BA

Media and History

BA Media and History Code P3V1 Attend an Open Day Attend an Open Day

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Key Facts

P3V1

  • UCAS Tariff

    120 - 96

  • Course duration

    3 years

Further details on entry requirements

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The BA in Media and History and Aberystwyth University enables you to learn the strategic and structural components of the media industry while at the same time exploring periods and events in History that have shaped our society. The combination of Media and History is a perfect combination of analysing and understanding how historic events and eras have moulded the media industry. The History component of this degree will allow you to place the past in perspective, and equip you with the analytical skills of interpretation, analysis and communication that are both vital in everyday life and highly sought after by employers. The Media component of this degree will allow you to study in great detail the following: advertising, news analysis, website design, digital culture surveillance society, gender and the media, media history and policy together with creative practice experience in multi -platform production and experimental media. Your three years of study will be dynamic, invigorating and stimulating.

Course Overview

Why study BA Media and History at Aberystwyth University? 

The course 

Taught by two departments (the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies and the Department of History and Welsh History), you will have an opportunity to study in great detail the following: media fandom, advertising, news analysis, website design, digital culture, children and the media, surveillance society, language and the media, media history and policy. 

The History element will expose you to the various areas and time-periods in History which include Medieval and Early Modern Britain and Europe (1000-1800), The Modern Word, 1789 to the present; People, Power and Identity in Wales 1200-1999, Image Wars in Southeast Asia: Studying 20th Century propaganda; Interpreting the contemporary heritage of the British isles (1960-1980). 

 Facilities

At Aberystwyth University, our students benefit from our strategic closeness to the National Library of Wales. This is a copyright library which houses every book that has been published in the United Kingdom. In addition, it also home to National Sound and Screen Archive of Wales and will be home to the new National Broadcast Archive of Wales which are valuable resources for your research. 

The University’s Centre for Media History, established in 2005, is an internationally-renowned centre which is also home to the international journal, Media History. 

On the University campus, our facilities include the Hugh Owen Library which is open 24/7, the Students’ Union, the Sports Centre and the Arts Centre which has close and deep links with the departments of Theatre, Film and Television Studies and the department of English and Creative Writing. The multitude of facilities on Penglais campus ensures that your student experience is memorable and exceptional. 

The Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies has strong links with external industry, these include the BBC Wales which houses it regional office in the heart of the Department, Boom Cymru, Avanti, Arad Goch and the Mid-Wales Arts Centre. The Department itself is modern, vibrant and has all the latest teaching facilities that media student requires, this includes a brand-new PC lab designed to assimilate the digital media industry, digital production and editing suits, a viewing cinema, a television studio and modern learning spaces.

Our Staff

All academic staff at the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies are research active and/or involved in Knowledge Transfer projects and have either relevant academic qualifications at doctoral level or equivalent professional experience and expertise.

Staff in the Department of History and Welsh History are active researchers and experts in their field of History. Most are qualified to PhD level and hold PGCHE. To find out more about our staff, please visit our departmental staff page.

Modules September start - 2023

Please note: The modules listed below are those currently intended for delivery during the next academic year and may be subject to change. They are included here to give an indication of how the course is structured.

Core

Module Name Module Code Credit Value
'Hands on' History: Sources and their Historians HY10420 20
Introduction to History HY12120 20
Studying Communication FM10720 20
Studying Media FM10620 20

Options

Module Name Module Code Credit Value
Europe and the World, 1000-2000 HY12420 20
Medieval and Early Modern Britain and Europe, 1000-1800 HY11420 20
People, Power and Identity: Wales 1200-1999 WH11720 20
The Modern World, 1789 to the present HY11820 20
Making Short Films 1 FM11520 20
Studying Television FM10220 20

Core

Module Name Module Code Credit Value
Making History HY20120 20

Options

Module Name Module Code Credit Value
Advertising FM21920 20
Creative Documentary FM26520 20
Creative Studio FM25420 20
Digital Culture FM25520 20
LGBT Screens FM20120 20
Media, Politics and Power FM22620 20
Stardom and Celebrity FM21520 20
Television Genre FM20620 20
Youth Cultures FM22320 20
From Babylon Berlin to Hollywood: movies as sources for cultural history HY24920 20
History as myth-Making: the 'Myth of the Blitz' HY23420 20
Image Wars in Southeast Asia: Studying 20th Century Propaganda HY23720 20
Interdisciplinary and decolonial history HY24320 20
Memory, Myth and History: Investigating Medieval Chronicles, c. 1000-1250 HY24120 20
Reading a Building HY23120 20
Recounting Racism: Oral History and Modern American Race Relations. HY25020 20
Seals in Their Context in Medieval England and Wales HY24420 20
Victorian Visions: Exploring Nineteenth-Century Exhibitions HY24620 20
African-American History, 1808 to the Present HY28320 20
Between Revolution and Reform: China since 1800 HY28520 20
Crime, Riot and Morality in Wales 1750-1850 WH23420 20
Culture, Society and the Victorians HY29320 20
Environmental History of the Neotropics (Latin America and the Caribbean) in the Capitalocene HY29120 20
European Society and the Medieval Mind 1200-1500 HY25820 20
Famine in Medieval England HY25520 20
From Poor Law to Welfare State: Poverty and Welfare in Modern Britain, 1815-1948 HY29220 20
Globalising Post-War Germany(s) 1945-2015 HY29520 20
Media and Society in Twentieth Century Britain HY27520 20
Medieval England and Germany, c. 1050-1250 HY25620 20
Modern Japan: From Samurai to Salary Men HY29820 20
Roads to Modernity: Germany and Japan in the Age of Empires, 1860s-1930s HY28920 20
Science, Religion and Magic HY28620 20
The Atlantic World, 1492-1825 HY29720 20
The British Isles in the Long Eighteenth Century HY22020 20
The European Reformation HY26520 20
The Making of Europe: Christendom and beyond, c. 1000-1300 HY25720 20
The Nazi Dictatorship: Regime and Society in Germany 1933-1945 HY29420 20
The Rise of Modern Medicine, c.1750-2000 HY27320 20
The Tudors: A European Dynasty? HY20920 20
Wales and the Kings of Britain: Conflict, Power and Identities in the British Isles 1039-1417 WH20120 20
Wales under the Tudors WH23520 20
War, Politics and People: England in Context in the Fourteenth Century HY26720 20

Core

Module Name Module Code Credit Value

Options

Module Name Module Code Credit Value
Contemporary TV Drama FM30320 20
Experimental Cinema FM34520 20
Experimental Media Production FM33540 40
Gender and the Media FM38320 20
Independent Research Project FM36000
Media Law FM36720 20
Media Semiotics FM34120 20
Television History FM32620 20
Videogame Theories FM38420 20
African-American History, 1808 to the Present HY38820 20
Between Revolution and Reform: China since 1800 HY38520 20
Crime, Riot and Morality in Wales 1750-1850 WH33420 20
Culture, Society and the Victorians HY39320 20
Environmental History of the Neotropics (Latin America and the Caribbean) in the Capitalocene HY39120 20
European Society and the Medieval Mind 1200-1500 HY35820 20
Famine in Medieval England HY35520 20
From Poor Law to Welfare State: Poverty and Welfare in Modern Britain, 1815-1948 HY39220 20
Globalising Post-War Germany(s) 1945-2015 HY39520 20
Media and Society in Twentieth Century Britain HY37520 20
Medieval England and Germany, c. 1050-1250 HY35620 20
Modern Japan: From Samurai to Salary Men HY39820 20
Roads to Modernity: Germany and Japan in the Age of Empires, 1860s-1930s HY38920 20
Science, Religion and Magic HY38620 20
The Atlantic World, 1492-1825 HY39720 20
The British Isles in the Long Eighteenth Century HY30120 20
The European Reformation HY36520 20
The Making of Europe: Christendom and beyond, c. 1000-1300 HY35720 20
The Nazi Dictatorship: Regime and Society in Germany 1933-1945 HY39420 20
The Rise of Modern Medicine, c.1750-2000 HY37320 20
The Tudors: A European Dynasty? HY30920 20
Wales and the Kings of Britain: Conflict, Power and Identities in the British Isles 1039-1417 WH30120 20
Wales under the Tudors WH33520 20
War, Politics and People: England in Context in the Fourteenth Century HY36720 20

* Also available partially or entirely through the medium of Welsh

Careers

What opportunities are there for me? 

Many of our graduates have found career paths which include: Broadcasting media; Floor managers; Camera operators; Producers and directors; Marketing; Media Planning; Education; Public relations. 

What will I get from my degree?

 Employability is at the heart of our teaching. We encourage our students by: Inviting guest speakers to our campus; Obtaining work experience with the BBC, Fiction Factory and Boom Pictures. 

On completion of this degree, our students become;  Effective communicators; Able to work independently and as part of a team; Experience in industrial equipment such as three camera high definition digital television studios, over 40 high definition digital video cameras and digital and video projection facilities. 

What work experience opportunities exist whilst studying? 

Discover more about the various employment opportunities that our Aberystwyth University Careers team offer.

Enhance your employability prospects with GO Wales and YES (Year in Employment Scheme) managed by our Careers department. 

Teaching & Learning

What will I learn?

The breakdown below will provide you with an illustration of what you may study during the three-year degree scheme.

In your first year you may explore:

  • Relationship between media forms, media institutions and society;
  • The theory and principles surrounding the learner and the learning environment; 
  • New historical skills and concepts, and a comprehensive introduction to university-level study skills; 
  • New historical periods, themes and subject areas, through our wide choice of Year 1 option modules; #
  • The research relating to modes of communication between radio, press, advertising, mobile phone technologies and the internet;
  • Key concepts and techniques of media production, directing, cinematography, editing.

In your second you may discover: 

  • Specific histories, traditions and roles to each medium;
  • Television production;
  • Television history;
  • The ways in which the meaning, methods and writing of history have changed over time; 
  • Insight into the historian’s craft, through practice-based seminar classes; 
  • Experimental media production;
  • Website design;
  • Surveillance technologies;
  • Journalism;
  • Advertising;
  • Scriptwriting.

In your final year you may have the opportunity to: 

  • Produce, direct, edit a short video which can be experimental, documentary or narrative fiction;
  • Historical media archive-based dissertation;
  • A special subject, in which you undertake an in-depth research, using original sources and engaging with cutting-edge scholarship; 
  • The best work will be entered for the Royal Television Society Student Video Awards.

How will I be taught?

Our programme is taught by lecture- workshops allowing for the best interaction and active engagement. In addition, we deliver this programme through seminars, group-based project work, screenings and technical demonstrations

You will be assessed through:
• Group-devised productions;
• Individual film and video projects;
• Research projects;
• Practical analyses;
• Production diaries;
• Creative scriptwriting;
• Formal essays;
• Examinations.

Further information

You will be assigned a personal tutor throughout your degree course, who will help you with any problems or queries, whether these are academic-related or personal issues. You should feel free to contact them at any time for help and advice.

You will also have the opportunity to complete a Personal Development Plan (PDP) at Aberystwyth. This is a structured process of self-appraisal, reflection, and planning, which will enable you to chart your personal, academic and professional development throughout your time at university. By recording your academic performance and highlighting the skills you already have and those you will need for future employability, the PDP portfolio will equip you with the necessary tools to plan effectively, develop successful approaches to study, and consider your future career options and aspirations.

Typical Entry Requirements

UCAS Tariff 120 - 96

A Levels BBB-CCC

GCSE requirements (minimum grade C/4):
English or Welsh

BTEC National Diploma:
DDM-MMM

International Baccalaureate:
30-26

European Baccalaureate:
75%-65% overall

English Language Requirements:
See our Undergraduate English Language Requirements for this course. Pre-sessional English Programmes are also available for students who do not meet our English Language Requirements.

Country Specific Entry Requirements:
International students whose qualification is not listed on this page, can check our Country Specific Entry Requirements for further information.

The University welcomes undergraduate applications from students studying the Access to Higher Education Diploma or T-level qualifications, provided that relevant subject content and learning outcomes are met. We are not able to accept Access to Higher Education Diplomas or T-levels as a general qualification for every undergraduate degree course.
Our inclusive admissions policy values breadth as well as depth of study. Applicants are selected on their own individual merits and offers can vary. If you would like to check the eligibility of your qualifications before submitting an application, please contact the Undergraduate Admissions Office for advice and guidance.

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