Faculty of Arts Bachelor of Arts (Media and Communications)

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Faculty of Arts

Table of Contents

1. Course objectives
2. Entry requirements
3. Credit for previous studies
4. Course structure
5. The Bachelor of Arts (Media and Communications)/Bachelor of Commerce degree
6. The Bachelor of Arts (Media and Communications)/Bachelor of Laws degree
7. Honours entry
8. Honours requirements
    8.1. Pure honours
    8.2. Combined honours
    8.3. Honours subjects
9. Further study
10. Career opportunities
11. Further information
Subject Lists
    First-year subjects
    Second/third-year subjects
    Third-year subjects
    Fourth-year subjects

The media and communications program is a Bachelor of Arts stream designed to provide students with optimal access to the globally expanding media industry and its new communications technologies.

The program is vocational in direction and interdisciplinary in nature, offering students a mix of industry-focused communications training and academic subjects. Students will develop the skills to facilitate entry into a range of career pathways across this dynamic field. Career options include print and on-line journalism, publishing and editing, broadcasting, multimedia, public relations, corporate and government communication, and the entertainment and information industries more generally. Hands-on vocational, project-based and research experience is available in the form of internships, and a final research project.

Media and communications is concerned with interpretive, theoretical and historical approaches to the media and its communication technologies, in close combination with the development of practical communication skills. An exciting range of subjects enables students to develop a comprehensive overview of the media's place in today's society, economy and culture, to think across media, and to achieve an understanding of the effects of new communication technologies and their impact on the emerging global media environment. Key areas of interest include the legal, commercial and policy frameworks of media industries, professional writing, multimedia and media futures, cross-cultural communication in the Asia-Pacific region, and media consumption and spectatorship.

1. Course objectives

The Bachelor of Arts (Media and Communications) has as its objectives that graduates:

• are enabled to develop a comprehensive overview of the media's place in today's society, economy and culture, with an emphasis on the Asia-Pacific region;

• are provided with the fundamental writing communication skills required by successful journalists and other media professionals;

• are helped to achieve an understanding of the effects of new communication technologies and their impact on the emerging global media environment;

• are trained to think across media, a skill we see as increasingly important for the next generation of media professionals;

• are introduced to the humanities and social sciences through a focus on the media;

• are offered the opportunity to gain industry experience in the form of internships;

• are offered the opportunity to refine their research skills by undertaking a research component in their final year which will allow them to conduct quantitative and/or qualitative research in an area of media and communications.

2. Entry requirements

The BA (Media and Communications) commences at first year. The degree is subject to quotas and selection will be based on academic achievement. Work experience is not taken into consideration in the selection process. Media and communications core subjects are not available to Bachelor of Arts, CAP, complementary studies, or Bachelor of Letters students.

3. Credit for previous studies

Students applying to transfer from a Bachelor of Arts degree into the BA (Media and Communications) who have successfully completed arts and/or optional subjects may apply for a maximum of 100 points of credit. However, no credit will be granted for core media and communications subjects, which all students are expected to complete as an enrolled student within the program.

Students transferring from other faculties or tertiary institutions may apply for a maximum of 100 points of credit distributed across first and second year. No credit will be granted for core media and communications subjects. Credit is subject to Faculty approval. To be granted credit for arts and optional subjects previous study must be deemed to have equivalent content and assessment.

4. Course structure

The BA (Media and Communications) is a three-year full-time program, comprising 100 points at each of first-, second- and third-year levels, for a total of 300 points. In first-year students complete two core subjects (25 points), and two subjects from a list of suitable options (25 points), and 50 points of additional study from the Bachelor of Arts degree. Upon entering second-year students choose between two streams of major study:

• Enriched major stream: a comprehensive program of study in media and communications, comprising 50 points of core study and 50 points of optional study at second year. Third year is comprised of 100 points of study which includes two core and two optional subjects, a 25 point internship and a 25 point research project.

• Double major stream: a concentrated program of media and communications study designed to be taken in conjunction with a major in another arts area of study, comprising 50 points of core study and 50 points of Bachelor of Arts study at each of second and third years.

5. The Bachelor of Arts (Media and Communications)/Bachelor of Commerce degree

Students must complete a minimum of 225 arts (media and communications) points which must include:

For the enriched major stream:

• 50 points of first-year media and communications (two core and two optional subjects); and

• 75 points of second-year media and communications (three core and three optional subjects); and

• 100 points of third-year media and communications (four core and four optional subjects or two core and two optional subjects as well as 100-310 Media & Communications Internship and 100-311 Media & Communications Research Project).

For the double major stream:

• 50 points of first-year media and communications (two core and two optional subjects); and

• 25 points of first-year arts subjects in the combining area of study, which must be taken from the free points available within the combined degree; and

• 50 points of second-year media and communications (two core and two optional subjects); and

• 37.5 points of second-year arts subjects in the combining area of study, 12.5 points of which must be taken from the free points available within the combined degree; and

• 50 points of third-year media and communications (two core and two optional subjects); and

• 50 points of third-year arts subjects in the combining area of study.

Students must complete a minimum 200 commerce points, which must include:

• between 50 and 125 level-100 commerce points

• at least 50 level-300 commerce points

Compulsory subjects:

• 316-101 Introductory Macroeconomics

• 316-102 Introductory Microeconomics

• 316-130 Quantitative Methods 1

  and at least one of:

• 316-206 Quantitative Methods 2 or

• 316-205 Introductory Econometrics or

• 325-210 Managerial Decision Analysis or

• 325-212 Market Research.

The remaining 75 points may be taken from subjects available to students enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Commerce combined degree.

6. The Bachelor of Arts (Media and Communications)/Bachelor of Laws degree

This degree is only available with an enriched major stream.

Students must complete a minimum of 200 arts (media and communications) points which must include:

• 50 points of first-year media and communications (two core and two optional subjects); and

• 75 points of second-year media and communications (three core and three optional subjects); and

• 75 points of third-year media and communications (three core and three optional subjects or one core and one optional subject as well as 100-310 Media & Communications Internship and 100-311 Media & Communications Research Project).

Students must complete a minimum 300 law points, which must include:

• 730-104 Torts and the Process Of Law

• 730-105 History and Philosophy of Law I

• 730-115 History and Philosophy of Law II

• 730-202 Contracts

• 730-260 Criminal Law and Procedure

• 730-301 Constitutional and Adminstrative Law

• 730-304 Property

• 730-462 Equity and Trusts

• Law options (137.5 points)

7. Honours entry

The prerequisites for entry to fourth-year honours in media and communications are:

• completion of all the requirements of the BA (Media and Communications); and

• completion of a major in media and communications; and

• an average grade of H2A or higher over the second/third year media and communications subjects.

8. Honours requirements

Honours coordinator: Professor Simon Cottle

The BA(Honours) in Media and Communications comprises two streams: pure honours (for enriched and double major students) and combined honours (for double major students).

8.1. Pure honours

Enriched major students complete the following pure honours stream:

• three media and communications core subjects; and

• two optional fourth-year level subjects; and

• a media and communications thesis of 12 000 words.

8.2. Combined honours

Double major students complete one of the following combined honours streams:

• two media and communications core subjects; and

• three fourth-year level subjects in the combining area of study; and

• a media and communications thesis of 12 000 words.

or

• three media and communications core subjects; and

• two fourth year-level subjects in the combining area of study; and

• a thesis in the combining area of study.

8.3. Honours subjects

9. Further study

From 2003 the media and communications program will offer a range of postgraduate coursework and research programs: Postgraduate Certificate in Arts (Media and Communications), Postgraduate Diploma in Arts (Media and Communications), the first year of the two-year Master of Arts (Global Journalism) and the Master of Arts (Global Media Communication), Master of Arts (advanced seminar and shorter thesis), Master of Arts (thesis only) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). From 2004 one-year coursework programs will be available in the Master of Arts (Global Journalism) and the Master of Arts (Global Media Communication). Details of these programs are available in the Faculty of Arts Postgraduate Handbook and from the media and communications program.

10. Career opportunities

The BA (Media and Communications) is designed to facilitate students' entry into the dynamic and expanding media and communications sectors of Australia and the Asia-Pacific region. The degree is a pathway into careers in print and on-line journalism, multimedia, public relations, corporate and government communication, advertising, film, television and broadcasting, lobbying and consultancy, media policy, research and management, and the information and entertainment industries more generally.

11. Further information

Media and Communications Program
Department of English
Second Floor, John Medley Building
The University of Melbourne
Victoria 3010
Tel: +61 3 8344 5506/7/8
Web: http://www.mediacomm.unimelb.edu.au

or

Faculty of Arts
Old Arts Building
The University of Melbourne
Victoria 3010
Email: enquiries@arts.unimelb.edu.au
Web: http://www.mediacomm.unimelb.edu.au

International enquiries:
Email: internastud@arts.unimelb.edu.au
Web: http://www.arts.unimelb.edu.au/international

First-year subjects

100-100 Introduction to Media and Communications
100-101 Professional Writing

Second/third-year subjects

100-103 Intercultural Communications/Global Era
100-104 Media Communications Theory
100-105 Writing Journalism
100-106 Cyber Communications
100-107 Asia-Pacific Media Systems
100-108 Politics, Communication, Media
100-220 Marketing Communications
100-221 Media Futures and New Technologies
100-222 Understanding Australian Media
100-223 Media Law

Third-year subjects

100-310 Media & Communications Internship
100-311 Media & Communications Research Project
100-312 Advanced Writing

Fourth-year subjects

100-580 Media and Communications Thesis
100-581 Media and Communications Thesis (MYE)
100-415 Journalism: Conflict and Society
100-416 Researching Audiences and Reception
100-417 Media and Everyday Life
100-418 Media Policy and Regulation
100-419 Public Relations and Corporate Promotion
100-420 Journalism: Practice and Theory

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