Course description
Our Postgraduate Programme offers you an exciting and dynamic array of courses arising from a long tradition of undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, research and scholarship at Coventry University. As one of the founding departments in the field in the UK, over twenty five years ago, its staff has included many seminal figures in Communication, Culture and Media Studies (CCM).
The Programme is modular in structure, leading to the Postgraduate Certificate and Postgraduate Diploma in CCM, and Masters qualifications in Applied Communication, Media and Cultural Analysis, Global Media and Communications and Film and Visual Cultures. An MA by Research in CCM is also available, as is research training for MPhil and PhD students.
With its emphasis on the analysis of contemporary and international communications, culture and media, especially in European, Transatlantic and Global contexts, the course attracts students from diverse academic and cultural backgrounds, including many students from Europe, South and South East Asia, and elsewhere around the world. It combines theoretical and practical elements with a flexible structure and diverse specialist option choices that students may tailor to their own needs.
Reasons to choose Communication, Culture and Media MA degree
The CCM Postgraduate Programme will be attractive to:
* students who wish to pursue further study of a specialised academic route within the broad fields of Communication, Culture and Media Studies;
* those wishing to enhance their existing professionally-oriented expertise in the Communication, Culture and Media industries;
* qualified/experienced media practitioners who wish to continue to explore the theory-practice dialogue, or those seeking to extend the theorisation of their practice.
Future prospects
Study on the programme may open up a number of career prospects in the communication, culture and media industries, most notably in the areas of production, management, research and administration. The areas of journalism, public relations and related professions, as well as professions in the educational sector, are likewise open to students successfully completing the programme. The research training received may also be applied to further academic study or in public and private sector organisations.
Course content
The CCM Postgraduate Programme offers three levels of qualification:
* Postgraduate Certificate in Communication, Culture and Media; PGCert CCM, (60 Credits);
* Postgraduate Diploma in Communication, Culture and Media; PgDip CCM (120 Credits)
Communication Culture and Media
Qualification: Pg Cert / Pg Dip
Working at an advanced level, you will receive a firm grounding in Communication Culture and Media studies. The course enables you to develop your understanding of contemporary institutions, forms and practices of the media, communications and cultural industries and our relationships with them. You will be able to explore local and international communications, culture and media, especially in European, Transatlantic and Global contexts, through theoretical analysis or practice and develop research skills. You can choose a specialist module from: Applied Communication, Cultural Analysis, Global Media and Communications, or Visual Cultures; and/or options such as Film Theory and Global Context, Public Relations and Information Societies. Appropriately qualified students may apply to be assessed by practice for some assignments producing e.g. photographic, video, or audio pieces. The Postgraduate Certificate is taught over three months full-time, or six months part-time; the Postgraduate Diploma over six months full-time and eighteen months part-time.
Masters qualifications MA (180 Credits) in one of the following areas:
* MA Applied Communication,
* MA Media and Cultural Analysis
* MA Global Media and Communications
* MA Film and Visual Cultures
SPECIALIST CORE MODULES and MAs
Students obtain their named Masters awards by choose one of the four Specialist (Route Mandatory) Modules with same name as the award. This module, together with their choice of dissertation topic in an appropriate specialist area - defines their Masters award.
Applied Communication
Qualification: MA
The MA Applied Communication enables you to develop a specialism within Communication, Culture and Media studies in the use of communications within public relations, advertising, journalism and public communication campaigns, political communications and new technologies. By choosing appropriate modules from the CCM Postgraduate Diploma and by undertaking an in-depth research project, you will develop a critically and theoretically informed understanding of these areas and their social and cultural contexts. The course is intended for those with an interested in the theory, practice and analysis of professional communication, and/or those with a professional or career interest in these fields. Appropriately qualified students may apply to be assessed by practice for some assignments producing e.g. photographic, video, or audio pieces. The MA Applied Communication is taught over twelve months full-time, or twenty four months part-time.
Media and Cultural Analysis
Qualification: MA
The MA Cultural Analysis enables you to develop a specialism within Communication, Culture and Media studies in the theory and politics of culture generally, and particularly with questions of cultural identity, cultural practices, cultural institutions and policy, consumer cultures, debates on Modernity/Postmodernity, and the relationships between culture and technology. By choosing appropriate modules from the CCM Postgraduate Diploma and by undertaking an in-depth research project, you can engage in crucial issue-based debates and detailed analysis of key aspects of contemporary culture. It will therefore appeal to those with professional interests in the cultural industries, as well as those having ambitions for further academic/intellectual enquiry and research within this field. Appropriately qualified students may apply to be assessed by practice for some assignments producing e.g. photographic, video, or audio pieces. The MA Cultural Analysis is taught over twelve months full-time, or twenty four months part-time.
Global Media and Communications
Qualification: MA
The MA Global Media and Communications enables you to develop a specialism within Communication, Culture and Media studies in the globalisation of the communications and media industries, media ownership and concentration, the role of international agencies in the new communication order, and ethical and rights issues in global media. Through the choice of appropriate modules from the CCM Postgraduate Diploma and by undertaking an in-depth research project, students have the opportunity to investigate both the role of the dominant media organizations of our time and the oppositional voices that exist to counter them. This MA will also be valuable to those seeking a better understanding of the theory and politics of international media to bring to careers within such organizations. Appropriately qualified students may apply to be assessed by practice for some assignments producing e.g. photographic, video, or audio pieces. The MA Global Media and Communications is taught over twelve months full-time, or twenty four months part-time.
Film and Visual Cultures
Qualification: MA
The MA Visual Cultures enables you to develop a specialism within Communication, Culture and Media studies in the analysis of contemporary and historical visual representations: the codes, forms, styles, meanings, visual languages and genres framing every area of our visually dominated culture and media. Through the choice of appropriate modules from the CCM Postgraduate Diploma and by undertaking an in-depth research project, students will explore the texts and artefacts of television, film, advertising and photography, and wider visual cultures (multimedia, art and architecture), from within a rigorous theoretical framework. This MA enables students to examine and engage with the visual, both intellectually, through production and in the context of analysis or professional practice. Appropriately qualified students may apply to be assessed by practice for some assignments producing e.g. photographic, video, or audio pieces. The MA Visual Cultures is taught over twelve months full-time, or twenty four months
part-time.
TEACHING STAFF
The CCM Postgraduate Programme is taught by staff of the Communication Media and Culture Subject Group at Coventry University, which comprises 19 academics, all with extensive teaching experience in the field. Those CMC staff teaching on the CCM Masters Programme are all currently active in research and scholarly activity, and/or professional practice, to inform and enhance their teaching. These activities include professional journalism, video and photography exhibition, primary research in Media, Communications and Cultural issues and publication.
TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT
Teaching takes the form of a mixture of lectures, seminars , discussions and workshops. Students are expected to read widely, contribute actively to discussions, and devise study topics for themselves in negotiation with tutors.
Modules are assessed entirely by coursework, including essays and projects. Students should successfully complete their PgD modules with an average mark of 50% before proceeding to the MA Research Project.
ASSESSMENT BY PRACTICE
Students who have suitable academic qualifications, professional experience and/or skills training can take part in the programme on the basis of practical assessments. Students will initially be required to demonstrate that they are self-supporting in terms of appropriate techniques and skills, and will then negotiate a programme of assessment - combining communications or media artefacts with theoretical/critical/reflective assignments.
