Core modules
Because this course will prepare you for a graduate or freelance career in media, cultural and creative industries in the UK and beyond, it is structured as key steps of development that build upon one another. Core modules have been designed in consultation with industry professionals to develop the skills and ideas they believe will be necessary for creative and media work in the 21st century.
Throughout the whole course you will learn how to create value from your ideas; communicate your passion for media and culture; think critically, creatively, ethically and strategically about cultural values within media, creative and communications projects, industries and contexts.
You will develop the ability to use your knowledge and understanding of creative, cultural and media processes as the basis for the examination of policy and ethical issues through critically informed competencies.
You will learn how to experiment, test, plan, research, develop, distribute, produce and commission creative and cultural work through Media Lab work across all three years; as well as understand the industrial, political, technological and social issues that underpin media and creative processes through Placement, Workplace Study or Residency.
With this course you will have the opportunity in each of the three years to select a module from a number of departments at the university, thus expanding your opportunities for learning from other disciplines.
Year One
Media, Creative and Cultural Industries
Together with the Year One module Thinking Culture and Creativity this module aims to introduce you to key concepts and frameworks which underpin the programme. The aims of this module will be to define what we mean by the media, creative and cultural industries, to understand how industry structures shape production and consumption, and how digital technologies are transforming our experiences and relationships through media.
Read more about the Media, Creative and Cultural Industries moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2024/25 year of study).
Thinking Culture and Creativity
This module aims to equip the student with a working knowledge of the concepts and theories fundamental to understanding contemporary culture and apply this knowledge in a practical group project. It aims to demonstrate to the student that a historical understanding of culture and creativity can provide a source of creative ideas, inspiration and intellectual material for media and creative production, and that art and intellectual history offer considerable resources for innovation in contemporary media and communication. The module will seek to establish significant intellectual, creative, academic and practical capabilities, all of which are central to playing a transformative role in future global media and creative industries. It will develop a student’s initiative, ability to take risks, experiment and test ideas. The module will aim to dissolve your assumptions on the nature of contemporary media content and impact, and through creative thinking processes re-define creative content, communication and engagement, audiences and experience.
Read more about the Thinking Culture and Creativity moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2024/25 year of study).
Media Lab 1
This module introduces students to the Media Lab experience (a three-year pathway through the course designed to develop skills, experiences and understanding of media storytelling), and the emergent ideas, techniques and approaches that a contemporary media creative will need. As well as appreciating the role of changing technology in media, creativity and content manipulation through experimenting with different forms and practices, the module aims to develop media production techniques, a sense of creativity and an appreciation of authorship. Transformations in the production, circulation and consumption of media content mean that the way we make, watch, use and interact with media requires new ways of thinking and application. Thus, you will have new possibilities for aesthetics, forms, content manipulation, distribution, access and participation.
Read more about the Media Lab 1 moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2024/25 year of study).
MCI Industry Case Study
This module aims to equip you with a knowledge of the creative, media and cultural sectors with specific reference to different types of organisation, the practicalities of working in the creative and media economy and the challenges you may face in the workplace.
The module will take the first step into establishing significant intellectual, creative, and practical capabilities related to working within the various sub sectors providing you with an ability to appreciate the nuances of working in these organisations.
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Year Two
Media and Cultural Management
This module introduces theories and practices of management and marketing in the media, creative and cultural industries. The aim is first to introduce students to management models and tools adapted to the distinctive challenges and conditions of these sectors. The second aim is for you to recognise that the business of cultural and media production depends upon relationships and capabilities beyond the ability to create excellent content.
Read more about the Media and Cultural Management module,Link opens in a new window including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2024/25 year of study).
Cultures of Engagement
This module aims to equip the student with a knowledge of the concepts and theories of communication and representation that pertain to “engagement” (of the public sphere and the public; of markets and consumer groups; of brand and new modes of global identity). The module will attend to theories of groups, classes and collectives and how they emerge and change through industrialisation and post-industrialisation, making institutionalised media and culture politically problematic – from dissent, protest, class-based representation to identity politics and the segmentation (through marketization) of society. The module will allow you to grapple with the dilemmas of contemporary cultural globalisation. The module facilitates student teams drawing on a range of socio-historic theoretical frameworks in order to assess new communication strategies for a pluralist, multicultural and global public.
Read more about the Cultures of Engagement moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2024/25 year of study).
Media Lab 2
Building on Media Lab 1 and the concept and practice of transmedia production and theory, this module aims to move from your experimental explorations in year one to the next level of ‘habit –building’. Here you undertake a specific practical element of Transmedia Storytelling based on the curiosity you developed in Media Lab 1 and engage an audience in participatory media-making. Working across connected platforms you will create a clearly defined experience and/or piece of content in consultation with an audience. The module aims to develop experimentation and collaboration. You will also be asked to critically reflect on the processes and outcomes of your work in the light of the latest thinking.
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Media and Intellectual Property
The creative and media industries are frequently described as the copyright industries. In this module you will explore the relationship between creative production and IP law and consider IP law’s relevance and application within specific areas of creative practice. It will support and complement your learning on the Media Lab and Media and Creative Industry Residency modules, equipping you with both theoretical and practical understanding of the legal and contractual frameworks in which creative and media practitioners operate.
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Media and Creative Industry: The Workplace
The principal aim of the module is to test learning from the Year One Media and Creative Industries Case Study and the research undertaken to establish a relationship with an industry.
The module includes a placement or work-based study and will be supported by an evaluation of the operation of the creative, cultural or media organisation. It will build on your knowledge of the creative, media and cultural sectors with specific reference to types of legal entities, the practicalities of working in these organisations and appreciating the challenges faced by them. It also aims to develop your professional skills and confidence honed through practical work experience in an organisation.
Read more about the Media and Creative Industry: The Workplace moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2024/25 year of study).
Year Three
Leading for Innovation
The module aims to prepare you as a leader of innovative projects in the media, cultural and creative industries, as well as other industries where creativity and media play a strong role. The module aims to help you develop your own value focused model of innovation leadership drawing on theories of leadership and innovation and critical self-reflection.
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Creative Producing
This module focuses on digital producers who are responsible for bringing new products, services and experiences to the public. You will learn how to broker the diverse talents of technologists, artists, designers, and audiences to develop projects that contribute to cultural life and address social, cultural, economic and environmental concerns. You will put these skills into practice by working in a team to design your own event at the end of the module.
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Media Lab Major Project
The aim of this module is to build on the gamification experimental levels of Media Lab 1 and Media Lab 2 to the final level of ‘mastery’ so that you will now fully research, test and develop a finished project for showcasing in Term 3, supported by research. You will be invited to pitch ideas for an individual project during Term 1 and during Terms 2 and 3, you will spend the remainder of the module researching, planning, testing, developing and evaluating (with data) your project and approach to content production. You will also use the research and critical reflection techniques developed in the course in the planning and development of a clear methodology to inform your project and how to use the data your project produces to inform your approach.
Read more about the Media Lab Major Project moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2024/25 year of study).
Media and Creative Industries Residency
The principal aim of the module is to gain practical experience in the operation or development of a media, creative, cultural organisation through a residency or extended Workplace Study and critically reflect upon that experience and research in terms of capacity to shape, influence or impact an organisation. The module combines theory and practice (developed in Years One and Two) to equip you with an in-depth understanding of the creative, media and cultural sectors and your burgeoning role within them. The module will include a significant element of work experience or workplace study with an organisation in the form of residency or directed client brief which will develop your working knowledge and critical thinking about work practices and challenges of these sectors. It will develop your initiative, ability to take decisions and risks and develop their ambitions. Through their interactions with professionals, the module will aim to dissolve your assumptions on the nature of employment within the contemporary creative, cultural and media sectors.
Read more about the Media and Creative Industries Residency moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2024/25 year of study).
Optional modules
Optional modules can vary from year to year. Indicative module topics include:
- Media histories
- Screenwriting
- Design Thinking
- Cultural studies
- Gender
- Race
- Marketing
- Animation
- Eco-cinema
- Media ecologies
- Entrepreneurship and climate change (places permitting)
In all years you have the opportunity to select optional modules from related Warwick departments such as Sociology, Creative Writing, Theatre and Performance, Film and Television and the Institute of Advanced Teaching and Learning.
