Programme Specification
MA Digital Media and Society
Academic Year: 2018/19
This specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learning outcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if full advantage is taken of the learning opportunities that are provided.
This specification applies to delivery of the programme in the Academic Year indicated above. Prospective students reviewing this information for a later year of study should be aware that these details are subject to change as outlined in our Terms and Conditions of Study.
This specification should be read in conjunction with:
- Reg. XXI (Postgraduate Awards) (see University Regulations)
- Module Specifications
- Summary
- Aims
- Learning outcomes
- Structure
- Progression & weighting
Programme summary
| Awarding body/institution | º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ |
| Teaching institution (if different) | N/A |
| Owning school/department | School of Social Sciences - pre 2019 |
| Details of accreditation by a professional/statutory body | N/A |
| Final award | MA or PG Diploma or PG Certificate |
| Programme title | Digital Media and Society (SSPT47) |
| Programme code | SSPT47 |
| Length of programme | One year |
| UCAS code | N/A |
| Admissions criteria | |
| Date at which the programme specification was published | Thu, 11 Oct 2018 15:59:18 BST |
1. Programme Aims
- To enable students to gain a systematic and critical awareness of current issues and debates in communication media studies and related disciplines.
- To develop students' skills and competencies in a comprehensive range of research methods and techniques relevant to the investigation of media communications and related disciplines.
- To enable students to interpret evaluate and apply advanced knowledge in the discpline in an innovative way.
- To prepare students for employment in diverse professional environment through a combination of independent work and industry exposure.
- To foster students' ability to critically analyse current research and advanced scholarship about digital culture.
- To foster students' ability to critically analyse current research and advanced scholarship about digital economies.
2. Relevant subject benchmark statements and other external reference points used to inform programme outcomes:
The Benchmark Statement for Communication, Media, Film and Cultural Studies.
3. Programme Learning Outcomes
3.1 Knowledge and Understanding
On successful completion of the programme, students should be able to demonstrate and apply knowledge and understanding in the following areas:
K1. The major traditions, theories and frameworks of inquiry relevant to the analysis of media, communications and associated disciplines.
K2. The historical expansion of communications media, the institutionalisation of media systems, various audiences' uses of the media, and the implications of new media for cultural life.
K3. The range of relevant research methods employed in the analysis of media and culture.
K4. N/A to this programme.
K5. N/A to this programme.
K6. N/A to this programme.
K7. N/A to this programme.
K8. The major arguments and issues in contemporary debates about the social and cultural impact of digital media.
K9. The relationships and tensions between old and new socio-economic practices and structures in the digital environment.
3.2 Skills and other attributes
a. Subject-specific cognitive skills:
On successful completion of the programme, students should be able, with reference to media communication and culture, to:
C1. Generate research data according to set procedures and methods.
C2. Independently organise, classify and critically evaluate information gathered in the course of their projects and assignments.
C3. Use advanced concepts and theories drawn from media, communications and associated disciplines to analyse relevant empirical evidence.
C4. Discuss their research and the issues it raises reflexively.
C5. N/A to this programme.
C6. N/A to this programme.
C7. Analyse and interpret digital social, cultural and economic practices.
b. Subject-specific practical skills:
On successful completion of the programme, students should be able to:
P1. Engage with major thinkers, debates and intellectual paradigms within the fields of media, communication and culture, productively employing the insights gained in their own work.
P2. Demonstrate their capacity to develop appropriate research strategies to address the issues they have selected for sustained investigation in self-chosen projects.
P3. Analyse new and emerging trends and interrogate both common sense understanding and received wisdom in relevant areas of inquiry.
P4. Discuss historical transformations in media, communication, and culture and wield this understanding in appraising current patterns of development, such as cultural globalisation and media convergence.
c. Key transferable skills:
On successful completion of the programme, students should be able to:
T1. Critically evaluate a range of academic and industry sources.
T2. Communicate effectively to specialist and non-specialist audiences.
T3. Deploy qualitative and quantitative research techniques.
T4. Plan, organise and manage, with appropriate supervision, a significant self-directed project.
T5. Work flexibly, creatively and independently, displayhing a high degree of self-direction and initiative.
T6. Demonstrate skills and abilities learned in relation to their own continuing professional development.
4. Programme structure
DIGITAL MEDIA AND SOCIETY (SSPT47):
COMPULSORY MODULES (Total modular weight 135)
|
Code |
Module title |
Modular Weight |
Semester |
|
SSP301 |
Understanding Modern Media |
15 |
1 |
|
SSP317 |
Researching Communication 2: Texts and Digital Platforms |
15 |
2 |
|
SSP318 |
Digital Economies |
15 |
1 |
|
SSP319 |
Digital Cultures |
15 |
2 |
|
SSP503 |
Researching Communication 1: Media Users and Cultural Institutions |
15 |
1 |
|
SSP351 |
Key Debates in Digital Media and Society |
10 |
1+2 |
|
SSP397 |
Dissertation in Digital Media and Society |
50 |
1+2 |
MA students must also attend SSA306, a media landscapes module.
OPTIONAL MODULES (combined modular weight 45)
One optional module must come from semester 1 and two must come from semester 2.
|
Code |
Module title |
Modular Weight |
Semester |
|
SSP302 |
Media & Cultural Industries |
15 |
1 |
|
SSP303 |
The Politics of Representation |
15 |
2 |
|
SSP314 |
Global Communications |
15 |
2 |
|
SSP316 |
Media and Cultural Work |
15 |
2 |
|
SSP323 |
Marketing Politics |
15 |
1 |
|
SSP324 |
Cultural Memory and the Heritage Industries |
15 |
2 |
5. Criteria for Progression and Degree Award
In order to be eligible for the award, candidates must not only satisfy the requirements of Regulation XXI but are also required to obtain the following:
(i) PGCert – 60 credits from modules other than SSP397.
(ii) PGDip – 100 credits from modules other than SSP397 and not less than 40% in remaining modules.
(iii) MSc – 150 credits and not less than 40% in the remaining modules.
With the exclusion of module SSP397 (Dissertation), provision will be made for candidates who have the right of re-assessment to undergo re-assessment in the University's Special Assessment Period (SAP).
6. Relative Weighting of Parts of the Programme for the Purposes of Final Degree Classification
This section relates to undergraduate degrees only.
