Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Film and Media Studies with Placement Year

at Manchester Metropolitan University United Kingdom

Photography offers an exciting range of career paths and specialisms and this course provides the perfect starting point for them.

You will have the opportunity to discover and push the boundaries of current practices and approaches. You’ll discover how photography can be used to tell powerful stories and communicate your personal interests within cultural and industry contexts. You will also have an opportunity to explore a wide range of different subject areas such as fashion, documentary, editorial and commercial photography. Throughout the course you will have the chance to experiment in a purpose-built studio, darkroom and digital facilities.

As a Photography student you will be part of the broad, dynamic creative community at the School of Digital Arts. As such, you will have units and classes taught across all our courses, with the chance to collaborate on projects with animators, sound designers, games developers and a range of other media-focused students. It’s an approach designed to mirror the cross-disciplinary practices you’ll find in the professional world, while giving you the chance to explore the creative directions that interest you most. Matching that professional approach, our purpose-built school provides professional-standard tools – a brand new creative playground for producing photographic work at the cutting edge of emerging digital technologies. It’s a school and a course designed to give you the vital industry and artist networking, technical and creative skills to prepare you for a career in the photographic and related industries.

Manchester offers a fantastic backdrop for it all. Studying here puts the country’s second-largest media and creative sector on your doorstep, with a globally recognised photographic industry and a substantial animation, film and digital/tech sector. At MediaCityUK, there’s a mix of national broadcasters and independent operators, while the city is home to a wide range of major media businesses. Manchester has a dynamic artistic and cultural scene that houses some of the best public and independent museums and galleries in the UK . So, whatever path you want to pursue in photography – or in the wider media, arts and digital tech industries – Manchester offers all sorts of opportunities for building a network, gaining experience and making a great start in your career.

Placement options

SODA Placement Year
As part of your studies with SODA, you will have the chance to take a year working on placement within the industry. During your year, you will spend at least 36 weeks working within an organisation in the industry, developing workplace skills, practical understanding and genuine industry experience.

The subject of Interiors is a dynamic and nimble discipline which moves between the fields of Architecture and Design, creating diverse responses that have a strong desire to improve the lives of those who interact with existing buildings and interior space.

You will investigate and interpret interior space, inside and outside of the traditional architectural envelope, considering adaptive re-use, human occupation, spatial experience and social innovation as potential catalysts for design propositions.

Projects may manifest in a variety of outcomes and allow you to work in-depth in your chosen speciality such as interior architecture, commercial interior design, exhibition design, branded environments, environmental graphics, performance or set design, temporary installations or ‘event’ design, furniture or artefact design.

Interiors students are best characterised by their ability to underpin conceptual enquiry and intellectual curiosity with design/architectural theory, combined with strong technical knowledge and communication tools. Collaboration, and the ability to work with a variety of disciplines, is a strong aspect of the course.

Marketing has changed with the arrival of the digital era. Today, any business can operate on an international scale via different online channels. With so much competition, connecting with customers has never been more important.

This industry-accredited master's offers you the chance to explore the latest thinking and techniques in this rapidly changing field.

You'll look at both traditional and digital marketing principles and strategies, as you develop an in-depth understanding of the marketing role in organisations of all shapes and sizes.

You’ll also examine the issues and opportunities in marketing, strategy and consumer behaviour.

Optional internship year

If you choose to take the optional one-year internship, you’ll do so once you have successfully completed your taught units. The internship takes place over 36-48 weeks – you will be supported by our Placement Office, who have extensive contacts within the industry and over 25 years’ experience of helping students to find placements..

The Placement Office advertise a variety of opportunities, support and advise on the application and recruitment process and continue to support you whilst you are away from the University.

MA Architecture and Adaptive Reuse is a programme about existing buildings, situations and places, and how over time these structures and locations can be encouraged to evolve, sustain new uses, and accommodate new users. Students on the course will investigate strategies for adaptive reuse - strategies that are not applied as a reaction to current conditions, but in anticipation of future changes.

Adaptation is now at the forefront of architectural practice; two of the most pressing challenges in the 21st century are climate change and urbanisation. Given that already more than half of the global population live in urban environments, and by 2050, it is projected that over 70% of the world population will live in cities, all societies need to be able to accommodate growth while at the same time, reducing consumption. The existing building stock needs to become both more efficient and more resilient.

Students will investigate the four main aspects of sustainable reuse - environmental, societal, inhabitation and economic – while also exploring heritage, history, memory, community, and the influence these factors have on remodelling activities. They will look at the impact that context and the environment have upon projects, while developing an understanding of some of the technical issues including construction, environmental control, and materials in order to make creative and appropriate proposals for new users of buildings. Students will also examine specific examples of adaptive reuse, theories of reuse and explore strategies for the conservation and adaptation of the existing environment.­­

The specialist workshops within Manchester School of Art and the University of Manchester will provide students with opportunities to explore materiality, fabrication, and the realisation of ideas. Studio teaching is research-informed and underpinned by design research methodologies and engagement with industry.

BA (Hons) Filmmaking is a practice-based course giving you the creative freedom to develop your voice through the dynamic language of film.

Our learning environment incorporates a unique mix of digital art and film school philosophies, empowering you to express your ideas and stories through narrative fiction, documentary, artists’ moving image and new media. You will specialise in original ideas from unique perspectives, with the potential for your work to be screened in international venues.

Studying at the School of Digital Arts means learning beyond the usual limits. You’ll be part of a vibrant creative community that spans a range of disciplines, from photography and animation, to music and sound design. It’s an environment designed for collaboration – a place where you can push the boundaries of filmmaking, explore the directions that interest you most and develop a broad skill set made for today’s digital arts and media sector. Here, you’ll have access to a vast range of specialist resources and purpose-built facilities, as well as a wealth of opportunities for developing your professional skills, from work experience placements and industry competitions to guest lectures and collaborations with organisations.

The UK film and television industry is a global success story and Manchester is the perfect place to write your own chapter. It’s a major media city, second only to London. The likes of the BBC and ITV are on our doorstep at MediaCityUK, while the city is also home to a thriving, bustling digital production sector, from innovative start-ups to established production companies. For today, that means you’ll have the chance to work on live industry projects – developing practical skills and valuable experience. For tomorrow, that means you’ll graduate in one of the most exciting cities in Europe for starting a career in the creative and digital industries.

Placement options

SODA Placement Year
As part of your studies with SODA, you will have the chance to take a year working on placement within the industry. During your year, you will spend at least 36 weeks working within an organisation in the industry, developing workplace skills, practical understanding and genuine industry experience.

Tourism and hospitality are exciting and dynamic areas of study and present a wide range of opportunities for careers all over the world.

Following the impact of COVID-19, employers are going to be looking for fresh and innovative minds to help rebuild these industries in a rapidly evolving environment, creating a platform for the next generation of tourism and hospitality professionals.

On this course, we will teach you the latest tourism and hospitality management theory and practice and how it applies to tourist operations, attractions, resorts and more.

By industry, for industry
We have created this course in partnership with airlines, attractions, hotels and other organisations, including the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), The Fat Duck Group and Expedia. We work with even more organisations from the visitor economy in order to give you first-hand experience of the industry throughout your studies.

You will have the opportunity to work on live client briefs and regularly hear from experts within the industry who will share their knowledge and expertise with you. Engaging with industry professionals will help to give you an insight into how different organisations operate, and how they respond and adjust to the opportunities and challenges they face.

Experts in the field
Our tutors have experience working in various tourism and hospitality organisations around the world, including tour operators, airlines, event organisers, hotels and attractions. In addition to our expertise in tourism and hospitality, you will also be taught by experts in the specialist areas of digital strategy and entrepreneurship.

We are passionate about industry sustainability at Manchester Met and the long-term future of tourism and hospitality. Join us on this course to find out how you could play a part in helping to rebuild one of the most exciting industries in the world.

BA Sociology offers exciting opportunities for you to study the cutting-edge discipline of sociology in the vibrant city of Manchester. It is aimed at students who want to understand and analyse contemporary social phenomena, trends and struggles, as well as think critically about solutions to pressing social issues.

The first year introduces you to the building blocks of sociology: key sociological concepts and theories, social divisions and problems, and major transformations – such as globalisation or digital culture – which are altering the fabric of contemporary society. You will receive training in a wide range of research methods during the first two years, to become equipped to undertake your own independent research project in your final year.

Our large, multi-disciplinary department believes in offering you extensive optionality to study specific areas of sociology in depth. Throughout the degree, there is an emphasis on developing skills and experiences that are relevant to professional careers, including work experience, study-abroad schemes, and independent project work. In your final year you also have the option of moving onto the BSc route, which means receiving extensive quantitative methods training and graduating with a BSc title. You may also have the opportunity to spend an extra year expanding your horizons studying with one of our partner universities overseas.

On our MSc Artificial Intelligence course, you’ll be taught by academics who are experts in the area, many of whom are currently conducting research into the subject as part of our Centre for Advanced Computational Science research group. This ensures that our curriculum is based on research-informed content at the leading edge of this fast-paced field.

This course will build on your existing computing knowledge. We aim to equip you with the fundamental principles of AI to be able to critically evaluate the theories, techniques, tools and systems used in the field. And the interdisciplinary applications, allowing you to specialize in this exciting, developing area.

You’ll also complete an in-depth master's project with the support of our academic and technical team. By the time you complete our postgraduate degree in AI, you’ll be well placed to succeed in this high-growth industry and ready to tackle the challenges facing businesses.

Businesses and governments rely on economists to help them examine issues, identify trends and deal with financial uncertainty. By studying our BA/BSc (Hons) Economics degree, you’ll explore how organizations and individuals invest and allocate their resources.

Throughout the course, we’ll challenge you to think about choices people make and how those decisions affect every aspect of our lives. You’ll explore everything from employment to distribution of wealth, government spending to international trade.

Please note that all students will apply directly to the BA (Hons) Economics. After studying BA (Hons) Economics in the first year, you can choose to continue on the BA (Hons) Economics, or transfer to BSc (Hons) Economics through the second and third year of study.

Philosophy shapes the way we think about ourselves, our relationships with each other and the natural world. Now, more than ever, reflection on these relationships is so important.

Drawing on a rich and varied tradition of philosophical theory across Anglo-American and the continental European traditions, our MA in Philosophy allows you to engage with those important action-guiding concepts that are at the centre of key debates about the human condition and our relationship with nature. You’ll gain the skills to think critically and deeply about the challenges that confront us across politics, the sciences and the arts, as a result of rapid contemporary social, technological and environmental changes.

Taught by a close-knit, dedicated team of internationally acknowledged experts in a range of philosophical disciplines, you will gain first-hand knowledge of the key ideas and arguments of some of the greatest ancient, modern and contemporary philosophers. You will read some of the oldest texts of Western philosophy and some of the most recent, all of which are deeply relevant to our practices and lives today.

This course will tackle some of the most challenging modern and contemporary philosophical texts across a range of areas including philosophy of science and biology, metaphysics, critical social theories, ethics, aesthetics and the philosophy of art. So, by the time you graduate, you’ll be equipped with the knowledge, skills, intellectual confidence and resources to pursue your own exciting research projects.

We have close links with other departments within the University, and you will have a distinctive opportunity to develop your philosophical work in a genuinely interdisciplinary environment. You will be able to write a long research-project on a topic of your choice with the expert guidance of one of our philosophy tutors.