Entry requirementsEntry Requirements Applications are invited from holders of, or those who hope to be awarded, an upper second class honours degree or above. However, candidates with a lower second class honours degree may also be considered.
Academic titleMA Media and Cultural Studies
Course descriptionThe MA programme in Media & Cultural Studies examines the different yet closely related fields rooted in the humanities and social sciences that are concerned with the construction of meanings, experiences, identities and relationships in various institutional and day-to-day contexts of social life.
The programme offers opportunities to explore a wide range of film, TV, print, Internet and other new technologies of communication and the theoretical and critical debates, social and historical contexts which have helped shape how we think about research into those media forms. You’ll also engage with broader theories of contemporary society and the politics and cultural power of institutions, texts and epistemologies.
The programme begins with two core modules: Engaging with Theory: Key Thinkers, Texts and Contexts and Research Methods in Film, Media & Cultural Studies. These modules are designed to enable conceptual and practical skills for advanced research in media and cultural studies. You then move on to choose three option modules and complete a supervised dissertation allowing you the opportunity to pursue your own topic of particular interest.
Staff teaching on the programme are members of the Centre for Research in Media & Cultural Studies CRMCS, many are known nationally and internationally for their published work in these fields Staff Profiles.
As well as the weekly programme of teaching, the MA offers regular Research Days with invited speakers. Speakers for the 2006/7 session included Prof. Charlotte Brunsdon, Prof. Christine Gledhill and Prof. David Morley. In addition, the Centre for Research in Media & Cultural Studies organises an exciting series of research seminars to which postgraduate students are invited Research Seminars.
The programme of External Speakers offers opportunities for you to hear the latest research and see the vibrancy of the fields of film, media and cultural studies.
* Engaging with Theory: Key Thinkers, Texts and Concepts
* Research Methods in Film, Media and Cultural Studies
Stage 2
Postgraduate Diploma (PgD) 60 credits
Three option modules, to include at least two of the following:
* Consumption and Everyday Life
* Language, Culture and Power
* Media Constructions of Race & Islam
* Feminism and Popular Culture
* Representing Sexualities
* Modern Television: Contexts and Genres
* Modernity, Globalisation and Identity
* Media in Everyday Life
Students may take one option module from a range of film studies options or, in consultation with the programme leaders, an option offered by other MA programmes within the school.
Note: not all options will run each year.
Stage 3
Masters (MA) 60 credits
* Dissertation
Teaching and Assessment
Teaching on the MA programme is seminar and tutorial based and your progress will be assessed by essays, projects, presentations and the dissertation.
Career Opportunities
Some graduates progress to higher degree research – graduates of this MA programme have been very successful in securing funded PhD places at leading academic institutions in the UK. Student Profiles
Other graduates have gone on to teach in Further and Higher Education. Many students enrolling on the programme will already be employed in a wide variety of professions, and see an MA as a way of enhancing their existing careers.
Facilities
The University of Sunderland provides access to the full Adobe/Microsoft suite of web/design applications on campus. Under our Education Partnership Agreement, Adobe/Microsoft tools are upgraded every time there is a new release, to ensure that our students have the very latest industry standard versions. Apply now for access to the latest versions of: Adobe/Microsoft (inc. Dream weaver, Flash, Fireworks, Freehand) Director (web content, DVD & CD Rom production tool). Also Authorware, Contribute, Breeze and others.+