This module examines the impact of social media on political life. By the end of the module students will have an understanding of the key issues around social media as well as a critical perspective on what the term actually means. The approach will be comparative, drawing on examples from around the world, including the developing world, but the principal focus will be on the United States and Britain.

The aim of this module is to introduce students to effective communication in the real world in which professional parties, such as crisis negotiators, politicians, and healthcare practitioners, must provide information, make decisions, persuade, and influence others in real time for a range of purposes.

The module will explore approaches to effective communication and effective practice, and how communication shapes engagement and behaviour through case studies and recorded live interactions. Students will learn the theory and methods of conversation analysis and how to apply it to diverse settings with the overall aim of understanding and improving the effectiveness of communication in these situations.

The module is designed to introduce students to research methods that are applied for the analysis of media and communication content and output, both on traditional as well as on new, digital platforms. Apart from providing the students with critical overview and discussion of strengths and weaknesses of these methods, both quantitative and qualitative, the module enables them to explore their practical application in adjacent workshops.

The main aim of this module is to define and critically examine key concepts and theories that help understand how media and communication are involved in shaping our sense of identity, belonging and community. It will have a particular focus on the changes brought by digital media in constructing hierarchies of belonging and the forms of inclusion and exclusion that are linked to these.

Through lectures, classroom discussions and practical tasks students will focus on a range of cultural and social identities including gender, class, ethnicity and sexuality and examine the impacts that different communication technologies (press, cinema, radio, television, social media) have had on the representation and evaluation of groups across time. Through this, students will be able to appreciate both the changes prompted by digital communication as well as the persistence of old forms of representation, discrimination and exclusion.

This module explores the ways in which digital data, Internet and digital platforms are shaping democracy and changing the structures of power in contemporary societies. Drawing on state-of-the-art theory and cutting-edge research, as well as case studies of relevant contemporary events and controversies, the module engages with contemporary arguments and debates about the democratic implications of social media, as well as about the transformative effect of digital platforms on the interactions between political actors, citizens, and journalists.

The module enables students to understand how social media and digital content are used by citizens, political actors, and journalists to access, distribute, and coproduce content that is relevant to public affairs and provide opportunities for political learning, persuasion, mobilization, and engagement. It uses both theory and empirical research to shed light on how social media are enhancing and hindering practices and structures of citizenship and democratic politics. Specific attention is paid to issues of mis/disinformation, propaganda and foreign influence operations carried out via digital technologies, but also to the topic of climate change, and how digital data are utilized for climate-related journalism and civic activism.

The aim of this module is for students to design, conduct and write an original study within the field of communication, media or cultural studies. The module equips students with academic skills needed for conducting their individual research project. In addition, it fosters employability skills through careers-related training and lectures by media professionals.

The module provides students the opportunity to work with a project partner in the private or public sector, to deliver a research project related to media, communication and culture.
Based on a brief by the project partner, students will conduct and write an original study that solves a real-world problem or addresses a research need by the partner organisation.

The module equips students with academic skills needed for conducting their research project. In addition, it fosters employability skills through careers-related training, lectures by media professionals as well as their engagement with the partner, fostering professional communication, networking and other workplace-related skills.