London College of Communication’s BA Media and Cultural Studies offers an opportunity to gain comprehensive knowledge and practical experience of the media and cultural sectors.

The central focus of this degree is the prominent role of the media, cultural, and creative processes in contemporary social life.  The course explores how the press, photography, cinema, television and new media both shape and are shaped by the world around them

You can expect ...

You can expect to explore theories about media and culture drawn from disciplines across the humanities and social sciences, learn to organise your ideas and construct arguments, critique media and cultural texts/objects and practices, as well as understand how the media is organised and how it shapes content.

Themes that you will explore include the rise of mass media, popular culture, taste and judgement, the era of globalisation, the cultural and creative industries, promotional cultures, reality television and new documentary, social media and its impact, media convergence and digitisation as well as issues of cultural identity in postcolonial contexts.

You will meet a range of practitioners from across the media, cultural and creative industries and develop your skill in presenting ideas in an innovative and authoritative way. In the second year of your studies, work experience is undertaken within a chosen sector of the media, cultural or creative industries. These include advertising agencies, art galleries, museums, magazines, radio stations and television production companies.  

The third year focuses on issues in contemporary media, moves beyond Europe/North America to look at Latin American media and culture, and takes a (practically-oriented) look at gallery and exhibition space and at curation.  Year three also allows you to develop a Major Project under the supervision of a tutor which might combine theory with some element of practice or which might develop at length a critical, academic understanding of a key issue in contemporary media and/or culture.

Tutors on the course:

The teaching staff is made up of a  mix of full-time academics with a wealth of experience in teaching and research in the fields of media and cultural studies along with specialist practitioners from various fields of media and cultural production who teach on the applied courses. The course director and the other member of the teaching team are highly experienced media and cultural studies academics.  

Steve Cross has taught and published widely in the areas of media sociology, cultural and social theory, and globalisation.

Peter Osborne’s book on photography and travel is a classic in its field and Peter teaches on travel, tourism, photography, and digital media and culture.

Jonathan Wright teaches and writes on film and visual cultures, postcolonial studies and the representation of ‘race’.

Mary Lee-Woolf is an independent film maker and television producer with over 30 years of experience in the media and cultural industries and a wealth of contacts across the sector.

Lab Ky Mo is an award winning independent film maker whose has also directed numerous television programmes and commercials.

A range of professional practitioners teach into the applied studies elements of the programme including an a professional journalist and writer, a web-design specialist, a photographer and an award winning ‘viral’ marketer.

Alumni include ...

Moritz Gimbel - Head of Broadcasting at Bloomberg Television; Arabella Gumbay - Director of Communications Melbourne Film Festival: Lisa Ribenbauer - Curator Photographer's Gallery Vienna; Nagwan Bin Tyeer - Research Consultant at Development House

What students say ...

"Use the course and make it yours. It will provide you with the foundations to understand the media. It will also grant you the time to do work experience, which, if you want to work in the industry, is of paramount significance. I interned and I worked whenever I could from year one. I started at CNN, then went on to Time Out, and did my official work placement at MTV in New York, producing a chart show, which soon led me to work on shows like The Osbournes and the MTV Europe Music Awards. By the time I wrote my dissertation (titled 'Commodifying Rebellion: Thirty Years of Punk and Media Dialectics') I had accumulated vast knowledge of anything related to the media and its receivers (all of us) and numerous professional credits." Former student, Davide Scalenge.

"Doing this course and attending university has been the best decision I have ever made in my life. I have been able to go places, see things, experience things and learn things which wouldn't have been available to me otherwise. Thanks for putting together not only a relevant, useful and challenging course but a course which has sent me on a journey of self discovery, self awareness and gave me a sense of perspective and context as to why the world is how it is." Former student, Daniel Uwagbae.

Year 1

• ISHE: Media & Cultural Analysis
• Media, Communications & Culture
• Media & Cultural Texts & Contexts
• Applied Studies 1: Media Practices

Year 2

• Researching Media & Cultural Economies
• Media, Technology & Interactivity
• Travelling Cultures
• Collaborative Unit
• Applied Studies 2: Media Practice 2/work-based learning

In Year 2 the theoretical approaches become more focused. Units taken this year explore the way new media technologies and social networking are changing people’s relationship to media and culture and how these changes are part of a process known as ‘globalisation’. They consider the centrality of new creative and cultural economies to contemporary societies and explore how these relate to both the world of work and to consumption practice through case studies of branding and design. The Travelling Cultures unit further develops ideas about globalisation which began in Year 1.

This year, we also have a strand of the programme that focuses on working in the media and cultural industries. You will meet a range of people working in different areas of the media and cultural industries. You will also begin to understand ideas about the nature of work in these industries and how it is changing as a result of new media practices. This strand prepares you for the work placement you will undertake in the summer term of Year 2. Finding a work placement is an important part of your professional development; we will assist you with this process.

Year 3

• Global Media & Culture: Case Studies
• Contemporary Media Practices
• Cultures of Exhibition & Display
• Major Project

In Year 3 you will focus in the first term on three units that bring together themes and ideas from the first two years of the degree, allowing you to explore them in more depth. The Global Media and Culture unit takes a specific case study and looks in depth at the media and culture of Latin America. You also take a unit in contemporary issues in media practice and new forms of representation and a unit that explores the vibrant and successful galleries and exhibitions sector of contemporary London.

You will be given training in research methods to help you develop your final project and prepare you for research at postgraduate level. The final part of the degree is the dissertation. This gives you the opportunity to focus on a piece of research developed around an area of study that you are particularly interested in.

The Media and Cultural Studies degree is not a vocational course (you are not being trained to be a photographer or a journalist or a television producer).

Instead the programme develops a range of transferable skills - you develop a capacity to organise your ideas and make arguments, to critique cultural objects and cultural practices, to understand how the media is organised and how this organisation shapes content. You meet a range of practitioners from across the media and cultural industries, you become more confident and develop a capacity present your ideas in a creative and authoritative way.

You will understand current developments across the cultural sector (this will be applied through the work placement) and you can take advantage of the networking opportunities available across the University of the Arts.

The skills and knowledge you develop will be invaluable when you leave the programme, either to continue studying at post-graduate level or entering the media and cultural industries where portfolio careers (often freelance) require a range of working practices. These involve a myriad of activities from creative production to curating, promoting, marketing, organising and networking.

Previous students have gone into careers in media and communication management and research, advertising, marketing, PR, film festival development and a substantial number go on to do postgraduate degrees.

Applicants with some, or all, of the following achievements will be considered for
admission to the programme:

. Two (or more) A-Level/AVCE passes with two at grade B or above with at least three GCSE passes (A-C)
. An Edexcel GNVQ at advanced level (or equivalent) at merit level
. An Access Certificate recognised by the National Open College Network
. aAccreditation of previous experience or employment (APEL)

Applicants may be asked to attend an interview.

International and EU students: If your first language is not English you should check you have achieved the correct IELTS level in English. Further information is available on our International Applications page.

Study Abroad Applicants

This course accepts a limited number of Study Abroad students (international students who would like to spend one, two or three terms studying alongside our undergraduates, as part of their course at their home university). To find out further information about Study Abroad fees and the application process please visit the Study Abroad website. 

Please apply through UCAS.

If you are a UK or EU student and you have an admissions enquiry please call +44(0)20 7514 6569 or email ugadmissions@lcc.arts.ac.uk. If your are a none-EU international student and you are unsure about how to apply, admission enquiries should be made through the International Office (call +44 (0)20 7514 8138).

Study Abroad Applicants

International undergraduate students can apply to join this BA course for a period of up to three terms as a Study Abroad student. Please visit the Study Abroad website details on how to apply or contact the Study Abroad office:

T: +44 (0) 207 514 2249
E: studyabroad@lcc.arts.ac.uk