Programme Specification for Cultural Studies (Major, Joint or Minor)
Campus: Docklands
Why Study Cultural Studies as part of a Combined Honours Degree?
Cultural Studies is one of the most exiting, relevant and contemporary of all subjects. In the twenty-first century, 'culture' is everything. It's the way we are brought up, the way we dress, the people we love, the films we watch, the jobs we take, the words we use, the way we vote, the web-sites we surf. Power relations shape every aspect of cultural experience: from the way in which media moguls control their global empires, to the way in which women and men negotiate their everyday relationships. Cultural Studies tries to understand these power relations and to think about how they can be changed.
Cultural Studies works to decode the message of television, cinema, advertising, fashion, music, architecture, literature, politics and so on, and to understand how they come to shape us and how we can shape them. In this way, it can actually make us more powerful people, both individually and collectively. By learning to navigate the sea of information which surrounds us, we can come to understand this contemporary world, and even try to change it. This is what Cultural Studies is all about.
Is Cultural Studies a 'proper' subject?
Yes! You may not have heard about it at school, but Cultural Studies has been the most important programme to start in English-speaking universities over the past 30 years. Spreading from the UK to the US and Australia, and now increasingly across much of the developed world, Cultural Studies is a discipline which has revolutionised that way we look at the world and has transformed the way a whole host of other subjects are taught and studied. 'British Cultural Studies' has been the most influential form of Media Studies for many years, from English Literature to Sociology, from Film Studies to History, from Fine Art to Politics and Philosophy, every area of the Humanities and Social Sciences has been changed by it. Cultural Studies draws on all of these subjects, becoming a crossroads of cutting-edge ideas.
What will I study?
Our Cultural Studies programme offers an exciting and challenging balance between core foundational modules and innovative option modules. All of our students get to take MediaLab production modules, and SkillsLab. Units available to Cultural Studies students include:
- Reading Cultures: The Politics of Representation
- Cultural Politics: Power and Contemporary Social Change
- Popular Pleasures
- The City: Real and Imagined
- Sound Systems
- Sexual Cultures
- Youth Cultures
- Race and Representation
- Modern Times: Modernity and Postmodernity
- Culture, Power and Resistance in the 21st Century
- Popular Music
- Urban Film: Race, Nation and the Cinematic
- Utopias and Utopianism
- Globalisation and the Mass Media
- Islam in the Modern World
- Lesbian and Gay Cultures
- Promotion and Advertising
Which modules will I study?
You can view a full guide to the modules you have to study as part of your chosen pathway, along with a full range of option modules available by viewing the Single & Combined Honours Programmes Guide for Cultural Studies
Can I study a Combined Honours Programme as a Part-time degree?
All our Combined Honours Programmes can be studied on a Part-time or Full-time basis. As a Part-time student, you will study the same degree programme, but at a slower pace. You will study up to 4 modules per year (instead of 6 as a full-time student).
What career opportunities are open to me if I study Cultural Studies?
A background in Cultural Studies would enhance your career opportunities if you wished to pursue a career in teaching, social work, business management, and the arts and creative industries, including media production and management. A degree in Cultural Studies offers you the same kinds of career opportunities as any other humanities or social science degree. We will give you the opportunity to develop a range of critical, analytical and research and organisational skills that you can offer to range of diverse potential employers.
Popular Combinations with Cultural Studies are:
- Business Information Systems/Cultural Studies (GLM6 - Mod/MAPF)
- Computer Networks with Cultural Studies (G4LP - BSc/MCpf)
- Cultural Studies/Business Management (NV29)
- Cultural Studies/History (LVP1 - BA/PFPI)
- Cultural Studies/Media Studies (LP63 - BA/PFPM)
- English Literature/Cultural Studies (LQ63 - BA/PGPF)
- Film Studies/Cultural Studies (PL36 - BA/PHPF)
- Information Technology/Cultural Studies (GL56 - Mod/PJPF)
- Photography/Cultural Studies (WL66 - BA/NMPF)
- Sports & Exercise Science/Cultural Studies (C6L6 - Mod/ONPF)
What can I combine with Cultural Studies?
We have over 5000 different combinations and you can choose from over 75 pathways. Please visit this page www.uel.ac.uk/combined/programmes for a full list.
Entry Requirements
240 UCAS tariff points (including two passes at A2 level) plus GCSE English grade C or above.
How do I apply?
If you wish to study with us full-time from September, you will need to make your application via UCAS (www.ucas.ac.uk).
If you wish to study with us part-time you can obtain an application form from our admissions department study@uel.ac.uk or apply on-line
Other Cultural Studies programmes available
For further information on the range of Cultural Studies programmes available at UEL, please visit the School Page http://www.uel.ac.uk/adi/
Contact Us
If you would like to speak to someone about a Combined Honours Programme, please contact the School of Combined Honours on 0208 223 2575 or email us at combined.honours@uel.ac.uk
- Current External examiners
- External examiner reports (available from UEL virtual learning environment (UELPlus or Moodle))
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