustainability and how they relate to digital media. Topics will include concepts of sustainability (social, political, economic and environmental), smart cities, big data, drivers of innovation, and the business case for sustainable innovation.

• Television Production

  This module explores the practical and theoretical approaches to producing a studio programme for television broadcast. You will develop critical, technical and interpersonal skills for working collaboratively in a multi-camera television studio and produce your own television programme based around a popular genre, such as a chat show, documentary, magazine programme or local news programme.

• Media Law and Policy

  The significance of government, society and industry perspectives on media policy has increased with the media now playing a central role in personal and professional contexts. In this module, you will investigate national and global policy debates around the media’s role in the digital economy and its influence on cultural and political citizenship and consumer choice, and critically analyse developments in digital media policy

• Digital Media Marketing and Innovation

  This module introduces you to key practical aspects of digital media marketing within the context of the technological and business innovations that are driving change across the digital landscape. It will provide you with an understanding of search engine optimization (SEO) and social media marketing and an appreciation of how digital innovations are shaping the marketing sector.

• Screening the Unreal: Science Fiction, Horror, Fantasy

  This module provides a historical approach to the study of non-realist genres such as science fiction, horror, fantasy and the Gothic across various screen media – from magic lanterns and early cinema to television, videogames and digital media. You will study texts within their modern social, political and cultural context and look at the significance of these genres within screen industries. You will also study the relations among industries, texts, their audiences and fan communities.

• Deconstructing the Nation: Empire and Race in the Twenty-first Century

  This module is divided in three sections – Nation, Europe, World – and will analyse the role of the media in forming, reproducing and disrupting forms of national identity. You'll develop a critical understanding of urgent contemporary questions – nationalism, racism, immigration, colonisation and the Empire, environmental destruction and conflict – and sharpen your ability to dissect the ways in which the media intervenes in these debates.

• Critical Approaches to the Videogame

  By drawing on disciplines including media studies, film studies and cultural studies, this module will explore key academic debates around videogames. These include the impact of digital technology on play; the consequences of interactivity on narrative; the function of immersion; gender; genre; moral panics; and transmedia. It will also look at the role played by major companies like Atari, Sega, Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft in shaping the industry.

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Final year work by Willis Annison – five amateur dancers worked in partnership with Willis to produce images that counteract homogenising representations of emotions.

Facilities 

• Digital and analogue stills equipment, including DSLRs and a range of lenses, plus an offsite darkroom.
• Video recording equipment – from Canon DSLRs to Blackmagic cameras – in a dedicated TV studio.
• Audio recording kit and facilities, including bookable sound/radio booths.
• Dedicated video editing suites, including Mac and PC computers with specialist software.

Meet the team

Dr Theodore Koulouris, course leader

“There’s no theory without practice, and no practice without theory.”

Theodore Koulouris leads the Media Studies degree programme. He teaches across the undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum, specialising in media and literary theory, media ethics, the politics of mourning, political communication and national and European politics.

His teaching benefits from his ability to link theory with practice by continuously highlighting to students the relevance and urgency of media studies to developments in the arts, politics, the economy and, in general, to contemporary culture.

An internationally known specialist in the work of Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group, Theodore’s overall output addresses the reception of the classics in post-1850s British culture, feminism and feminist activism in the digital era, and the intersections of classical literature and contemporary politics. Since 2012, he has been twice nominated by his students for the Excellence in Facilitating and Empowering Learning Award.

Read Theo’s full academic profile.

Other team members include: Paula Hearsum, Irmgard Karl, Peter Day, Julia Winckler, Julie Doyle, Lance Dann, Ryan Burns, Dr Kevin Biderman and Dr Shara Rambarran, Martin de Saulles, Iestyn George and Paul Ryan.

Podcast: listen to a podcast with senior lecturer Iestyn George where he talks about his work in journalism and marketing, why he believes media is the most important subject to study at university and the future of magazines.

Summer shows 2024

Course fees

The fees listed here are for the first year of full-time study if you start your course in the academic year 2025–26.

You will pay fees for each year of your course. Some fees may increase each year.

UK undergraduate and some postgraduate fees are regulated by the UK government and increases will not be more than the maximum amount allowed. Course fees that are not regulated may increase each year by up to 5% or RPI (whichever is higher).

If you are studying part-time your fee will usually be calculated based on the number of modules that you take.

Find out more

• Brighton Boost – cost of living help for our new undergrad students. Find out about how we can help with your study, accommodation or travel costs and more...
• Fees, bursaries, scholarships and government funding info for UK and international undergraduate students
• Student finance and budgeting while studying
• Read our student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf) for more on University of Brighton tuition fees.

Ferne Wilkins

The course provides the ideal balance of critical thinking, creativity and practical experience. The variety of opportunities it offers is one of the main reasons I chose it. One thing that drew me to the course was the opportunity to work on real-world industry projects. You’re stepping into the world of media, instead of simply studying it. Brighton is such an exciting city with a thriving cultural scene, it’s a great place to study!

Kai Jones

Studying media at the University of Brighton has and helped me develop critical skills in navigating contemporary media and offered so many unique opportunities in both academic and creative work. If you’re passionate about understanding the world through media, this course equips you with the tools to do just that! 

Julia Tankel

I wanted a course that would be able to take me in many different directions after graduation. Media is around us every day and understanding how to work within it and to our advantage takes practice and understanding.

Brighton allows students to choose their education path to their interests, something I wanted to take advantage of. We’re given multiple options each semester to ensure we’re taking classes that fit our interests.

Ugonna Amadi

A major highlight of the course has been my placement. I had the opportunity to secure one in Tokyo and that experience certainly defined my years at Brighton and validated my decision to join the course for sure.  

Being on the other side of the world in a completely different environment that is so rich in culture has shaped my world view in a professional sense and hopefully is the stepping stone for different opportunities in the future. 

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