Screen Cultures BA Hons
School of Creative Arts
Institution Code H36
UCAS Code
Course Code CCSC
Start date
No start dates available.
More about the course
Mixing theory and practice, Screen Cultures is about the emergence of the modern world, and the way so much of work, pleasure and leisure, personal lives and other parts of the day-to-day involve the display of image, text or other signs on a screen of some kind.
The programme looks at modern media through an innovative combination of theory and practice. Sitting alongside practical courses in Film, Television, Animation and Multimedia, it explores ways of thinking about how we produce, consume and discuss screens and their contents.
Screen Cultures takes the contemporary screen in all its forms - cinema, television, multimedia and mobile devices - and establishes a rich, hybrid area of study for the 21st century.
Drawing on a wide range of ideas from cultural, media and film studies, literature, communication and games studies, Screen Cultures equips students with a range of flexible media skills including pixel image manipulation, web and print design, video and sound editing.
There are 2 Screen Cultures awards:
The pathways share core modules which deal with the central issues of Screen Cultures. Additional modules define the characteristic features of each award.
BA Hons Screen Cultures
This pathway places emphasis on the critical and theoretical discussion of the screen (75% of study), but also dedicates a significant amount of study time (25%) to the development of important media practice skills. Students discuss and analyse the ways that screen displays of many kinds influence our view of the world and our thinking about it. By exploring screen content and displays across cinema, television, computers, consoles, mobile phones and emergent media devices, the pathway examines ways that the 'screen', in all its forms, has become central to a global, networked, media culture. This course is for people who want to be thinkers, critics, curators, commentators and journalists dealing, in particular, with media activities.
BA Hons Screen Cultures and Media Practices
Enabling students to combine media theory and practice in an equal balance (50% of study time is dedicated to each), this pathway mixes cultural understandings of the screen with the creative use of digital media processes, such as image manipulation, web site creation, interactive media, 2D animation, and digital sound and video.
It is suited to those interested in developing a set of sharp, hybrid skills appropriate to a constantly evolving and media-savvy employment culture which values flexibility, imagination, initiative and innovation. Successful graduates will become creative innovators in, and contributors to, the screen-based media world of tomorrow.
Work placement
Placements are a valuable means of establishing industrial contacts and gaining an insight into the commercial reality of a chosen discipline. We have a long history of students working with industry supplementing the taught university curriculum with real life on the job experience.
This has seen students working right across the creative industries sector: in graphic, product and interior design consultancies, working as artist in residence in galleries, producing props and sets for the film & TV industry, shadowing teachers in education, working with commercial photographers through to students working right across the Music industry.
We expect students interested in obtaining a work placement; to be proactive, to self-initiate this interest and to communicate and work with programme staff in their identification of companies and organisations that are able to provide the appropriate range of experiences and opportunities.
We value the opportunity and benefits of the placement experience highly and as such, we encourage all students to consider obtaining a placement as part of their course. However, we recognise that this may not be a viable option for a number of reasons. In addition, we are not able to guarantee that all students will undertake a work placement as part of their studies.
Careers
The programme prepares you for careers in diverse fields such as media curation, media journalism, criticism and commentary, and production in multiple formats. Media management experiences could lead you towards planning and producing content for a wide variety of outcomes. Those who graduate from the Screen Cultures and Media Practices pathway are likely to be among those defining the cultural forms and employment contexts of emergent new media.
Teaching methods
The varied teaching methods on this course include lectures, seminars, workshops, tutorials, group and independent study. Most students on the course can expect to be timetabled to attend around 12-15 hours of taught activities per week, with at least one day given over to independent study. The University of Hertfordshire's managed learning environment, StudyNet, provides the course with its permanent hub - a base for learning, interaction and assessment, it holds all course information, learning resources and discussion boards, as well as links out to the wider Internet.
Course structure
Detailed information about the structure of the course and the modules you will study.