BA Digital Media, Culture and Communication Programme Specification 2024-25

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1	ACADEMIC QUALITY TEAM
2	Programme Specifications 2024-25
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5	Programme Title			BA Digital Media, Culture and Communication
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7	This document applies to students who commenced the programme(s) in:			2024		Award type			BA
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9	What level is this qualification?			6		Length of programme			3 years
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11	Mode of study (Full / Part Time)			FT
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13	Will the programme use standard University semester dates?			Yes		For York Online programmes, will standard dates for such programmes be used?			N/A
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15	Awarding institution			University of York		Board of Studies for the programme			Sociology
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17	Lead department			Sociology		Other contributing departments			ACT
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19	Language of study and assessment			English		Language(s) of assessment			English
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21	Is this a campus-based or online programme?			Campus-based
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23	Partner organisations
24	If there are any partner organisations involved in the delivery of the programme, please outline the nature of their involvement. You may wish to refer to the Policy on Collaborative Provision
25	None
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28	Reference points
29	Please state relevant reference points consulted in the design of this programme (for example, relevant documentation setting out PSRB requirements; the University's Frameworks for Programme Design (UG or PGT); QAA Subject Benchmark Statements; QAA Qualifications and Credit Frameworks).
30	University Frameworks for Programme Design (including Institutional Framework for Programme Design and Undergraduate Programme Design Policy). The QAA Subject Benchmark Statement: Communication, Media, Film and Cultural Studies.
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33	Credit Transfer and Recognition of Prior Learning
34	Will this programme involve any exemptions from the University Policy and Procedures on Credit Transfer and the Recognition of Prior Learning? If so, please specify and give a rationale
35	No
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38	Exceptions to Regulations
39	Please detail any exceptions to University Award Regulations and Frameworks that need to be approved (or are already approved) for this programme. This should include any that have been approved for related programmes and should be extended to this programme.
40	N/A
41	N/A
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43	Internal Transfers
44	Please use the boxes below to specify if transfers into / out of the programme from / to other programmes within the University are possible by indicating yes or no and listing any restrictions. These boxes can also be used to highlight any common transfer routes which it would be useful for students to know.
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46		Transfers in:	Yes			Transfers out:	Yes
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49	Statement of Purpose
50	Please briefly outline the overall aims of the programme. This should clarify to a prospective student why they should choose this programme, what it will provide to them and what benefits they will gain from completing it.
51	Placing you at the forefront of the big changes facing us today, this programme will provide you with the knowledge and skills required for understanding key transformations in digital media, culture and communication. Working across disciplines, and developing your own insights and ideas, you will be guided through resources that will help you to make sense of how our lives and experiences are shaped by these digital developments. You will learn to assess and evaluate digital materials, to put specific events into context and to think creatively when communicating your ideas in practice. This programme focuses upon the way that digital media are transforming and explores the implications these shifts have for communication, culture and society. By situating these changes within wider shifts in media, culture and communication, this programme will challenge you to understand and respond directly to digital transformations. This programme will develop and deepen your understanding of how we live, interact, communicate and create within digital media and digital cultures. You will be active in working with academics who are researching and developing new perspectives on these problems, and engaging in dialogue on how we might shape our digital futures. You will explore how the digital impacts our lives and also how we can use digital tools to communicate and create cultural forms ourselves. On the programme you will explore a wide range of aspects digital media, culture and communication: from our personal identities through to the organisations we occupy, the environmental and geopolitical futures we imagine, the connections and divisions between people, the types of consumption we practice, the way we connect and interact, the impact of artificial intelligence on our decisions, through to the way we tell stories, realise ideas or create content. On this degree you will analyse digital developments whilst also thinking about how you can use those developments to create and communicate your ideas. Positioning you for a future career across a range of different sectors, by the end of the degree you will be able to understand, respond critically and think creatively about a range of key developments in digital media, culture and communication.
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62	If there are additional awards associated with the programme upon which students can register, please specify the Statement of Purpose for that programme. This will be most relevant for PGT programmes with exit awards that are also available as entry points. Use additional rows to include more than one additional award. Do not include years in industry / abroad (for which there are separate boxes).
63	Exit Award Title			Is the exit award also available as an entry point?	Outcomes: what will the student be able to do on exit with this award?			Specify the module diet that the student will need to complete to obtain this exit award
64	Certificate of Higher Education			Exit Award only	Students will have a basic understanding of the key aspects of digital media and communication, achieving PLOs 1, 2 and 4			120 credits; at least 90 credits C-level
65	Diploma of Higher Education			Exit Award only	Students will have a deeper understanding of digital media and communication, achieving PLOs 1-2, 4-6			240 credits; at least 90 credits I-level
66	Ordinary Degree			Exit Award only	Students will achieve all PLOs, with PLO 3 and 6 to a lesser extent			300 credits; at least 60 credits H-level over stages 2-3
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68	Programme Learning Outcomes
69	What are the programme learning outcomes (PLOs) for the programme? (Normally a minimum of 6, maximum of 8). Taken together, these outcomes should capture the distinctive features of the programme and represent the outcomes that students progressively develop in the programme and achieve at graduation. PLOs should be worded to follow the stem 'Graduates will be able to...'
70	1	To understand and respond to developments in digital technologies and their implications for contemporary culture and communication.
71	2	To critically evaluate accounts of the impact of digital media, culture and communication upon individuals, groups and social structures.
72	3	To design and conduct research that creates insights into the implications of a variety of developments in digital media, culture and communication.
73	4	To create detailed and creative accounts of the changes brought about by transformations in digital media, culture and communication.
74	5	To situate developments in digital media, culture and communication within wider social, cultural and environmental transformations.
75	6	To use a knowledge of wider debates and perspectives to produce contextualised arguments, findings and analyses.
76	7	To identify, interrogate and assess the properties of key present and future changes brought about by developments in digital technologies.
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78	Diverse entry routes
79	Detail how you would support students from diverse entry routes to transition into the programme. For example, disciplinary knowledge and conventions of the discipline, language skills, academic and writing skills, lab skills, academic integrity.
80	We support students from diverse entry routes to transition into the programme through support from personal academic supervisors who direct students to additional sources of advice and help over and above the academic skills embedded into the design of our undergraduate modules.
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89	Inclusion
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91	Please confirm by ticking the box on the right that the design, content and delivery of the programme will support students from all backgrounds to succeed. This refers to the University's duties under the Equality Act 2010. You may wish to refer to the optional Inclusive Learning self-assessment tools to support reflection on this issue.									TRUE
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93	Employability
94	Please give a brief overview - no more than 5 sentences - of how the programmes helps develop students' employability. Your Faculty Employability Manager can help reflection on this issue. This statement will be used by Marketing as the basis for external content with respect to employability.
95	Enabling students to analyse and respond creatively to cutting edge digital developments, the programme helps students to develop excellent employability skills that they can utilise in a range of different future careers. This includes the ability to research topics, to produce insights and findings and to communicate these clearly. The interdisciplinary knowledge and skills gained on this programme will make students highly flexible within and across different sectors and industries. All sectors are impacted by digital developments, and students from this programme will have the applied knowledge and skills required to understand and react effectively to those transformations. The analytical skills required from this course will be of strategic significance. The course is also designed to enable students to build skills around the possibilities for creative communications provided by digital developments. Students will also be adept at responding to digital change and applying research techniques, theories and ideas to real-world cases. Beginning in the first year and throughout the programme, students are encouraged to develop their critical thinking and creativity. They will be equipped with opportunities to source and evaluate information, and to engage in wider contextual understandings of particular developments - these represent further key transferable skills. Students will demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of key issues in digital media, culture and communication, and will have skills for communicating complex ideas in a range of written and verbal formats that are also relevant for and used in the contemporary workplace. The programme will seek to produce highly flexible graduates who can adapt to possibilities and opportunities in different areas of employment including the creative industries, marketing, public relations, social media, communications, research roles and beyond.
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98	[For Undergraduate and Integrated Masters Programmes Only]
99	Are you offering any variations of this programme, such as additional years abroad or industry?
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