Option Modules

Please note that this is not a definitive list of Option Modules and there may be changes to module availability from year to year, due both to curriculum adjustment and staff availability. The modules listed below were offered in the 2022/23 academic year, but these are modules offered by the Centre only — students may also choose a module in the School, or an 'external' module from the Institute of Advanced Teaching and Learning (IATL) or the Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies (CIM).

Your Option Module should be chosen with an open mind, as the option is a way of exploring new and unfamiliar subjects, issues, theories and challenges. It can also enable you to think about your potential and vocational direction.

How should I select my Option Module?

The Option Modules suite will be explained to you in the September induction. You will need to choose ONE from a suite of Centre options, School options and options that may be chosen somewhere else in the University (the Arts Faculty, the Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning, or the Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies, among other places). Link opens in a new windowModules outside the Centre are subject to availability and the approval of your MA Course Director.

When do I need to confirm my choice of Option Module?

When you join us you will receive plenty of advice and guidance about selecting the Option Module that is best suited to your personal interests and ambitions. Your Personal Tutor will consult with you about your decision and you will confirm your Option Module choice early in the Autumn Term.

Option Modules (Spring Term) that have been offered in the recent past

Developing Audiences for Cultural Organisations identifies audience development and digital media strategies for cultural organisations and investigates how to apply them effectively in practice.	Managing Creativity for Sustainable Development explores how sustainability issues are likely to affect creative practice, the arts and the cultural industries.	The Global Audience explores how 'message makers' or producers (publishers, broadcasters, filmmakers, advertisers, brand strategists etc) try, and sometimes fail, to shape and adapt their messages for different linguistic, national or cultural audiences. You will also consider the nature of media audiences and how they accept, reject or reinterpret the messages they receive in their negotiations with global media producers.
Working in the Cultural and Creative Industries uses historical, theoretical and empirical accounts of the cultural, creative and media industries to explore the realities of work in these settings.	Marketing and Markets introduces marketing concepts and takes a practical approach to marketing in the creative economy.	Media, Policy and Markets explores the dynamics between global media policy and market imperatives for producing, promoting, distributing, exhibiting and consuming media.
Museums and Heritage is a historical overview of the development of the museums and heritage sector and the changing nature of current policy issues within it.

Applied Management Modules (the Summer Term core modules)

These modules are designed to give you the opportunity to apply your learning in situ, in practice or in client-based contexts. You will be able to develop your professional skills and knowledge whilst undertaking practical tasks and projects.

Please note that each respective MA programme has its own Summer core module, so you may only take the module relevant to your MA. Modules draw upon ideas and methods explored in core modules and are an opportunity to consolidate learning from across the course, working with students within your MA cohort. The module content is tailored to your MA.

Applied Communication Project (MA in Global Media and Communication) working a simulated business context, you will respond to demanding clients, and then will move through the entire production process in designing, developing and marketing a media solution or product.	Creative Business Project (MA in Creative and Media Enterprises) as a member of a small creative team you will work on a project for a creative or media organisation and develop your experience and understanding of creative teams and leadership.	Project Management for Cultural Enterprise (MA in Arts, Enterprise and Development) you will identify the limits and constraints of established Project Management, exploring a new methodology, within a real-world situation, towards an appreciation of cultural events.

A note about work placements and internships

If you are interested in conducting a work placement/internship, this may still be possible (please check the conditions of your visa) within the scope of your MA and need not be part of an assessed module. You will need to schedule this around other academic and work commitments in addition to your taught modules and dissertation.