Programme Specification
MA Global Political Communication
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 | Global Political Communication (SSPT50) |
| Programme code | SSPT50 |
| Length of programme | One year |
| UCAS code | N/A |
| Admissions criteria | |
| Date at which the programme specification was published | Thu, 11 Oct 2018 15:59:14 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 discipline in an innovative way.
- To prepare students for employment in diverse professional environments through a combination of independent work and industry exposure.
- To foster students' ability to critically analyse current research and advanced scholarship about the production, dissemination and reception of political communication in a global context.
- To foster students' ability to critically analyse current research and advanced scholarship about political marketing.
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. N/A to this programme.
K9. N/A to this programme.
K10. The major arguments and issues in contemporary debates about political communication in local, national and global contexts.
K11. The development of new forms of political communication and the transformation of traditional forms of political communication.
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. N/A to this programme.
C8. Analyse and interpret political/media texts, representations and processes.
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
GLOBAL POLITICAL COMMUNICATION (SSPT50):
COMPULSORY MODULES (Total modular weight 135)
|
Code |
Module Title |
Modular Weight |
Semester |
|
SSP301 |
Understanding Modern Media |
15 |
1 |
|
SSP314 |
Global Communications |
15 |
2 |
|
SSP317 |
Researching Communication 2: Texts and Digital Platforms |
15 |
2 |
|
SSP323 |
Marketing Politics |
15 |
1 |
|
SSP503 |
Researching Communication 1: Media Users and Cultural Institutions |
15 |
1 |
|
SSP352 |
Key Debates in Global Political Communications |
10 |
1+2 |
|
SSP396 |
Dissertation in Global Political Communication |
50 |
1+2 |
MA students must also attend SSA306, a Media Landscapes module.
OPTIONAL MODULES (combined modular weight of 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 |
Politics of Representation |
15 |
2 |
|
SSP316 |
Media and Cultural Work |
15 |
2 |
|
SSP318 |
Digital Economies |
15 |
1 |
|
SSP319 |
Digital Cultures |
15 |
2 |
|
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 SSP396.
(ii) PGDip – 100 credits from modules other than SSP396 and not less than 40% in the remaining modules.
(iii) MSc – 150 credits and not less than 40% in the remaining modules.
With the exclusion of module SSP396 (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.
