Course Catalogue

1. To provide students with a stimulating, research informed programme that equips them with the knowledge and skills to reflect critically on literary and media texts, cultural institutions, communication practices and the contemporary, historical and international contexts in which they are produced and circulated; 2. To enable students to become rigorous, critical and analytic in their thinking while nurturing their intellectual and creative potential; 3. To deliver an academic programme that focuses on key analytical and critical issues in literary studies as well as the relationship between media, culture and communication; 4. To develop subject knowledge and transferable skills sensitive to the changing needs of communication, creative and cultural industries which provide the basis for students to pursue a variety of careers; 5. To support students' learning through diverse teaching and assessment practices, underpinned by staff development and research informed teaching; 6. To encourage students to engage with the development of employability skills by completing a self-awareness statement.

The EMCS programme employs a teaching, learning and assessment strategy which helps students develop as increasingly independent learners during levels 4, 5 and 6. Knowledge and understanding is acquired through both staff-led and student-centred strategies with a progressive emphasis on the latter as students develop as independent learners. Teaching and learning consists of both formal and interactive lectures and seminars which provide opportunities to present, discuss and reflect upon ideas and case studies. In addition, there are: workshops, tutorials, screenings, small group work, independent study, on-line supported study, enquiry-based learning and work-based learning. These methods are designed to: foster student progression; stimulate interest; encourage critical reflection and participation; provide equal opportunities to develop learning skills at all levels; encourage critical analysis and the application of theory; and utilise ICT and the Virtual Learning Environment. Feedback (diagnostic, formative and summative) is timely and constructive and provided by electronic, verbal and written means. Assessment across the programme is designed to be coherent and balanced in order to facilitate the achievement of module and programme learning outcomes. Assessment meets the criteria (QAA, School and LJMU) of validity, reliability and consistency. Assessment takes account of students with particular needs (SENDA compliant). Forms of assessment include: individual and group essays based on given titles or titles negotiated with tutors; reviews; individual and group presentations; individual critical reflection; logbooks; portfolios of practical work; research exercises; unseen examinations; annotated bibliographies; work based learning reports; blogs, other online exercises and discussion contributions; independent study projects and dissertations. Placement learning experience will be delivered and reviewed and/or assessed in accordance with the LJMU Placement Learning Code of Practice (8.7.15). In this programme the teaching and learning of intellectual skills are inseparable from the acquisition of knowledge and understanding. Lectures provide models of intellectual skill; workshops, seminars and tutorials allow students to practice intellectual skills in a collaborative environment through structured discussions of written texts and of ideas; independent study gives students the opportunity to absorb and reflect on what is learned in taught sessions, while practising their developing skills through personal engagement with reading, writing and researching. Intellectual skills are assessed through the range of forms of assessment used on the English, Media and Cultural Studies programme that are itemised above. The forms of assessment are introduced and developed over the three years of the degree to allow students to: develop the ability to think independently; critically reflect on their work; formulate and research their own topics and build upon their own knowledge and interests. A programme in English, Media and Cultural Studies is centrally concerned with how meaning is produced, especially through verbal and written language. Students are therefore expected to use language sensitively and precisely. All teaching and learning activities involve opportunities for developing and improving communication skills: lectures enable students to develop skills in active listening and assimilating ideas and information; discussions in seminars also facilitate listening skills, spoken communication skills, responsiveness to others, group work and interpersonal skills. The skills taught, learned, and assessed above are those which, while central to the particular study of English, Media and Cultural Studies, can also be applied in other contexts outside the subject. They are crucially valued by employers in all professional environments.

All LJMU undergraduate programmes are required to incorporate into a L4 module an assessment item of the submission of a Future Focus assignment: this is administered through 4109ENGL. At level 5 the assessment for the core module 5100MEDCUL Public Communication requires students to respond to a brief for a public information campaign created with a partner from the media, cultural and communication industries or the public sector and to prepare and evaluate a practical portfolio of persuasive communication. EMCS students also take 5100MEDCUL Public Communication which involves a group work-related assessment. All students on the programme are encouraged to understand that the goals of their course of study are wider than academic achievement alone, and to appreciate ways in which the work they do supports strong claims to employability. The programme’s PDP system is designed to provide students with opportunities (and support) when reflecting on – and documenting – their achievements inside and outside the programme of study, thereby raising their capacity to represent their achievements to others, or to translate what they do during their undergraduate years into a language that appeals to employers. This support is enhanced and extended by the work of colleagues in the University Careers Service. At level 6 the module 6119MEDCUL Media and Cultural Industries work-based learning research option enables students to undertake a placement or concentrate on career planning.