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Do you enjoy following important issues of the day or wish to pursue a media-based career? We engage with contemporary developments and debates in media, communication and culture.
Year of entry
Location
Coventry University (Coventry)
Study mode
Full-time
Part-time
Duration
1 year full-time
2 years part-time
16-24 months (with professional experience)
Course code
AHT080
Start date
September 2025
January 2026
May 2026
At Coventry University, we continuously review the courses we offer to ensure we reflect industry-relevant emerging best practice and technology. As a result, this course is undergoing continuous improvement assessment and will be launched with a renewed curriculum starting in September 2025. Module content and titles will be updated. Course title, learning outcomes and assessments may also change. We expect our new curriculum to be fully updated by January 2025. Please return to this page to see the final course details.
We will develop your abilities to question, critique and make your voice stand out from the crowd on topical debates around feminism, identity in a digital world, global and transnational media events, international media industries, distribution networks, memes and viral campaigns, among others.
Our teaching is underpinned by meaningful, research-based and real-life projects, collaborating with our current network of international collaborators from countries including Finland, Australia, Japan and America (subject to availability2).
"There are no new ideas. There are only new ways of making them felt.” Audre Lorde, African American writer, poet and civil rights activist.
Our course is more than simply research-led, theory-based or practice-inspired; each module caters to new developments in media as a discipline, combining a distinct approach to creation, criticism and curation, placing you at the forefront of contemporary thinking. We cover all aspects of media, communications and cultural studies, from digital media, transnational identities, screen and moving image, new workplace practices, academic research in a digital context, media distribution, international film markets and genres, and contemporary experiences of health, wealth and happiness.
Working at a higher degree level, there is the opportunity2 to work across cultures as media experts, creative, professional communicators and researchers in the arts and cultural industries. You will have opportunities2 to participate in experience-based learning – anything from running your own film festival to starting your own company – providing the chance to get real-life evidence of event management and project management, valuable in any profession.
We will also provide you with the opportunity to explore the feelings and emotional responses created by contemporary media and culture – together we will discover new ways of making sense of and creatively interpreting our 21st century world.
The professional experience opportunity2 enables you to apply for optional professional experience in semester 1, which, upon successfully securing an opportunity, will extend the duration of your master’s to either 16, 20 or 24 months. The professional experience provides an opportunity for you to develop expertise and experience in your chosen field with the aim of enhancing your employability.
Please note that the optional professional experience modules incur an additional tuition fee3, which for one semester of professional experience is £1,333.33, for two semesters of professional experience is £2,666.67, and for three semesters of professional experience is £4,000.
Professional experience may also be subject to additional costs, visa requirements being met, subject to availability and/or competitive application. Professional experience opportunities are not guaranteed but you will benefit from the support of our Talent Team in trying to find and secure an opportunity. Find out more about the professional experience option.
We regularly review our course content, to make it relevant and current for the benefit of our students. For these reasons, course modules may be updated.
During the course you’ll be encouraged to engage with a range of media – digital archives, film and moving images, traditional media forms, arts and arts-based practices, academic literature, photography and more.
As well as traditional teaching methods, such as lectures, seminars, workshops and tutorials, we offer skills training in video editing, Photoshop, digital publishing and content management and also organise a number of practical sessions.
There are opportunities to hear from guest speakers2, our own Media Research Seminars, and opportunities to attend a number of field trips, from Leicester and London to Paris (subject to availability and additional costs2).
This course can be offered on a part-time basis. Whilst we would like to give you all the information about our part-time offering here, it is tailored for each course each year depending on the number of part-time applicants. Therefore, the part-time teaching arrangements vary. Request further information about part-time study.
The number of full-time contact hours may vary from semester to semester, however, on average, it is likely to be around eight contact hours per week. The contact hours may be made up of a combination of face-to-face teaching, individual and group tutorials, and online classes and tutorials.
Additionally, you will be expected to undertake significant self-directed study of approximately 300 hours each semester, depending on the demands of individual modules.
As an innovative and enterprising institution, the university may seek to utilise emerging technologies within the student experience. For all courses (whether on-campus, blended, or distance learning), the university may deliver certain contact hours and assessments via online technologies and methods.
Since COVID-19, we have delivered our courses in a variety of forms, in line with public authority guidance, decisions, or orders and we will continue to adapt our delivery as appropriate. Whether on campus or online, our key priority is staff and student safety.
This course will be assessed using a variety of methods which will vary depending on the module.
Assessment methods include:
The Coventry University Group assessment strategy ensures that our courses are fairly assessed and allows us to monitor student progression towards achieving the intended learning outcomes.
The nature of course content is inherently international, studying media and cultural practices throughout the world. You will have opportunities2 to hear from practitioners and academic experts from across Europe. We also organise a range of field trips overseas2 – previously to Berlin, Amsterdam and Paris, where students work in groups to carry out bespoke research projects and produce film, photography or data collection to address important research questions.
Typical offer for 2024/25 entry.
Student | Full-time | Part-time |
---|---|---|
UK, Ireland*, Channel Islands or Isle of Man | 2025/26 fees TBC 2024/25 fees - £11,200 | £15,200 (with prof. experience) |
Request fee information |
EU | 2025/26 fees TBC 2024/25 fees - £11,200 | £15,200 (with prof. experience) per year with EU Support Bursary** 2025/26 fees TBC 2024/25 fees - £18,600 | £22,600 (with prof. experience) per year without EU Support Bursary** |
Not available |
International | 2025/26 fees TBC 2024/25 fees - £18,600 | £22,600 (with prof. experience) |
Not available |
For advice and guidance on tuition fees3 and student loans visit our Postgraduate Finance page.
We offer a range of international scholarships to students all over the world. For more information, visit our International Scholarships page.
Tuition fees3 cover the cost of your teaching, assessments, facilities and support services. There may be additional costs not covered by this fee such as accommodation and living costs, recommended reading books, stationery, printing and re-assessments should you need them.
The following are additional costs not included in the tuition fees:
The rights of Irish residents to study in the UK are preserved under the Common Travel Area arrangement. If you are an Irish student and meet the residency criteria, you can study in England, pay the same level of tuition fees as English students and utilise the Tuition Fee Loan.
Following the UK's exit from the European Union, we are offering financial support to all eligible EU students who wish to study an undergraduate or a postgraduate degree with us full-time. This bursary will be used to offset the cost of your tuition fees to bring them in line with that of UK students. Students studying a degree with a foundation year with us are not eligible for the bursary.
You will benefit from studying on our well-equipped, modern campus. Our aim is to offer you sector-leading facilities in a dedicated environment4. You can also access high-standard professional media equipment via our Media Loan Shop, including prosumer media equipment (i.e. 4K and HD video cameras, DSLR cameras, tripods, audio equipment, lighting – Canon, JVC, Sony)4.
Where applicable, you’ll have access to our on-campus TV studio The Tank, with its specialist TV studio equipment, including large cameras, mixing facilities and fibre-optic wiring throughout.
The photography suite is a superb facility that includes virtual drum scanning, photography studios, black-and-white print darkrooms, free black-and-white film processing, and a digital print bureau.
As a student, you’ll have access to Coventry University’s specialist Media Loan Shop. This well-stocked facility offers an extensive range of specialist, professional photography and film equipment.
Upon successful completion, you will be able to:
We provide a range of exciting opportunities to produce industry-related work and self-directed portfolios that are geared towards creating graduates who could work either in the UK or abroad. Past projects have included ‘JuneParis’, ‘Checkpoint/Counterpoint’ and ‘Rescheduled’, which have presented research through photographic and digital arts, with data produced in Berlin, Amsterdam and Paris2.
We focus on developing your creative capacity, enhancing your skills in creating, making and producing, giving you the confidence to respond to the media as it happens with meaningful and academically informed outputs (e.g. digital profiles, exhibitions, artefacts such as film and photography). With these skills, you should be well placed to take up roles in a range of creative sectors, ranging from advocacy and other forms of applied communications, academic research and scholarship, start-ups, arts and particular industries within media sectors (e.g. film, journalism, cultural criticism, television, journalism, digital publishing).
Recent graduates have gone on to study for PhDs in the UK, Africa, China and America. Our students have gone on to work in: digital music services in the Netherlands, as research posts at the Five College Women’s Centre, Massachusetts USA, in PR companies in Saudi Arabia, in government organisations and broadcasters in Africa, and as producers in TV stations in China. Our graduates also regularly go on to set up their own companies across the globe.