PGDip in Media and Communications

The Postgraduate Diploma in Media and Communications offers a broad look at many aspects of the media – sociological, economic and cultural. It invites you to think critically about the larger, global media worlds of the present age, and about your own place in society.

The programmes aims to provide comprehensive insight into the field of Media and Communications. You will explore the subject from an interdisciplinary approach, combining the two dominant perspectives which organise the field of inquiry. On the one hand, you'll discover the sociological or political-economy discussion of media institutions, with its characteristic emphasis on the social power of media organisations; and on the other, the domains of subjective identities in mediated societies, which draws more from the intellectual traditions of cultural studies. This will borrow from a range of different academic disciplines: sociology, anthropology, geography, psychology, literature and history.

The Department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies has been ranked 2nd in the UK for 'world-leading or internationally excellent' research (Research Excellence Framework, 2021) and 16th in the world (3rd in the UK) in the 2024 QS World Rankings for communication and media studies.

Gain a broad skill set

You will gather the required specific skills and knowledge relating to studying media. However, the programme also allows you to engage more widely in critical thought, providing a broad and applicable skill set. The skills you'll gain will not only be appropriate for future employment within media industries but will also be applicable to many other areas of employment.

Varied learning opportunities

The Postgraduate Diploma offers a range of teaching styles to aid your learning. You'll be guided to work independently from the outset, and encouraged to think through intellectual issues for yourself.

To ensure your progress is carefully monitored throughout the course you'll be offered a range of seminars and different types of tutorials (with personal tutors and module leaders). This progression supervision includes an early, non-assessed essay to help to indicate your progress, and identify any ongoing problems.

Your essays will require different kinds of theoretical input and different kinds of information-retrieval. In consultation with tutors, you will be guided to the most appropriate intellectual approaches, and to the most appropriate archives, libraries or electronic sources. Much of the initial work of trying out ideas takes place in the seminars, where you'll construct a dialogue with your classmates as much as with your tutor. Here you have the opportunity to learn how to present your ideas succinctly, to discriminate between different traditions of critical thought, and also to listen to other, perhaps competing, lines of argument.

By and large the optional modules are taught by a mix of lectures, seminars and tutorials, although there are some variations. Some options offer a greater input of workshop organisation.

Support for your career

The Postgraduate Diploma is primarily aimed at students who want to develop their skills or retrain. The Careers Service provides central support for skills enhancement, running The Gold Award scheme and other co-curricular activities that are accredited via the Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR). The Department has strong industry links and hosts a range of events that bring together industry experts, academics and students.

Contact the department

If you have specific questions about the degree, contact Lisa Blackman.