We are excited to kick off your journey during the week of 16 September with a programme of welcome activities. This series of introductory activities has been designed to help you transition smoothly into university life. You'll receive crucial information to start your studies on the right foot, meet our dedicated staff, connect with your fellow students, and familiarize yourself with the campus. Dive into the heart of your course and our academic community by participating in as many activities as possible!

Once your University IT account has been activated, you will be able to access our resources, including Library resources and relevant software. On our Blackboard pages (virtual learning environment platform) you will be able to find detailed information about your course, as well as about supporting services and opportunities available to you.

At the beginning of your academic course, you will be assigned to a personal tutor, who will provide you with academic support throughout the course and act as a gateway to support and development services offered elsewhere in the University.

After welcome week you will begin work on your first three modules that you will study in Trimester 1: Industry Practices; Collaborative Practice; and Creativity, Culture and Community.

In addition to other exciting activities, you will have access to our Creative Agency, which supports students by providing opportunities to engage in paid projects and develop a portfolio of work essential for preparing for your future career. The Agency also facilitates student collaboration, allowing students to contribute to each other's projects across the School of Creative Arts and Industries. 

With such an emphasis on mediated and digital communication in the 21st century, it is an exciting time to study and interrogate media, communications and PR sectors. During the course you will engage with modules that cover campaigns and strategies, the key concepts of creativity, culture, and creativity, and professional development before completing a final project within your specific area of interest. The modules you will study will include:

Industry Practices (Trimester 1): The module will explore the skillsets, tools and practices in media communications and PR sectors. It will also examine industry trends and context, including sector specialisms, industry structure, professional codes of conduct, ethical and legal considerations. We will discuss how current industry trends, such as globalisation, AI, social media and online platforms, are impacting professional practices and skillsets.

Strategic Communications (Trimester 2): you will explore specific case studies of communication strategies of organisations, focusing on external communication. Case studies will be chosen from private, public and third sectors to provide cross-sectoral perspectives. You will study different stages of communication strategy: design, research, planning, implementation and evaluation. You will design a communication campaign responding to a brief, and plan its implementation and evaluation using industry standard tools, such as social media analytics, infographics and multimedia production tools.

Final Project (Trimester 3): this is a 60 credit capstone project that offers you the opportunity to apply your learning to a substantive subject-specific project. This project is flexible and responsive to your skills, aptitudes, vision, and ambitions, and encourages you to propose ambitious individual or collaborative projects, which can be multi-/inter-disciplinary. The project can take varied forms, from a written research project to a practical project output.

Your welcome and induction will be w/c 16 September 2024 - we look forward to meeting you then.

There is no compulsory reading you need to do before you join the course, but try to familirise yourself with the key issues and debates around contemporary media and communications. To help you to do that here are some suggested sources:

• Media and Communication journal https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication
• The Guardian Media: https://www.theguardian.com/uk/media
• PR Week: https://www.prweek.com/uk/news
• The Drum: https://www.thedrum.com/category/public-relations

It is useful to note that the University Bookshop offers 10% discount on most titles in print and have some price-beating book bundles. They also price match Amazon on core texts recommended in the module handbooks you will receive when you start in September.