Programme Specification for the 2025/6 academic year
BA (Hons) Communications and Global Cultural Studies (4-year)
1. Programme Details
| Programme name | BA (Hons) Communications and Global Cultural Studies (4-year) | Programme code | UFA4EGLSML17 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Study mode(s) | Academic year | 2025/6 | |
| Campus(es) | Streatham (Exeter) |
NQF Level of the Final Award | 6 (Honours) |
2. Description of the Programme
3. Educational Aims of the Programme
4. Programme Structure
5. Programme Modules
The following tables describe the programme and constituent modules. Constituent modules may be updated, deleted or replaced as a consequence of the annual programme review of this programme.
Media & Communications modules https://www.exeter.ac.uk/study/studyinformation/modules/?prog=comms
Modern Languages modules https://www.exeter.ac.uk/study/studyinformation/modules/?prog=mod-lang
You may take optional modules as long as any necessary prerequisites have been satisfied, where the timetable allows and if you have not already taken the module in question or an equivalent module. You are expected to balance your credits in each stage of the programme, taking 60 credits from Communications, and 60 credits from Modern Languages. On the Global Cultural Studies side of your programme, you will normally take optional content modules appropriate to your degree stage and corresponding to your compulsory language module.
The Faculty however takes the view that in Combined Honours programmes you would be incapable of reaching a satisfactory standard in the chosen language if you took fewer than 60 credits per year in it. Accordingly you may not exercise the modularity option in Modern Languages (modularity is where you are permitted to take elective modules from other disciplines that are not included in the programme specification). However, it would be possible for you in certain cases, to exercise the right from the Communications side of your programme alone.
At stages 1, 2 and 4, you will take one compulsory language module amounting to 30 credits in total. At stage 3, you will spend a year abroad in one of the following ways:
- on a suitable programme of study at an approved partner institution;
- as an Assistant in a school under the scheme arranged by the British Council;
- in approved paid or voluntary employment.
Please note that you are registered on the 4-year programme unless you have explicitly applied for, and been admitted to, the 3-year version. If you register for the 4-year programme but are subsequently unable to meet the requirements for study abroad you may apply to transfer to a 3-year version of your programme. Transfer from a 3-year to a 4-year programme is also possible up to the end of stage 2. All such transfers are subject to approval by the Director of Education. Where you have completed the degree programme in three years, the words ‘Three-Year Programme' will appear on your degree certificate; otherwise the titles of the 3-year and 4-year versions of a degree programme are identical.
Stage 1
60 credits of compulsory Communications modules, 30 credits of compulsory modules in your chosen language, 30 credits of optional Modern Languages modules
Compulsory Modules
Subject to choosing 120 credits for the stage overall, you must:
a - select 30 credits of compulsory modules in your chosen language.
| Code | Module | Credits | Non-condonable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| CMM1001 | Perspectives on Communications | 30 | No |
| CMM1002 | Communications Challenges | 30 | No |
| Modern Languages Stage 1 Compulsory Language Modules | |||
| MLF1001 | French Language | 30 | Yes |
| MLF1052 | French Language for Beginners | 30 | Yes |
| MLG1001 | German Language | 30 | Yes |
| MLG1052 | German Language for Beginners | 30 | Yes |
| MLI1001 | Italian Language | 30 | Yes |
| MLI1052 | Italian Language for Beginners | 30 | Yes |
| MLM1052 | Beginners Chinese | 30 | Yes |
| MLP1052 | Portuguese Language for Beginners | 30 | Yes |
| MLR1001 | Contemporary Russian Written and Oral | 30 | Yes |
| MLR1030 | Russian Language for Beginners | 30 | Yes |
| MLS1001 | Spanish Language | 30 | Yes |
| MLS1056 | Spanish Language for Beginners | 30 | Yes |
Optional Modules
b - select 30 credits of optional modules consisting of content related to your chosen language; on the Modern Languages side of your programme, you may select a maximum of 15 credits of SML or HUM coded-modules listed below for the year. Please note that certain modules may only be available to students on Single Honours programmes, or to students who have taken a particular language module. This information will be given in the pre-requisites or co-requisites section of the relevant module descriptor. Please note for students of Modern Languages Portuguese (Single Honours or Combined Honours) MLP1002 is compulsory. For FLC students or other non-Modern Language students, it remains optional.
Stage 2
30 credits of compulsory modules in your chosen language and 30 credits of core for Communications.
60 credits of optional modules (30 credits of Communications options, and 30 credits of Modern Languages options).
Compulsory Modules
Subject to choosing 120 credits for the stage overall, you must:
c - CMM2008 is a pre-requisite for taking either CMM3002 Communications Dissertation or CMM3003 Communications Practical Research Project in final year. In addition you also choose 30 credits of Communications options.
d - Select 30 credits of compulsory modules in your chosen language.
| Code | Module | Credits | Non-condonable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| CMM2008 | Communications Research Methods | 30 | No |
| Modern Languages Stage 2 Compulsory Language Modules | |||
| MLF2001 | French Language, Written and Oral | 30 | No |
| MLF2152 | Intermediate French | 30 | No |
| MLG2001 | German Language, Written and Oral | 30 | No |
| MLG2052 | Intermediate German | 30 | No |
| MLI2001 | Italian Language, Written and Oral | 30 | No |
| MLI2051 | Italian Language | 30 | No |
| MLM2052 | Intermediate Chinese (One) | 30 | No |
| MLP2052 | Intermediate Portuguese | 30 | No |
| MLR2001 | Contemporary Russian Written and Oral I | 30 | No |
| MLR2030 | Intermediate Russian | 30 | No |
| MLS2001 | Spanish Language, Written and Oral | 30 | No |
| MLS2156 | Spanish Language (ex-beginners) | 30 | No |
Optional Modules
e - Select 30 credits of Communications modules (You may only choose one communications in the Workplace module)
f - Select 30 credits of optional modules consisting of content related to your chosen language
| Code | Module | Credits | Non-condonable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Media and Communications Stage 2 Option Modules 2024-5 | |||
| CMM2010 | Professional Writing | 30 | No |
| CMM2011 | History of Communications | 30 | No |
| CMM2012 | Communications and the Climate Crisis | 30 | No |
| CMM2013 | Introduction to Games Studies | 30 | No |
| EAF2505 | Spectacular Attractions: Cinema and Sensation | 30 | No |
| EAF2511 | Television: Times, Trends and Technologies | 30 | No |
| HUM2000 | Humanities in the Workplace | 30 | No |
Stage 3
120 credit compulsory placement module
Compulsory Modules
g - You must take one of these modules.
| Code | Module | Credits | Non-condonable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| SML3010 | Work and Study Abroad | 120 | Yes |
| SML3020 | Study Abroad at a Partner University (with Assessment in the Foreign Language) | 120 | Yes |
| SML3025 | Internship Abroad Combined with Study at a Partner University Abroad | 120 | Yes |
Stage 4
30 credits of compulsory dissertation, 30 credits of compulsory modules in your chosen language , 60 credits of optional modules, including 30 credits of Communications modules and 30 credits of optional modules consisting of content related to your chosen language.
Compulsory Modules
Subject to choosing 120 credits in the stage overall, you must:
h - Select one Dissertation module only from those listed
i - Select 30 credits of compulsory modules in your chosen language.
| Code | Module | Credits | Non-condonable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| CMM3002 | Communications: Dissertation | 30 | No |
| CMM3003 | Communications: Practical Research Project | 30 | No |
| SML3030 | Extended Dissertation | 30 | No |
| Modern Languages Final Stage Compulsory Language Modules | |||
| MLM3111 | Advanced Chinese Language Skills | 30 | No |
| MLF3111 | Advanced French Language Skills | 30 | No |
| MLG3111 | Advanced German Language Skills | 30 | No |
| MLI3111 | Advanced Italian Language Skills | 30 | No |
| MLP3111 | Advanced Portuguese Language Skills | 30 | No |
| MLR3111 | Advanced Russian Language Skills | 30 | No |
| MLS3111 | Advanced Spanish Language Skills | 30 | No |
Optional Modules
j - Select 30 - 60 credits of optional Communications modules (depending on dissertation chosen).
k - Select 0 - 30 credits of optional modules consisting of content related to your chosen language (depending on dissertation chosen).
| Code | Module | Credits | Non-condonable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Media & Communications Final Stage CH Option Modules 2025-6 | |||
| CMM3005 | Gender, Sexuality and Media | 30 | No |
| CMM3006 | Digital Inequalities | 30 | No |
| CMM3007 | Critical AI Studies | 30 | No |
| CMM3008 | Imagining Tech Futures for the Common Good | 30 | No |
| CMM3009 | Selling the Self: Influencer Culture and Digital Capitalism | 30 | No |
| CMM3010 | Social Media and Migration | 30 | No |
| DRA3102 | Audio Dramaturgy: Theatre of the Ear | 30 | No |
| EAF3501 | American Independent Film | 30 | No |
| EAF3515 | Something to See: War and Visual Media | 30 | No |
| EAF3518 | Queering British Film and Television | 30 | No |
| EAF3519 | Cinema in the Anthropocene | 30 | No |
| EAF3522 | Film, Philosophy, and the Internet | 30 | No |
| EAF3523 | Perspectives on Animation | 30 | No |
| Chinese Final Stage Option Modules 2025-6 | |||
| MLM3009 | China through the Lens: Cultural Translation and Self-Presentation | 15 | No |
| SML3015 | Dissertation | 15 | No |
| SML3052 | The Place of Meaning: Gardens in Europe and Asia | 15 | No |
| SML3009 | Intercultural Communication in a Global World | 15 | No |
| MLM3008 | Introduction to Modern Chinese Literature | 15 | No |
| SML3041 | Green Matters in Modern Languages and Cultures | 15 | No |
| SML3042 | Transcultural Devon: Creating, Analysing and Subtitling Interviews in the Context of Migration | 15 | No |
| SML3043 | Migration and Multilingualism | 15 | No |
| SML3030 | Extended Dissertation | 30 | No |
| French Final Stage Option Modules 2025-6 | |||
| SML3030 | Extended Dissertation | 30 | No |
| MLF3006 | The Invention of Modern Love | 15 | No |
| MLF3007 | Multilingualism, Audiovisual Translation and Power in Cinema-monde | 15 | No |
| MLF3075 | First-Person Outsiders in Modern French Literature | 15 | No |
| MLF3079 | Sex, Subversion and Censorship: Libertine Literature in Seventeenth-Century France | 15 | No |
| SML3009 | Intercultural Communication in a Global World | 15 | No |
| SML3015 | Dissertation | 15 | No |
| MLF3078 | Philosophers, Prophets and Mystics in French Culture | 15 | No |
| MLF3080 | Les Miserables from the Nineteenth Century to the Present Day | 15 | No |
| SML3041 | Green Matters in Modern Languages and Cultures | 15 | No |
| SML3042 | Transcultural Devon: Creating, Analysing and Subtitling Interviews in the Context of Migration | 15 | No |
| SML3043 | Migration and Multilingualism | 15 | No |
| SML3044 | Migration in World Cinema | 15 | No |
| German Final Stage Option Modules 2025-6 | |||
| MLG3037 | Coping with Catastrophe: German Culture, Literature and Politics in the Interwar Years | 15 | No |
| SML3009 | Intercultural Communication in a Global World | 15 | No |
| SML3015 | Dissertation | 15 | No |
| MLG3036 | Dictatorships on Display: History Exhibitions in Germany and Austria | 15 | No |
| SML3041 | Green Matters in Modern Languages and Cultures | 15 | No |
| SML3042 | Transcultural Devon: Creating, Analysing and Subtitling Interviews in the Context of Migration | 15 | No |
| SML3043 | Migration and Multilingualism | 15 | No |
| SML3044 | Migration in World Cinema | 15 | No |
| SML3030 | Extended Dissertation | 30 | No |
| Italian Final Stage Option Modules 2025-6 | |||
| AHV3002 | Understanding Space in Renaissance Italy | 15 | No |
| SML3009 | Intercultural Communication in a Global World | 15 | No |
| SML3015 | Dissertation | 15 | No |
| MLI3033 | Multicultural Italy | 15 | No |
| SML3041 | Green Matters in Modern Languages and Cultures | 15 | No |
| SML3042 | Transcultural Devon: Creating, Analysing and Subtitling Interviews in the Context of Migration | 15 | No |
| SML3043 | Migration and Multilingualism | 15 | No |
| SML3044 | Migration in World Cinema | 15 | No |
| SML3030 | Extended Dissertation | 30 | No |
| Portuguese Final Stage Option Modules 2025-6 | |||
| SML3009 | Intercultural Communication in a Global World | 15 | No |
| SML3015 | Dissertation | 15 | No |
| SML3041 | Green Matters in Modern Languages and Cultures | 15 | No |
| SML3042 | Transcultural Devon: Creating, Analysing and Subtitling Interviews in the Context of Migration | 15 | No |
| SML3043 | Migration and Multilingualism | 15 | No |
| SML3044 | Migration in World Cinema | 15 | No |
| SML3030 | Extended Dissertation | 30 | No |
| Russian Final Stage Option Modules 2025-6 | |||
| MLR3026 | The Deceptive City: The Creation of St Petersburg in Russian Literature | 15 | No |
| SML3009 | Intercultural Communication in a Global World | 15 | No |
| SML3015 | Dissertation | 15 | No |
| MLR3121 | Understanding Russia | 15 | No |
| MLR3125 | Imperfect Murder: Reading Crime and Punishment | 15 | No |
| SML3041 | Green Matters in Modern Languages and Cultures | 15 | No |
| SML3042 | Transcultural Devon: Creating, Analysing and Subtitling Interviews in the Context of Migration | 15 | No |
| SML3043 | Migration and Multilingualism | 15 | No |
| SML3030 | Extended Dissertation | 30 | No |
| Spanish Final Stage Option Modules 2025-6 | |||
| MLS3071 | The Chilean Road to Socialism (1970-1973): What Happened and Why? Elements for a Debate | 15 | No |
| MLS3037 | Women and Feminism in 20th Century Spain | 15 | No |
| MLS3057 | Cross Currents: Memory, Myth and Modernity in Latin America | 15 | No |
| MLS3112 | Spanish Modernists: Narratives of Identity, Gender and Nation | 15 | No |
| SML3009 | Intercultural Communication in a Global World | 15 | No |
| SML3015 | Dissertation | 15 | No |
| MLS3072 | Unlawful Sex: Sexualities on Trial in Medieval Spain | 15 | No |
| MLS3114 | Sustainability in the Hispanic World | 15 | No |
| SML3031 | Advanced Translation Skills | 15 | No |
| SML3041 | Green Matters in Modern Languages and Cultures | 15 | No |
| SML3042 | Transcultural Devon: Creating, Analysing and Subtitling Interviews in the Context of Migration | 15 | No |
| SML3043 | Migration and Multilingualism | 15 | No |
| SML3044 | Migration in World Cinema | 15 | No |
| SML3030 | Extended Dissertation | 30 | No |
6. Programme Outcomes Linked to Teaching, Learning and Assessment Methods
Intended Learning Outcomes
A: Specialised Subject Skills and Knowledge
| Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) On successfully completing this programme you will be able to: | Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) will be... | |
|---|---|---|
| ...accommodated and facilitated by the following learning and teaching activities (in/out of class): | ...and evidenced by the following assessment methods: | |
Intended Learning Outcomes
B: Academic Discipline Core Skills and Knowledge
| Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) On successfully completing this programme you will be able to: | Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) will be... | |
|---|---|---|
| ...accommodated and facilitated by the following learning and teaching activities (in/out of class): | ...and evidenced by the following assessment methods: | |
Intended Learning Outcomes
C: Personal/Transferable/Employment Skills and Knowledge
| Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) On successfully completing this programme you will be able to: | Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) will be... | |
|---|---|---|
| ...accommodated and facilitated by the following learning and teaching activities (in/out of class): | ...and evidenced by the following assessment methods: | |
7. Programme Regulations
Classification
Full details of assessment regulations for all taught programmes can be found in the TQA Manual, specifically in the Credit and Qualifications Framework, and the Assessment, Progression and Awarding: Taught Programmes Handbook. Additional information, including Generic Marking Criteria, can be found in the Learning and Teaching Support Handbook.
8. College Support for Students and Students' Learning
9. University Support for Students and Students' Learning
Please refer to the University Academic Policy and Standards guidelines regarding support for students and students' learning.
10. Admissions Criteria
Undergraduate applicants must satisfy the Undergraduate Admissions Policy of the University of Exeter.
Postgraduate applicants must satisfy the Postgraduate Admissions Policy of the University of Exeter.
Specific requirements required to enrol on this programme are available at the respective Undergraduate or Postgraduate Study Site webpages.
11. Regulation of Assessment and Academic Standards
Each academic programme in the University is subject to an agreed College assessment and marking strategy, underpinned by institution-wide assessment procedures.
The security of assessment and academic standards is further supported through the appointment of External Examiners for each programme. External Examiners have access to draft papers, course work and examination scripts. They are required to attend the Board of Examiners and to provide an annual report. Annual External Examiner reports are monitored at both College and University level. Their responsibilities are described in the University's code of practice. See the University's TQA Manual for details.
14. Awarding Institution
University of Exeter
15. Lead College / Teaching Institution
Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS)
16. Partner College / Institution
Partner College(s)
Not applicable to this programme
Partner Institution
Not applicable to this programme.
17. Programme Accredited / Validated by
0
18. Final Award
BA (Hons) Communications and Global Cultural Studies (4-year)
19. UCAS Code
Not applicable to this programme.
20. NQF Level of Final Award
6 (Honours)
21. Credit
| CATS credits | ECTS credits |
|---|
22. QAA Subject Benchmarking Group
23. Dates
| Origin Date | Date of last revision |
|---|