Sociology, Culture and Media Degree 2013
In a digital and globalising age, how are media changing? How do such developments relate to the role of popular music, television, film, magazines and other forms of culture in contemporary individual and social life? In what ways do media and culture connect to broader social trends, norms and divisions? On a Sociology, Culture and Media degree at Surrey you will investigate these fascinating issues.
Degree programmes
Entry requirements
Minimum entry requirements
- A-level grades ABB
We do not include General Studies or Critical Thinking in our offers.
Conditional offers from Surrey will be made in grades or marks, and not listed in points from the UCAS tariff.
Required subjects
GCSE English Language and Mathematics at grade C or above (or equivalent).
English language requirements
Non-native speakers of English will normally be required to have IELTS 6.5 or above, with a minimum of 6.0 in each component (or equivalent).
Please note that the University of Surrey offers English language programmes and is also an IELTS Test Centre.
Other suitable qualifications
Cambridge Pre-U
M1, M1, M2
European Baccalaureate
74%
International Baccalaureate
34 points
BTEC (QCF Level 3) Extended Diploma
DDM
In addition, we accept a wide range of qualifications, including other Level 3 QCF Level 3 qualifications, Scottish qualifications, the Irish Leaving Certificate, Access Diplomas and foundation courses. Other qualifications will be considered on an individual basis.
It is important to check whether the qualifications you are taking are suitable for your chosen degree. If you are uncertain whether your qualification meets our entry requirements, please contact us.
If you are an international student and you don’t meet the entry requirements to this degree, we offer the International Foundation Year.
Selection process
Selection is primarily on the basis of UCAS forms. Offers are usually made in terms of grades. We invite suitable candidates to visit the University to find out more about the programme and meet staff and students.
Tuition fees
UK/EU students
Tuition fees are currently set at £9,000 per year for UK/EU undergraduates starting in 2012.
The tuition charge will be accompanied by a generous financial support package, underlining our continued commitment to widening access for those students who come from low income households.
Overseas students
The fee for students classed as overseas for fees purposes is £12,130.
The University will assess your fee status. If you are unsure whether you are likely to be considered a home, EU or overseas student for fees purposes, the UKCISA website offers more information.
Professional Training Year Fees
Programmes marked with an asterisk (*) in the table above include a professional training year.
Currently fees of £1,050 (based on an inflation assumption of 2.5%) are charged for the Professional Training Year. Fees will not have to be paid up front for those students who decide to take up the Government’s loan for higher education fees. The Professional Training year is a key factor in the high employability rates achieved by students with Surrey degrees.
Our degrees
During the twentieth century, media such as television, radio, cinema and newspapers became central to everyday life. The generation of new digital and mobile forms of communication – from multichannel interactive television and the iPod to Facebook and Twitter – is further transforming the cultural fabric of daily life in twenty-first century societies.
Our Sociology, Culture and Media programme is an exciting and innovative degree which offers an indepth examination of the relationship between media, culture and society in the digital age.
This challenging programme allows you to combine the specialist examination of media and culture with an extensive grounding in sociology, including core theory and methods modules and options from different parts of the discipline.
Your studies will encapsulate an emphasis on contemporary developments such as digital, online and mobile media technologies, as well as an understanding of the evolution of established forms of communication, including broadcast and print media. You will also cover a range of high and popular forms of culture, from pop music and youth cultural styles to more elite forms of art. You will connect all this with a range of engaging topics and perspectives in the broader study of contemporary societies.
Programme content
Programme overview
This programme offers an analysis of the relationships between media, culture and society, covering a range of contemporary media forms, including television, radio, newspapers, magazines, cinema, popular music, the internet and mobile phones. You will benefit from the opportunity to combine this particular focus upon contemporary media and culture with a thorough grounding in sociological theory and invaluable hands-on training in the use of qualitative and quantitative methods.
Year 1 combines an introduction to the sociological study of media and popular culture with a grounding in sociological theory and method.
In year 2 you study media and culture through the core modules Media, Power and Control and Analysing Media, while you are allowed to specialise by choosing from a wide range of options in the sociology of culture and media, and other areas of sociology.
In year 3 the dissertation enables you to conduct an in-depth research project on a topic of your choice. You will also choose three specialist options from an extensive and varied list which currently includes the study of popular music, youth cultures, fans, cultural industries, globalisation and media, or media and crime, alongside a range of modules from across the discipline of sociology which offers you the opportunity to focus upon topics such as deviance, terrorism, gender, ethnicity, later life, health and illness, the sociology of the body, or childhood.
Programme structure
Year 1 (FHEQ Level 4)
Core modules:
- Media, Communication and Society
- Media in the 21st Century
- Popular Culture and Everyday Life
- Classical Sociological Theory
- 20th-Century Sociological Theory
- Introduction to Research Methods
- Qualitative Field Methods
- Quantitative Methods 1
Year 2 (FHEQ Level 5)
Core modules:
- Media, Power and Control
- Analysing Media
- Sociological Theory: Criticism and Description
- Survey Methods OR Contemporary Social Theory
Optional modules:
- Internet and Society
- Television Entertainment
- Fan Cultures: Media, Audiences and Identity
- Media Production Culture
- Media Key Theories and Writings
- Media and Democracy
- Sport and Society
- Visual Culture
- Sociology of the Arts
- Survey Research
- Contemporary Sociological Theory
- Sociology of Gender
- Childhood in Contemporary Times
- Sociology of Environmentalism
- Group Research Project
- Researching Bodies
- Sociology of Political Systems
- Sociology of Religion
- Poverty, Welfare and the State
- Theories of Crime, Deviance and Social Control
- Sociology of Health and Illness
- Migration and the Politics of Identity
- Sociology of Work
Professional Training year
Optional Professional Training year
Year 3 (FHEQ Level 6)
Core modules:
- Dissertation
Optional modules:
- Cultural Industries and Organisations
- Popular Music and Society
- Music, Media and Technology
- Affect, Desire and Emotion in a Mediated World
- Understanding Youth Culture
- Science and the Media
- Sexualities in the Media
- Crime and Media
- Media and Cultural Globalisation
- The Mediation of Feeling
- The Sociology of Sociology
- Sociology of Sexualities
- Advanced Quantitative Methods
- Theorising the Environment
- Cultures of Race and Racism
- The Family and Social Reproduction
- Sociology of Childhood
- Humans and Animals
- Advanced Qualitative Methods
- Contemporary Issues in Deviance and Social Control
- Work and Workers in the 21st Century
- Sociology of Mental Health
- Medicine and the Body
- Organisational Analysis
- The Family and Social Reproduction
- Deviance and Social Control (Provisional)
- Sociology of Education
Professional training
You will have the chance to develop your skills and experience in a work environment through the professional placement, which is optional for all of our students during their third year. This provides an opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills you will have acquired during your first two years of study in a work environment.
The process of preparing and applying for placement jobs will also significantly enhance your job-seeking skills, which will come into play in your final year and beyond when you apply for graduate employment. After graduation many of our students take up permanent posts with their professional placement employer. Our students tend to return to their final year significantly more confident and with enhanced career aspirations and prospects, so you are likely to be more focused, perform better and achieve better results.
Placements are selected according to your interests, career plans and location preferences. The majority of our placements are paid, usually in the region of £12,000–£15,000 per annum. If you choose to take an unpaid placement, you can claim additional financial support and may also work a reduced amount of time.
Examples of past professional placements undertaken by students within the Department of Sociology include radio stations, record companies, marketing companies, computer companies, social research organisations and educational establishments.
Career opportunities
Graduate prospects
This programme will prepare you for the wide range of careers which require the ability to analyse complex issues and to reach sound conclusions. You will gain an understanding of the media industries which will provide you with valuable grounding if you wish to move towards media or new media-related careers.
Career opportunities
The Sociology, Culture and Media programme will prepare you for the wide range of careers which require the ability to analyse complex issues and to reach sound conclusions. As a graduate of our programme, you will have excellent analytical skills, be numerate and able to communicate well. You will also have gained a particular understanding of the media industries, something which will provide a valuable initial grounding if you wish to move towards media-related careers.
If you have completed the Professional Training year, you are liable to be viewed particularly favourably by employers, having skills and experience that graduates of courses elsewhere may not. About a quarter of students in the Department of Sociology go on to postgraduate study.
Additional information
Teaching
Teaching is oriented towards the development of your practical and analytical skills, as well as theoretical awareness and understanding. You will develop sophisticated skills in the use of both qualitative and quantitative research methods as a means to analyse media, culture and society. You will benefit from a range of teaching methods including small group tutorials and workshops, as well as lectures, classes and occasional screenings. The programme also utilises online module guides, a virtual notice board and student discussion facilities.
Assessment
Why Surrey?
Sociology, Culture and Media degree 2013 at Surrey
- The Times Good University Guide 2013 ranks Surrey second for its sociology programmes. The Guardian University Guide 2013 and The Complete University Guide 2013 also rank us in the top five
- The latest UK Research Assessment Exercise ranked us joint sixth and judged the majority of our research internationally excellent or world leading
- The benefits of a Sociology degree with an innovative focus on contemporary media and culture
- We offer an extensive range of subject options informed by our staff’s internationally recognised research
- Our innovative integration of methodological and substantive approaches has helped to put us at the very top of our field
- You will be eligible for graduate membership of the British Sociological Association
- Our prestigious research projects and academic staff are internationally recognised and respected
- Our own cutting-edge research and knowledge will directly inform and update your learning
- You will develop valuable specialist and transferable skills for use in a wide range of careers
- An optional Professional Training placement will put your learning into practice and prepare you to excel in your final year of study
What I found most valuable was the ability to learn directly from lecturers who are leaders in their field.
Naveen Rehman
BSc Sociology, Culture and Media
One of the reasons I chose to come to Surrey was because the Sociology, Culture and Media programme was very highly ranked within the university course league tables for my discipline. The fact that Guildford also has great transport links into London and the University campus itself is a beautiful environment helped in making my decision to come here!
The course is carefully designed to give you the opportunity to choose certain modules and develop your knowledge in topics you’re particularly interested in. What I found most valuable was the ability to learn directly from lecturers who are leaders in their field. Being given the opportunity to challenge, debate and understand with key theorists has been a fantastic experience.
Taking part in a professional placement year at the University is highly encouraged and I cannot stress enough how much the support and encouragement of the University in this has helped develop and shape my career today. The University offered excellent guidance on placement opportunities and I was supported throughout the year by regular visits. My professional placement offered the opportunity to put into practice course-based learning and develop occupational skills that were highly sought after upon graduating. Without the experience I gained through a year in the industry, I would not have been presented with the opportunities I have today.
My year in industry helped me transfer the knowledge I’d gained on my course into skills in the workplace and also helped me to work out what I wanted to do after I graduated.
Jessica Davies
BSc Sociology, Culture and Media
I graduated from the University of Surrey in 2010 after completing a course in Sociology, Culture and Media (SCM). The course was fantastic! I really enjoyed the informative lectures followed by interactive small group seminars, allowing every individual on the course to express their views on topics and get involved in the material. My degree has provided me with considerable insight into the media industry and a sound understanding of the relationships between individuals and society. The supportive staff in the Sociology Department were so generous with their time and were always willing to help any student with any problems on any topic.
My four-year course included a Professional Training year. Working in an office environment was a great experience and one I would recommend to any other student. My year in industry helped me transfer the knowledge I’d gained on my course into skills in the workplace and also helped me to work out what I wanted to do after I graduated. As an individual with a passion for sport and a great enjoyment motivating others to achieve their goals, I now own my own personal training business.
I look back at my time at the University of Surrey with very fond memories and I genuinely believe it helped mould me into the driven, ambitious and enterprising person I am today. The course, the social life, my year in industry, the friends I made – the overall experience was amazing and I wouldn’t change a second.
Media at Surrey
An introduction to our media-related programmes.
