BA (Hons) Media and Communications with Foundation Year Bachelor's degree at Keele University

This first-year practice-centred module provides you with the foundational technical knowledge and theoretical tools for approaching creative filmmaking work, and an understanding of the ethics of creative work in contemporary AI contexts. Whether your interests lie in film direction, cinematography or editing, you'll develop skills in these varied areas of practice, building experience of digital camera-work and post-production tools. The final short film output will demonstrate your acquired t

This module builds your knowledge of how meaning is constructed, communicated, and interpreted in visual media texts, from advertising to news and social media. You will learn to conceptualise and analyse the power of media texts, applying 'ways of seeing' to your own thinking about how to be a responsible and reflective image producer. This module provides your transition to university by introducing foundational independent study skills and the use of professional software that you will use th

This module introduces you to key tools you can use to analyse the social contexts, cultures, politics, and economics of media industries. From huge corporations to content creators, go behind the scenes to find out how media is produced, funded, regulated, distributed, and made across the globe. You will learn how media ownership, profit, and work are changing, and the role they play in shaping the media that gets made. The module further develops your academic skills needed for success in your

This module provides you with the foundational tools and skills you need to develop your student profile. You will learn about the different pathways in your cultural or creative field while developing your own identity as a cultural critic, creative, and citizen. You will explore and map out your personal and professional development goals and plans, ensuring you make the most of your time at university and beyond. You will gain professional skills in communication and team working.

The past is presented in many different ways, including in contemporary film and media. In this module you will consider 'public history', examine representations of the past in visual culture, and discuss the importance of these representations to collective memory, constructions of identity, and contemporary politics. Working with students from different subjects, you will begin to develop key skills for Humanities students, including how to evaluate and interpret sources and communicate your

This module introduces key theoretical and practical aspects of popular music, exploring its socio-cultural context, functions, performers, markets, and scenes. It challenges cultural assumptions about sound and listening, examining popular culture, fandom, and sound recording. You will learn about music dissemination, consumption, and sharing on digital platforms, covering ethics, strategies, methodologies, and realities in today's music world.

Learn how to tell compelling and persuasive multimedia stories about the issues you care about. You will work with other students to analyse what makes multimedia stories impactful, exploring narrative structures, design concepts, storytelling applications, and interactive and transmedia elements. You will develop a nuanced understanding of the dynamics of storytelling across media forms and put this into practice. The module builds your project management skills in preparation for your final ye

Understanding media audiences and users is fundamental to analysing how meaning is communicated and negotiated. This module provides you with the concepts and tools you need to understand how audiences interpret and participate in media. You will learn about the methods and approaches media researchers use to find out about audiences' perspectives and experiences while gaining hands-on audience research skills. If you would like to do an independent research dissertation in your final year, this

Building on the practical skills and critical filmmaking knowledge acquired in first year, this module introduces you to the exciting specialist field of documentary filmmaking. Drawing on a range of film examples, theories and practical methods, you will explore the varied creative ways in which real-life experiences can be transformed into powerful and engaging stories on the screen. Guided by expert tutors, working in small teams, you will take charge of your own documentary film project and

How do we draw on media texts, practices, and technologies to understand, construct, and represent who we are? This module develops your critical engagement with central questions in media studies about the mediation of identity, from the power of representation to selfies and self-branding. You will learn about how key concepts of the mediated self can be applied to analysis of media texts, participants, and creators, and even help you better understand your own mediated identity.

This module offers you the chance to contribute to the world outside Keele either through completing a work placement, a project for a client (or a series of projects for different clients), or working as a team to deliver a successful festival or event. You will be trained to showcase your creative and collaborative skills and abilities effectively before applying for an opportunity advertised through the module (or you can source your own, subject to it meeting the module's requirements).

This module broadens your knowledge of the variety of career pathways open to you, enabling and enable you to identify, analyse, and showcase your degree skills and experiences effectively. Through completing and reflecting on problem-based tasks relating to different sectors, such as telling the story of a business, or writing a funding proposal to support a film festival, you will build your creative and collaborative skills and learn how to articulate them in ways that will be attractive to e

Youth culture has had profound influences on society. On 'Teenage Dreams' you will examine the historical development of subcultures from the 'classic' period to postmodernism and study a range of representations of youth subcultures, from the 1950s to the present, including fiction, film, fashion, and music. These texts will be explored through theories of subcultures, building on critical skills you acquired in year 1, and thinking about pressing issues of class, gender, sexuality and ethnicit

Why is brand culture so ubiquitous in how we understand ourselves and our society, and the way we live our lives? You'll investigate the histories and politics of marketing, advertising and consumerism, considering how and why promotional culture became such a key component of contemporary economies and societies. You'll think critically about the social and political impacts of brand culture, including environmental harm, exploitation, and inequality. You'll identify, discuss, and critically an

This is your chance to create a major media project, such as a narrative, documentary, or short film; a photographic project; or a multimedia display. Guided by an expert academic supervisor, you'll integrate the practical skills and research methods acquired throughout the degree. You'll present your work alongside an exhibition catalogue in a final year show. Having delivered and showcased an original project, you'll have demonstrated your readiness for a wide variety of careers and enhanced y

The dissertation gives you the opportunity to produce a substantial piece of independent and original research. With the guidance of an expert supervisor, you will devise a research topic that engages with the issues that most interest you in Media, Communication and Cultural Studies. The dissertation is a good choice if you are considering advanced academic research at masters level, or wish to pursue a career in an area of the media and cultural industries relevant to your research.