BA Cultural and Media Studies

Programme overview

Entry requirements

Entry Requirements are available on the Course Search entry

Programme specification

This programme, located within the School of Fine Art, History of Art, and Cultural Studies, and jointly delivered with the School of Media and Communications, cultivates a distinctive critical space. Drawing from the traditions of continental, critical and philosophical theory on language, mediation, and communication, this programme integrating Cultural and Media Studies within a Russell Group university, provides students with an intellectually stimulating interdisciplinary programme and simultaneously propels the field of cultural and media studies forward. We invite students interested in an interdisciplinary approach toward studying literature, philosophy, history, arts, film, or contemporary social and cultural experiences, which are influenced by various forms media and mediation and emerging from diverse informal, formal, and institutional contexts.

Building upon the latest scholarship and discussions in advanced critical and cultural theory and grounded in the critique of established and normative concepts of 'New Media' and 'Media Studies,' our Cultural and Media Studies degree builds upon the foundational goals of British Cultural Studies, focusing on expanding education, fostering broader participation, and enriching the scope of subjects open to rigorous intellectual analysis. We propel interdisciplinary studies as a significant and relevant method, especially suited for the current challenges that students face in the second and third decades of the twenty-first century. The programme is distinctive in the combination of humanistic Cultural Studies (drawing together theoretical, textual, aesthetic, and historical approaches to major formations of culture since the period of the European Enlightenment to globalized and postcolonial presents) and in its fostering of disciplinary awareness and the plurality of methodological approaches across all the levels of the programme.

Through a structured and research-oriented curriculum, the programme aims to cultivate research, writing, and presentation skills while exploring major critical traditions and core concepts. The unique characteristics of this program emerge from the fusion of humanistic Cultural Studies, which integrates theoretical, textual, aesthetic, and historical perspectives on significant cultural formations spanning from the European Enlightenment to present-day globalized and postcolonial contexts. This is coupled with a theoretical and analytical exploration of media concepts, intricately connected to an in-depth historical and theoretical examination of mediation and medialization.

Through an examination of various cultural forms and mediated cultural practices, students will explore gender and sexual differences, postcolonial perspectives, and migratory and diasporic experiences within analogue, digital and artificial intelligence-mediated platforms, alongside reflecting on the aesthetics, trauma, and value of cultural memory within a global context of historical conflict and climate catastrophes. The programme specifically aims to address and actively incorporate the priorities established for all degrees offered by the University of Leeds: ethics and responsibility, international perspectives, and awareness of the implications of globalization, research-led studies, and employability.

Year 1

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable

Compulsory Modules

You will be required to study ALL the following compulsory modules.

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ARTF1052	Networks, Environments and Cultures	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ARTF1101	Introduction to Cultural Analysis 1	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ARTF1102	Introduction to Cultural Analysis 2	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Optional Modules

You are required to take 20 credits of compulsory modules from basket 1.
Basket 1:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ARTF1027	Cultural History	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
COMM1960	Studying Media	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)

In Semester 2, you are required to take either 40 credits of optional modules, or 20 credits of optional modules and 20 credits of discovery module(s). You can take a maximum of one module from Basket 2 and one module from Basket 3.

Basket 2:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ARTF1055	Race Matters	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Basket 3:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
COMM1210	The History of Communication	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
COMM1970	Introduction to Media and Communication Theory	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Discovery Modules

Year 2

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable

Compulsory Modules

You will be required to study the following compulsory module:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ARTF2127	Keywords	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Optional Modules

You will be required to study ONE of the following modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
COMM2125	Visual Communication	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
COMM2725	Digital Cultures	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

If you choose COMM2125 you must choose one optional module from either Basket 1 or Basket 2, and three Semester 2 modules, one from each of Basket 3, 4 and 5.
If you choose COMM2725 you must choose two Semester 1 modules from Basket 1 and 2, and two Semester 2 modules from across Baskets 3, 4, or 5. Alternatively, you may choose twenty credits of discovery modules in place of any one option. You must ensure that you are taking a minimum of 60 credits of ARTF-coded modules across the year.

Basket 1:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ARTF2055	Variant Modernism: British art in the short 20th Century	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ARTF2069	The Art Market: Moments, Methodologies, Meanings	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ARTF2092	The Museum	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ARTF2094	Art, Power and Portraiture	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ARTF2141	Thinking the Culture Wars: Local and Global Contexts	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)

Basket 2:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ARTF2049	The State of Utopia	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ARTF2052	Showing Asia	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ARTF2147	Art Criticism and its Criticisms	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ARTF2210	Absence, Representation, Violence	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ARTF2211	Art and the Social	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
COMM2375	Issues in Journalism	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)

Basket 3:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ARTF2140	Earth and Environment in Nineteenth-century British Art	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ARTF2142	Cinema/Post-Cinema	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ARTF2145	Bodies of Difference	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ARTF2146	Professional Opportunities in the Arts Sector	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Basket 4:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ARTF2205	Renaissance / Anti-Renaissance: Critical Approaches to Early Modern Art in Europe	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ARTF2208	African Art: Context, Representation, Signification	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ARTF2525	Essaying Feminisms	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Basket 5

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
COMM2950	Media, Power and Social Justice	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
COMM2960	Videogames: Identities in Play	20	Not running in 202627
CSER2206	Developing Your Professional Identity: Preparing for a Career in Within The Arts, Heritage and Creative Industries	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
PECI2903	From the Printing Press to AI: a Global History of the Cultural and Creative Industries	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Discovery Modules

You can take 20 credits of Discovery modules in place of an option from ONE of any of the baskets.

Year 3

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable

Optional Modules

You will be required to study ONE of the following compulsory modules.

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ARTF3130	Short Dissertation	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP
ARTF3170	Dissertation	60	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP

You will be required to take one module from each of THREE baskets (if taking the 60 credit dissertation) or one module from all FOUR baskets (if taking the 40 credit dissertation) You may take 20 credits of Discovery Modules in place of one of these options. You must ensure that you are taking a minimum of 60 credits of ARTF-coded modules across the year. Note that the list is indicative, and may change year by year.

Basket 1:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ARTF3034	From Trauma to Cultural Memory: The Unfinished Business of Representation and the Holocaust	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ARTF3056	Unmaking Things: Materials and Ideas in the European Renaissance	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ARTF3063	Postcolonial Feminisms	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ARTF3216	The Grand Tour: travels, excavations, collections	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
COMM3220	Environment, Media and Culture	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
COMM3785	Platforms and Society	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
COMM3790	Citizen Media	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)

Basket 2:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ARTF3003	Deconstruction Reading Politics	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ARTF3042	Cultural Diversity in Museum and Material Culture - Case Study	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ARTF3059	Critical approaches to photography	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ARTF3064	Art, Ecology and Empire	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ARTF3168	Africa and the Atlantic World: History, Historiography and the Visual Arts	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ARTF3212	Art and Existentialism	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
COMM3866	Global migration, ‘race’ and media	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)

Basket 3:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ARTF3054	Anthropology, Art and Representation	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ARTF3109	Prehuman to Post-Anthropocene	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ARTF3173	Movies, Migrants and Diasporas	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ARTF3174	Collecting and Curating Popular Culture	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
COMM3340	The Reporting of Politics	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
COMM3795	Climate Communication	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Basket 4

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ARTF3099	Antique Dealers: The Market for 'Decorative Art' from Curiosities to Retro	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ARTF3102	After Authoritarianism	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ARTF3211	The Cultural Politics of Artificial Intelligence	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ARTF3215	Engendering East Asia: Feminisms and Contemporary Art	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
COMM3250	Feminism, Identity and Media	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
COMM3950	Promotional Culture	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Discovery Modules

Candidates may study 0-20 credits of discovery modules

Last updated: 12/05/2026 14:53:08

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