Media BA (Hons)
Our students are engaged in the exploration and analysis of
mediated culture. From film and TV to art and advertising, you will
explore the central role that media and popular culture occupies in
contemporary society. Through analysis and creative interaction,
you will be encouraged to examine the ways in which the media
shapes our lives – and the ways in which we can resist!
If you want to find out more about joining us on the Media
degree, please feel
free to contact me – you can find my details below.
Stuart Page
Head of Programme
Why study Media at York St John?
In the media saturated society that surrounds us we encounter
media products and practices in countless different ways. On this
degree programme we believe it is extremely important to understand
how media and culture affect who we are, what we do and how we
understand ourselves and the world around us. We offer an exciting
and intellectually rigorous degree programme that:
• Explores the ways in which the media shapes our lives – from
what we do, to the way we think – and, crucially, how we may
intervene and resist this process.
• Asks such questions as - why do we tell stories? How do
stories create ‘culture’? How do different media affect the kind of
stories we tell and the kind of people we are?
• Investigates the evolution of the media throughout history
and across culture – how different media have changed the ways we
communicate and what we communicate.
• Will train you not only to analyse the media, but creatively
engage with it in a variety of ways - from creative writing to
electronic imaging.
If you are interested in these subjects and like the idea of
combining the study of the media with practical work in various
genres and across various media, then the degree programme in Media
might be for you.
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How can I study Media?
Media can be studied as a Specialist degree or as a Joint
Honours subject alongside American Studies, British Sign Language,
Business Management, Creative Writing, English Literature, Film
Studies, Fine Arts, Modern European Languages and Modern
International Languages.
What will I study?
The degree will give you an understanding of how the different
media ‘work’. In addition to analysing media products and
processes, you will be encouraged to engage in creative projects in
image-based production through the use of digital
technologies and software where you will have the opportunity to
work with professional designers. You will also have the
opportunity to produce your own stories, articles and artworks
within a range of genre (fairy tales, science fiction, horror,
‘realism’, news, advertising and so on) for different types of
media (including film, television, photography, radio, literature
and the graphic novel) giving you a comprehensive experience in
thinking and working across the media.
In project teams you will be able to ‘pitch’ your ideas for new
media products, devise marketing and distribution packages and
formulate editorial policies.
Throughout all this you will be encouraged to cultivate your own
creativity – to understand how the different media ‘work’ by
writing within them and for them.
Year 1
• Reading the Media 1 introduces critical
concepts in studying the media. This module introduces key
theoretical approaches to analysis and interpretation.
• Media Narratives explores narrative
characteristics through a range of media from folktales to
Hollywood cinema and television drama.
• Encoding/Decoding asks what ‘happens’ when
we watch TV or read a magazine. Do we all believe and think the
same thing? This module explores how audiences make meaning from
media products.
• The Medium is the Message looks at how the
media have changed…and why!
• Reading the Media 2: applies theoretical
concepts to creative projects. This module explores how you might
write for publication in magazines, newspapers or journals.
• Students’ Survival Kit explores how to get
the most out of (and put the most into) your degree.
Year 2
• Issues of Taste considers controversial
issues (including screen violence, pornography and censorship)
concerning media, audience and society.
• Popular Genres provides a look at the
evolution of popular media forms (including science fiction,
horror, romance, crime) and considers what contemporary work in
these genres can tell us about our culture in social and political
terms.
• Words & Images involves practical work
in communicating through words and electronic imaging.
• Comedy, Culture & National Identity
looks at how comedy, from sitcoms to stand-up, can reflect or
disrupt our sense of ourselves.
• Globalisation explores the growth of global
media and how this affects our ideas, beliefs and the events that
occur in the modern world.
• Media Enterprise allows you to organise
into project groups to ‘pitch’ your ideas for a new media product
allowing you to develop new concepts, marketing, advertising and
distribution plans.
Year 3
• Research Project offers an opportunity to
produce a detailed study of media products or practices of
particular interest to you.
• Gender & Popular Culture considers the
ways in which film, TV, advertising and other forms of popular
culture produce gendered identities.
• Media Geographies involves a study of how
we interact with the contemporary city and how different media are
used to help us negotiate the cityscape. This module involves field
trips to case study cities which could be York, Berlin or
Barcelona.
• Media Futures/Cybercultures considers our
interactions with new and emergent media technologies within a
global context.
• Creative Audiences explores the current
state of, and future possibilities for, interactive media (eg ‘fan’
writing, interactive narratives and online writing
communities).
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What resources will I have access to?
We have an impressive blend of modern and
traditional buildings. The Fountains Learning Centre houses the
library and has teaching rooms, seminar spaces, silent study areas
and quiet reading areas as well as provision for 500 PCs.
Facilities for Creative Arts students centre
around the historic quadrangle area at the heart of YSJ. There are
two dedicated TV studios, digital non-linear edit suites, PSC kits,
digital imaging equipment and facilities for sound manipulation.
Dance studios are also located in this area, with the music block
and practice rooms nearby. York St John is funded as a Centre for
Excellence for Teaching & Learning, in recognition of the
excellence of its teaching within the Arts.
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How will I be assessed?
There are no examinations on this degree. Instead, you will be
assessed through a mixture of creative and analytical assignments
which include essays, critiques and analysis, together with
creative projects in fact and fiction across all media.
Getting involved
Media students will be able to get involved in
the production of our magazine NEUTRAL, a magazine that is anything
but neutral in tone and content. NEUTRAL engages actively and
creatively with contemporary media and culture. Conceived by Media
students at York St John University as a space to publish ideas,
articles, interviews, images and creative expression, NEUTRAL
encourages submissions from both inside and outside the University,
from anyone interested in contributing to contemporary debates in
the arena of media, culture and the arts.
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Staff interests
Stuart Page, Head of
Programme: critical theory, gender, sexuality and popular culture,
modern American fiction
Alan Clarke: controversial
film including issues surrounding on-screen blasphemy, pornography
and violence
John Marland: Screenwriting,
adaption, narrative
Sunil Manghani: critical and
cultural theory, iconic news media events, visual culture, Berlin
and the Berlin Wall, images studies
Maria Rovisco: Sociology and culture
What sorts of jobs do our graduates get?
Our graduates will be attractive to a range of
employers within the media, entertainment and communications
industries. A recent ‘graduate destination’ survey (BBC News) of
over 200,000 graduates found that students graduating with Media
degrees have one of the highest rate of employment and are amongst
those students with the ‘best immediate employment prospects’. This
is a degree programme that will train you not only to analyse the
media, but creatively engage with it in a variety of ways - from
creative writing to electronic imaging.
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Fact file
You can study Media as a Specialist degree or as part of a
Joint Honours degree.
UCAS codes
Specialist degree
Joint Honours degrees
Media and:
Attendance: 3 years full-time, 5-8 years
part-time
Study abroad - Yes - see our study abroad web pages for more information
Entry requirements
240 points for the Specialist degree / 220 points for the Joint
Honours degree plus three GCSEs at grade C or above (or
equivalent), including English Language.
How do I apply?
If you wish to apply for full-time study, you need to apply
through UCAS. All part-time
applications should be made direct to YSJ. Visit our how to apply web pages for more
information.
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HOW CAN I FIND OUT MORE?
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