Bachelor of Arts (Media & Communications) and Bachelor of Laws
ObjectivesThe Bachelor of Arts (Media and Communications) has as its objectives that graduates:
* are enabled to develop a comprehensive overview of the media's place in today's society, economy and culture, with an emphasis on the Asia-Pacific region;
* are provided with the fundamental written communication skills required by successful journalists and other media professionals;
* are helped to achieve an understanding of new communication technologies and their impact on the fast-changing global media environment;
* are trained to think across media, a skill we see as increasingly important for the next generation of media professionals and media researchers;
* are helped to appreciate the value of an international and interdisciplinary approach to the study of Media and Communications;
* are offered the opportunity to gain industry experience in the form of internships;
* are offered opportunities to develop research skills and engage in applied analysis of media within different subjects and through the presentation of a final research project.
Academic titleBachelor of Arts (Media & Communications) and Bachelor of Laws
Course descriptionFirst Year Compulsory Subjects
Student complete subjects totalling 100 points which must include the following compulsory subjects;
Subject Semester Credit Points
100-100 Introduction to Media and Communications
This subject offers a broad introduction to the study of Media and Communications and a solid foundation for more advanced study in years two and three. It aims to encourage students to reflect on the relevance and value of studying Media and Communi... Semester 1, Semester 2 12.50
100-101 Professional Writing
This subject aims to enhance students' writing in general by introducing them to the fundamental skills used by professional writers within the Media and Communications industries. Through a workshop format, students will work on their own news ... Semester 1, Semester 2 12.50
First Year Optional Subjects
First-year Media and Communications students must select two of the following optional first-year subjects:
Subject Semester Credit Points
110-118 Language and Power in Asian Societies
This subject examines the intimate relationship between language and society in the historical and contemporary contexts of three internationally strategic regions: East Asia, insular Southeast Asia, and the Arabic world. It will explore recurring th... Semester 1 12.50
166-103 International Politics
This subject provides students with an introduction to the actors, institutions, dynamics and key debates that make up international politics. It equips students to ‘go behind the news’ of world affairs and understand the deep... Semester 1 12.50
166-107 Media, Politics and Society
This subject will not be available in 2009 12.50
166-108 Introduction to Political Ideas
An accessible survey of the most important ideas in Western political thinking since Plato and Aristotle, with emphasis on the major schools of thought since the eighteenth century ‘Enlightenment’, especially those that have h... Semester 2 12.50
175-105 The Secret Life of Language
Have you ever wondered how language actually works? Or how it can be that a 6 year-old child can know more about their native language than the most sophisticated computers? This subject is a practical introduction to the nature of human language whi... Semester 1 12.50
175-134 Project Based Communication
This subject will not be available in 2009 12.50
107-132 Introduction to Cinema Studies
This subject provides students with a comprehensive introduction to the study of film language and theory. It is organised around these two separate but related areas. The film language component covers two interrelated topics that are essential for ... Semester 1 12.50
106-101 Culture, Media and Everyday Life
This subject offers an introduction to contemporary cultural studies by focusing on the media and their effects in everyday life. It analyses film, television, new media, advertising and photography; considers their approaches across interacting regi... Semester 2 12.50
175-108 Intercultural Communication
This subject involves the main components of communicative events across cultures, the main linguistic approaches to analysing them, how they vary in a range of cultures from around the world, and the difficulties and misunderstandings these differen... Semester 2 12.50
Second-year Compulsory Subjects
Second-year Media and Communications students in the enriched major stream must select three of the following compulsory second-year subjects:
Second-year Media and Communications students in the double major stream must select two of the following compulsory second-year subjects:
Subject Semester Credit Points
100-204 Media and Communications Research
Research is a vital activity of media professionals and academics. This subject offers a critical introduction to the fundamental tools for research into media institutions, technologies, texts and audiences. Students will be introduced to the gather... Semester 2 12.50
100-205 Writing Journalism
This subject teaches the craft of writing hard and soft news stories, as well as features, for newspapers and newspaper supplements and magazines. With an emphasis on news writing, students learn what news is and how (and why) news priorities and sto... Semester 1 12.50
100-206 Net Communications
This subject introduces students to techniques in written communication for digital media, with a focus on publishing for the Internet and the world wide web. Students receive workshop instruction in web publishing techniques, with the aim of realisi... Semester 1 12.50
100-207 Asian Public Relations
This subject provides a cultural and political map of forms of public relations practices in a range of countries across the Asia Pacific region. The subject examines the emerging role of professional bodies and regulatory agencies in the ethical pra... Semester 2 12.50
100-220 Marketing Communications
This subject focuses on the development, management and control of Media and Communications marketing both locally and internationally. Topics will include advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and other elements of the communications mix. ... Semester 2 12.50
100-222 Understanding Australian Media
This subject examines Australian media with an emphasis on its political nature and issues of policy, regulation, ownership, governance and local content. Students are encouraged to actively, and critically, examine their own media use. Drawing on th... Semester 2 12.50
Third-year Compulsory Subjects
Third-year media and communications students in the enriched major stream must select four of the following compulsory third-year subjects:
Third-year media and communications students in the double major stream must select two of the following compulsory third-year subjects:
Subject Semester Credit Points
100-310 Media and Communications Internship
In this subject, students will acquire practical experience in one or more media and communications environments, under the guidance of a workplace mentor. Academic supervision and support will be provided in the form of on-campus lecture/workshops a... Semester 1, Semester 2 25
100-311 Media & Communications Research Project
The Media and Communications Research Project provides students with an opportunity to conduct an extensive analysis of any form of media output, theoretical framework, institutional structure, or mode of reception. Students will deploy, and reflect ... Semester 1, Semester 2 25
100-204 Media and Communications Research
Research is a vital activity of media professionals and academics. This subject offers a critical introduction to the fundamental tools for research into media institutions, technologies, texts and audiences. Students will be introduced to the gather... Semester 2 12.50
100-205 Writing Journalism
This subject teaches the craft of writing hard and soft news stories, as well as features, for newspapers and newspaper supplements and magazines. With an emphasis on news writing, students learn what news is and how (and why) news priorities and sto... Semester 1 12.50
100-206 Net Communications
This subject introduces students to techniques in written communication for digital media, with a focus on publishing for the Internet and the world wide web. Students receive workshop instruction in web publishing techniques, with the aim of realisi... Semester 1 12.50
100-207 Asian Public Relations
This subject provides a cultural and political map of forms of public relations practices in a range of countries across the Asia Pacific region. The subject examines the emerging role of professional bodies and regulatory agencies in the ethical pra... Semester 2 12.50
100-220 Marketing Communications
This subject focuses on the development, management and control of Media and Communications marketing both locally and internationally. Topics will include advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and other elements of the communications mix. ... Semester 2 12.50
100-222 Understanding Australian Media
This subject examines Australian media with an emphasis on its political nature and issues of policy, regulation, ownership, governance and local content. Students are encouraged to actively, and critically, examine their own media use. Drawing on th... Semester 2 12.50
100-301 Global Media Cultures
This subject explores global media across different cultures. Students will engage with debates on different aspects of global culture, including national cultural formations, institutional structures, media ownership, and transnational media. This s... Semester 1 12.50
100-302 Politics, Communication, Media
This subject examines the changing relationship between the media and contemporary political institutions and processes. Major topics include the media's role in setting political agendas, the media's function as 'fourth estate', ... Semester 1 12.50
100-303 Media Futures and New Technologies
This subject examines the pressures of technological change on contemporary media institutions and communications practices. Students will be introduced to key debates about media convergence, the relationship between technological change and media p... Semester 2 12.50
100-312 Advanced Writing
This subject provides students with the skills to write at an advanced journalistic level. Lectures will present students with techniques that will enhance skills in interviewing, news judgement, narrative technique, researching, framing ideas, devel... Semester 2 12.50